Quick Step/Vitality Laminate - Any good?

mleonard79

Hi ABM,

Thanks for the link. My DIY skills are non-existent to be honest, my health also isn't the best and I'm highly allergic to dust so DIY is a big no-no! Whatever I get done I'll need to get someone else in to do it unfortunately. This is an old (approx 100 years) tenement flat and the floorboards and very sturdy so I'd be wary of ripping them up to be honest. What I really wanted was to keep the original floorboards and get them restored but the joiner we got up to look at them said there was just too many gaps.

Regards

Michelle

tawnyowls

No worries. Hope the following helps

mleonard79 wrote:

I've seem some v-groove (don't know if that's a make or not just a style?!) lamiante at £12.99 that's 8mm thick that looked quite good and didn't feel too cold or slippy to touch.

It's a style - it's a glueless laminate that just clicks together rather than being glued

To be honest if I got wood put down I'd want really good quality and we can't really afford to go over the £18-20 per m2 at the moment with the size of the room so I might have to go with laminate that'll look reasonable for a few years and then think of going for wood then. Either that or maybe the engineered wood if it's a little cheaper - any good websites I could look at for this?

You really need to see it if possible, as the same type of wood could look completely different if the products are made by different manufacturers. Floors-2-go have beech flooring at £14.99/sq m, but their oak flooring is in the top price range. I used to sell a lot of Tarkett and Bruce flooring - they should give you stockists in your area. If you know someone with a Makro card, and there's one near you, that might be worth visiting - they had oak flooring very cheap a while ago.

I'll go into town to have a look at some shops when I've got a chance too. The £18 wood is a 3-striped plank if that makes any difference but I'm starting to think perhaps the plank is a little narrow looking for the room.

Yes, it does - you can obviously get a lot more strips than planks from the same tree, so strip wood will always be much cheaper. It could be, although it's usually OK with oak, because it doesn't vary massively in colour - some woods have so much variation that the planks look terribly busy.

Sorry if this seems dense but what do you mean by putting a runner down? Thanks again.

I mean a floor runner - a long mat. This kind of thing: http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/8681294.htm. It just protects the floor more because even if people wipe their feet (rather than just stand on the doormat), they still tend to carry stuff in on their shoes.

Cat72

I for years have wanted real wood floooring but as I wanted cherry I was put off as cherry is a soft wood , is one of the dearest woods and because the fitting was going to be too dear. Twice I have put it off and bought v groove laminate instead- first time quick step. I regret not getting the reaL wood as I miss the lovely wood smell and it is cold. I went for a top of a range laminate which had an added texture and a v groove. I was very tempted also to go for the quick step antique oak but the laminate I got is made by a company called baltero ( a very large belgium company ) and was half the price.This is the same company that makes Vitality, Both are very good products and I would definately say if you are to go for laminate look at all the Baltero ranges fisr. Here is the one I got ( not from this site ) .
The biggest problem I think with real wood is the fitting- laminates easy as it just clicks in - real wood needs a joiner.Laminate can be lifted easily - real wood cant.So you can consider if this would cause a problem. A good comprimise might be a click / lock system wood -which just clicks together like the laminate but has the benefits of wood - this is your enginereed wood.
As you are looking for oak fllooring there are a lot of cheap deals- especaailly in glasgow. A company called furlongs have a terrific real wood at a great price. They are trade but you will find them in local shops- a company called Avalon carpet sells it- its really thick and comes in a click effect which you can easily fit.
What you have to consider is what would you be happy with- can you live with the coldness.Do you need help fitting if so can you afford real wood fitting.And will you want to lift it ? I get round the coldness a bit by putting rugs down. I will get real wood when I move house again and have more money .good luck.

colbee

About 5yrs ago I laid a 15mm thick real wood laminate floor in a room about 11' x 10'. The flooring was in t&g 'planks' which were glued together - glueing IMO with the benefit of hindsight not being a good idea, and possibly obsolete by now.
Anyway, we have seven dogs which basically have the run of the house (yes, the house stinks but they got used to it), and in no time at all the floor was covered in scratch and skid-marks from claws and even from the vacuum cleaner. Even with felt pads on the feet of pieces of furniture, the weight of furniture caused indentations. On top of all this, over the years the joints started to show gaps and the floor looked tatty. Sorry, can't remember the maker of the flooring or the cost, but it was not cheap tat.
3 years ago in another room about 26' x 12' I laid QuickStep Harvest Oak: easy-peasy and has held up well. I rated it so highly I ripped up the real wood laminate from the other room and have just replaced it with QuickStep. QuickStep is 8mm thick and has a good click interlock, which I think is important. Cheaper, thinner stuff often has a narrower and thus poorer click interlock, which makes for difficulty in clicking together due to innate flex in the thinner board.
So, yes, I do recommend QuickStep over real wood due to my particular circumstances (dogs), and from a DIY angle it is great - of course, you need the proper tools, not the cheap, bendy ones which are a false economy.
Hope this helps.