Laminate vs Wooden Floor

Mumto2

Would anyone in the know be able to talk me through the pro's/cons of different types of flooring.

Looking to do the lounge/dining room (seperated by french doors) in something. Have got 3 kids (6,5 and 7mths), so one of my concerns is noise made by toys etc, also hardness for little ones head as he falls over ).

Have got Karndean in the hall, but this seemed really expensive to fit etc, so not sure we can stretch to that much for the lounge.

Measurements are 27' by 11' max.

Would welcome to advice before we head to a shop which could be open to sales patter.

Thanks

ormus

laminate is cheap and cheerful. laminate is inert. so should be stable.
real wood is very nice but very expensive and you can have problems with it...

bootman

I had real wood in my last house. Anything dropped made a dent, spillages left a mark. It was alway don't do this to my son in case you damage the floor.

I have laminate in my hallway in this house that looks as good as wood. It does not matter what we do it never marks or dents.

bigdoozer

Buy laminates now, and engineered timber when they have grown up....
avoid real wood for all above reasons

Razor

Laminate doesn't have to be cheap and cheerful, go for a quality one like Quick-step, it costs more than real wood and is much more durable. We fitted it in our house because of the many times I have fitted real wood floors for customers and a month later they are complaning how easily damaged they are.

Millie_2

I had laminate fitted right through the ground floor six years ago, personally I would have loved a wooden flooring but with hindsight, the laminate is as perfect now as it was when it was fitted.

It is very hardwearing and always looks good and with young children as you have, I think its your most favourable option, as it can be spilled on and walked on within an inch of its life and still come up looking like brand new!

Mumto2

Thanks all - looks like laminate is the most practical solution.

Just one question - what about noise? Does it drive you to distraction when toy cars are thrown around constantly or is it not that bad!

aliasojo

I agree with the posters above. I always quite liked laminate until the 'anti-laminate' brigade put me off it with their cries of 'it's cheap, it's not real, people wont want to buy a house with laminate, get real wood etc etc etc'.

So, I was swayed and got real wood in our 'den' (small study like room). Worst thing I ever did tbh. It wasn't cheap stuff but is already badly dented and scratched with things being dropped (sellotape dispenser does loads of damage btw :rolleyes: so I'd be concerned about a metal toy car or similar).

It's only been down a few months and I get upset every time I look at it!

On the other hand, the Quick-Step laminate that was put in our bedroom yonks ago is still as good as the day I laid it.

Wood floors are without doubt very lovely, but laminate is much harder wearing.

As for the noise, it's definitely louder than carpet but if it bothers you when it's down, what about some rugs in the area the kids play. Best of both worlds then and you can easily roll them up and stick in a cupboard maybe?