Dupont flooring at HD

[Salty]

I was in the local HD today to spend a gift card and we looked at some flooring called Real Touch Elite.
Has anyone ever used this stuff?
I was doing some checking online and apparently it is a HD exclusive and is made in Spain.
The panels are about 11" wide and 4' long. They use a joint locking system on the sides and the ends and looks to be a pain to install. Since you cannot tilt the panel in 2 directions at the same time you have to lock the ends of an entire row together and then attempt to lock the whole row into the previous one.
The guy at HD claimed it would not be effected by water. He suggested that I take the sample home and put it in a bucket of water overnight and it would not separate.

[onedash]

So is it soaking now??? A buddy put in a floor like that. Not sure about the brand name. I think he had shims to hold the rowup at an angle to make it easier to lock the row in...
Not sure. I would ask him but he went to Iraq.

[Salty]

Not soaking yet....but it will sometime this weekend.
I'm wondering how good the stuff is....really. Why? Here's why!
After all the talking up of this stuff by the salesman, and all the talk of how he used it in his house and he has this many years in the coinstruction field, etc, etc, etc.
So then LOML says she likes this style best and I look and see that there aren't any samples. So, he gets a fill size board from the pile and turns it over and writes 'SAMPLE' on it and says, here ya go. Now, I know they can get that covered by the sales rep but really. Give away a $15 sample board?

Also, onedash, please thank your buddy for his service to our country.

[onedash]

Now if you could do that enough times to cover your floor your set.
I guess he has a lot of faith in the product. Or maybe he hopes you dont soak it in the water. You could really do lots of abuse tests with a whole board I guess.
Sand it, cut it, soak it, hit it,
Does it have an aluminum oxide finish??? I think thats the way to go. I have never bought flooring but that is the kind I would buy once I get a house. Except for the shop. That will get utility grade..

[cwsmith]

The HD in the city where we recently purchased a home, they actually have a bunch of boards that they spraypaint the ends orange. Just grab a full board and out the door you go... no questions asked, as long as it's got that orange mark on it. I don't know if these are from broken boxes or what, but it sure is nice. OTOH, my local HD, doesn't even have samples. They have a few for the hardwood floors, but you have to sign them out.

At the local Lowes, you actually have to buy a sample if you want one.

Regarding being "water-proof" that must be something new. We've been looking for a "red-oak" laminate for some time and can't find anything that looks good. Mostly the colors are really dull looking and almost look "fogged" in comparison to real wood. Also, across the board, everything that I've looked at is a HDF type structure and the warning, "wipe up spills immediately" goes with it.

What we wish that we could find is something that looks like "Aged Oak" and had both the grain and the shiney finish of a varnished floor.

Still looking,

CWS

[Jan]

CWS,

Find a flooring store that has Wilsonart or Pergo. The latest top of the line items from both those companies include realistic red oak. I saw them in a store while I was picking up some carpet. I recollect that they were 4" or 5" planks not the 11" 3 board look. The price was about 3.25 a sq ft.

[os1kne]

I installed the Dupont RealTouch Elite flooring in my kitchen and dining room this summer. I like it a lot. I'm no expert, but I found it to be comparable to the premium lines from the other brands. It is definitely not junk (I've used junk and this is a 100x better). The flooring does a very good job of keeping things square.

At first, it was frustrating getting the panels to lock together - but once you get the technique down it goes pretty quickly. (Hint: It doesn't work as easily as the instructions suggest - but it isn't too difficult; work left to right (if you're facing a panel), top to bottom; lock the left end of the panel in and angle it down to line it in to the groove of the previously laid panel on top of it; when it is lined up properly, you need to angle up the current panel and a panel or 2 to the left of the current panel (I think that I used a couple of short 2x scraps to temporarily support the pieces); use a small scrap section and a rubber mallet to smack the panel in - don't go crazy, you'll find that the panel will fall to the floor when it has a solid mating connection).
For the edges near the walls, I used one of those flooring tools that has a small hook on one end for the flooring, a long flat section and a larger opposite hook on the other end for smacking with a mallet.

Good luck!!

Good luck.

[bigfoot]

The Dupont flooring has been in my son's room for 2 years, 3 months this week, holding up fine. I found it went down quite easily. If I remember correctly, I just tipped in the end joint (hard to explain, but tipped it in so it was about half an inch off alignment), then tipped the previous board about 1/2 to 3/4 inch, slid the new board theat 1/2 an inch down to drop into the long edge joint, and it dropped to the floor, nice and locked.

I hope that maybe made sense...

[Salty]

Well, the 5" long cutoff soaked all day and dried this evening. The only thing I noticed was the top edge swelled slightly, but that was sitting in water for hours. It is still as strong as before and has the same slight upward bow.
Seems to be good stuff. I'm considering it.

