Wood/laminate flooring

MaggieBaking

Am I right in thinking that wood/laminate flooring needs a bit of time to sit in your house to get used to the temperature and the environment before you lay it?

Also I'm budgeting around £20 per m2 including underlay... Will that get us some ok quality stuff? We're only intending living here for a further 2-3 years so it wont have to last forever (just look good enough for us to sell it!)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

The_Blue_Hatter

All sounds pretty much right. For similar reasons I paid about £12 per metre for some Balterio laminate and £4 for beading (2.5m lengths) and this laminate has 15 years guarantee. It does mention on the pack t leave open for a week or so to climatise.

MaggieBaking

Blue Hatter, thank you so much for your reply. A week is shorter than I was concerned about so that's good news

Your laminate flooring sounds like a good deal, I thought I'd have to pay more for such quality. Did you buy it direct from Balterio?

paulpud

Just last week I did my living room in this:

http://www.ukflooringdirect.co.uk/Laminate/Florence_10mm_Series_Harvest_Oak_Plank_Laminate_Flooring_Ikarus.html?osCsid=11b82fc3c677bd455cbcd1f589111c23

Including VAT it works out to just under £14 per sq M (cheaper if you buy a quantity) and I am pretty impressed with it. It has a 25 year domestic guarantee and is AC4 rated, so deemed suitable for heavy use in commercial applications.

I put a premium 3mm underlay down first (£3 per Sq M) and it has the appearance of a proper wooden floor, without the tippy-tappiness you often get with laminate.

Newbie2saving

I've just had engineered wood put down in my house. I struggled to find the right colour etc for ages, but whilst I was looking I came across lots of really nice laminate. Photos on the strips have come on so much since we had it last. Saw a gorgeous oak one in Jewsons. Also liked the online stores such as flooring supplies and uk flooring, but just couldn't get the right colour match for me. Sure you can do it for up to £20/m2 and find the right colour, thickness, finish and quality you are after. Good luck.

MaggieBaking

Thank you so much for the reassurances and the details of what laminate floorings are good too - I really appreciate all the advice. It's a big expense and when it's naff stuff you might as well not bother!!

When we looked to buy a house so many houses we viewed used the the horrible orange "tappy" laminate - it nearly put me off for life!!

mebumu

The Blue Hatter

Just a small point..... I may be wrong but I seem to recall that packs of laminate should indeed be left to acclimatise for approx 24 hr in the room into which the flooring is to be installed but the packs should not opened until installation begins

Edit: meant to say 48 hours!!

elliegreenwelly

Homebase currently have half price sale on Flooring, they have a review section on each product which is quite helpful. Just purchased some laminate at around £10m2