Wooden or Laminate Flooring?...

keaskin

trying to decide between solid oak or engineered oak can anyone advise on what underlay or floor preparation needed as my floor is chiboard and i cant find any info on this.also does anyone know cheapest place to buy in west yorks.

George_Bray

tawnyowls wrote:

Definitely looks better - as I mentioned in an earlier thread, laminate just can't compete with the look; it just doesn't have the variations you find in natural wood.

Unfortunately, the word 'naff' comes to mind in that laminate flooring is 100% fake - a plastic photo of wood. I can't understand how it took off in such a big way given that it's so easy to criticise as cheap and nasty, even if it's actually quite expensive, i.e. over-priced.

Other examples - which would you choose to avoid looking naff?
- plastic handbags and brief cases vs leather ones
- plastic house plants vs real ones
- Artex vs plain ceilings

Regards
George

tawnyowls

George_Bray wrote:

Unfortunately, the word 'naff' comes to mind in that laminate flooring is 100% fake - a plastic photo of wood. I can't understand how it took off in such a big way given that it's so easy to criticise as cheap and nasty, even if it's actually quite expensive, i.e. over-priced.

It's overpriced for what it is, but a lot of people just look at the headline price - they see £4.99 for the laminate, £24.99 for the engineered wood; if price is all that matters to them, what are they gonna choose? I don't like it personally, but it does have its place in some high-wear areas. Each to their own.

keaskin wrote:

trying to decide between solid oak or engineered oak can anyone advise on what underlay or floor preparation needed as my floor is chiboard and i cant find any info on this.also does anyone know cheapest place to buy in west yorks.

There's some discussion about this earlier in this thread, and also a couple of other threads here: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=282910
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=292605

Solid oak is obviously much more expensive, and also needs to be fastened directly to the floor. For most people, engineered boards are the best compromise. If the chipboard subfloor's in good condition, you could probably lay it onto that, otherwise you might need to board out with hardboard or fibreboard first.

woodbutcher_2

That's not strictly true.Solid wood can be glued together and laid as a floating floor.

tawnyowls

If you say so. The only ones I've sold required nailing down.

woodbutcher_2

The most recent one i did was a solid oak floor from Howarth timber.It was them that told me it could be glued as it was laid on a concrete floor.I did this and so far,so good.I see this floor regularly as it is in my mates house and it still looks the biz.I was sceptical myself but was assured it would be ok.

tawnyowls

Useful to know - learn something new every day!

Gorgeous_George

Screwfix supply wooden flooring that can be glued.



GG

Stabilo

I was told yesterday that the tradesman would be here first thing this morning to fit the laminate. Were they? 9 Oclock, 11 Oclock, 1 Oclock no 2.30pm. I took a day off work to ensure they did it right and was well pi**ed off that they couldn't be bothered to ring (especially as they knew the night before that they were over running by at least half a day) . In fairness I am quite impressed. The 2 guys worked for 3 hours solid and it looks ok. I think the white quadrants fitted to the white skiting boards are quite neat (better than a conventional 90 degrees from floor to board).

As the laminate is fitted in the hall and into the through dining / living room it looks very nice. Even though other MSE's seem to dislike laminate with a vengeance.

As they completed quickly they didn't tidy up propery, one door doesn't close, one door has chunks missing from it and the floor bows slightly in one area when you walk on it (they said this was because the concrete floor isn't flat). I suspect if they had used decent underlay and decent laminate the bow would have been minimal.

I gave them a cheque to give to their boss for £50 less than originally agreed. On reflection I think they have done very well, £700 for cheap laminate, cheap underlay, poor customer service and a rush job.

Might decide to cancel the cheque if I spot any other problems before Monday morning.

Glaswegian

I'm thinking about using this in our flat

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=9586559&fh_reftheme=promo_159030150%2cseeall%2c%2f%2fcatal!!!1%2fen_GB%2fcategories%3c%7b9372013%7d%2fcategories%3c%7b9372028%7d%2fcategories%3c%7b9372109%7d&fh_view_size=10&fh_sort_order=1&fh_sort_by=_price_rrp_min&fh_location=%2f%2fcatal!!!1%2fen_GB%2fcategories%3c%7b9372013%7d%2fcategories%3c%7b9372028%7d%2fcategories%3c%7b9372109%7d%2fspecificationsProductType%3dreal_wood_top_layer&fh_eds=%DF&fh_refview=lister&ts=1281947564611&isSearch=false

as it seems to be relatively cheap but without the tackiness of laminate. If I was to get a joiner to fit it, is there underlay etc that I should be buying to make the job as good/easy as possible?

This is B&Q own brand but I'm open to suggestions for other better quality makes etc.

Thanks