[JSCOOK]

Europeans have been using laminate flooring for years ahead of us here in North America ... most of the good stuff is made over there ... stuff I use is made in Austria & Germany ... easier to lock together than it looks ... once you get it, practice a few rows before doing any cutting ... boxes usually have punchout wedges on the back to assist in locking rows together .... places where water or moisture exposure are greater, you can glue the joints for extra level of protection ... but not required

Word of advise ... pay a little more and get the premium padding underlay, it makes all the difference in the world in sound as well as moisture protection ... the only stuff I'll install with laminates is called "QuietWalk" from MidWest Padding ... see link:

http://www.mpglobalproducts.com/quietwalk/1intro.html

[cwsmith]

Jan,

Thanks for the advice on the Lowe's floor. The LOML doesn't care for the "plank" width (at least as represented by the Dupont flooring at Home Depot), preferring instead the narrower width. We actually had it all picked out last September (Pergo) and the guy at Lowes said to wait a month because the price was going to go down substantially.

So we waited and came back it October. Sure enough, the price dropped, but also they changed the color. The original one was a consistant tone on all three boards represented on the panel, looked just like the aged oak that was in the house. But the new replacement product, is now three different colors (light, medium, and the darker, aged look.) When it goes down, you just see that 1,2,3 look repeated over and over. Not at all what we want.

However, maybe we should pay them another visit and see the stuff you are referring to. You input is greatly appreciated.

Thanks again,

CWS

[niki]

I don't know if to call them "Euro Floors" (as Euro kitchen) but laminate flooring is widely used in EU, they are called also Floating floors.

I covered all the living room floor (and you can see the left-overs on my router table top, the CS cutting guide an some TS sleds).

The "Kuntz" (German for Trick) is to get the first 3 rows straight (you can move it all as a block) and than, the installation is running like a "fire". I covered 750 square feet in 2 days and I had many cuts because of irregular shapes of the room.

You don't have to lift all the row, but only the last installed panel (or two).

You can see a Flush demo here, click on the "Easy connect laying system" tab on the left side and than click 2 times on the "FURTHER" on the right lower corner.
Wait a while till the demo of the first page ends and than proceed to the next page...
http://www.classen.de/en/produkte/la...token/49493788

As JSCOOK said, I used the 1/8" padding (there is also 1/4"), they come in 3' (1 Meter) width, you lay them one attached to the other (do not overlap) and stick the edges with masking tape or packing tape.

Word about cutting; you can cut with CS (Good side facing down) or on the TS (good side facing up) or Jig saw, in any case, usually the cut area will be near the wall and will be covered with "Kick panel" or whatever you call it (in German it's called Zokel - read tsokel).

Hope it helps
niki

[Stormbringer]

Jan,

Thanks for the advice on the Lowe's floor. The LOML doesn't care for the "plank" width (at least as represented by the Dupont flooring at Home Depot), preferring instead the narrower width. We actually had it all picked out last September (Pergo) and the guy at Lowes said to wait a month because the price was going to go down substantially.
CWS

Got this from Lowes two years ago when they first came out with the individual 3" width laminated planks with real wood cores. I still haven't seen the individual planks at Home Depot.... just the 10-12 inch wide ones that are "three" planks wide that all end at the same point. My brother put that down in his living room and is regretting it. He got suckered in by the displays that they have that only have them connected side to side where they look really good. Onece you connect them end on end it's a different story. YMMV of course.

I particularrly dont care for that look having all three rows at the same spot at various points throughtout the floor so we went with this when it first came out. Pergo hardwood, $4.60 ft. About 3/6" thick so it really didn't affect the transition from room to room.

I could not get the old floor light enough for the LOML. She liked the light natural look. I tried to convince her to let me rent a floor sander and try bleaching it but the new stuff just looked to good. I like it so much I want to put it down throughout the first floor but she has her heart set on tile for the kitchen.

Greg

[JSCOOK]

As JSCOOK said, I used the 1/8" padding (there is also 1/4"), they come in 3' (1 Meter) width, you lay them one attached to the other (do not overlap) and stick the edges with masking tape or packing tape.

The QuietWalk padding actually recommended using "Duct Tape" to join all seams, and it seems to work well ... part of this may have to do with DuctTape having a waterproof backing and fibre reinforced ...

Niki, this is what I am refering to: Duct Tape

... usually the cut area will be near the wall and will be covered with "Kick panel" or whatever you call it (in German it's called Zokel - read tsokel).

AFAIK, we generally call it "Wall Baseboard" ... or at least up here in Canada ... (BTW, my wife and her family are from Germany ... So habe ich Deutsches erlernt, aber es nicht spreche so gut!)

[punch1]

http://www.ifloor.com/articles/lam/lamwars2.html