This weekend, Stef and I went to Lumber Liquidators to look at our options for hardwood flooring in the house. We have a ‘hearth’ room, which is acting as our dining room right now, which is connected to the kitchen, though has a partial wall separating the rooms. Our plan is to remove the wall, and make the area much more ‘open’. We want to use the same flooring in both spaces though. Together, it’s about 450 sq. feet, so it’s not the biggest or the smallest of areas.
I’m a huge fan of true hardwood. In many cases where I’ve encountered laminates, the floor ends up sounding a bit hollow and fake. But, because of Josie, hardwood just isn’t the best decision, as we’d have to get very nice and exotic floors to withstand the claws. Since this isn’t our ‘dream’ home, we can’t justify spending the extra money, knowing we wouldn’t be able to get it back. So, I’ve given in more to the idea of laminate. After visiting Lumber Liquidators, I’ve found there has been some nice developments in the laminate arena. I think we found the one we want. It’s a 12mm (thick) laminate with a pad attached, which gives it a much more true hardwood sound and feel. I was impressed. Plus, it comes in the ‘hand-scraped’ style, which gives the floor a bit more texture and depth. I like it. Check it out.
I’m curious what other people think of the hardwood vs. laminate discussion, so feel free to comment.
November 14th, 2007 at 6:06 am
my sister has laminate, and it’s perfect for their family. the kids can drop anything on the floor without damaging it.
we used it at the foundry too. I’ve never had a complaint about it.
November 18th, 2007 at 11:17 pm
I don’t think you can go wrong with laminate. It’ll look better than carpet or linoleum in those areas which means you’ll have a leg up on the competition in the area. Hardwood is great since you can refinish it as many times as you like (well, kind of) but for the money and the type of house you’re in, laminate will do fine.
http://www.floorfacts.com/compare/compare.html