scuff marks on laminate floors or lino?

se999

Snowy owl - in our last house we had laminate, varnished floor boards, tiles and carpet. The places with carpet i.e. the study, the stairs and one bedroom were the the ones to loose the new look first, and needed cleaning more often. The study was a problem with chairs alway making marks, and also occasional coffee spills when working

The laminate, floor boards and tiled areas were just a quick sweep and a damp mop normally, although the kitchen needed a bit more effort. The carpets needed very regular hoovering and relatively regular shampooing to keep them looking good.

We did use the Ikea pads on chairs etc.. But also in high use areas think about the old idea of a rug, in childrens bedrooms we had the plaited ragrug type that just went through the wash. The dining room had a big Hessian one for the dining table and chairs. We used it as part of the look we wanted. But with carpet in the study we didn't bother as there wasn't really room, and the same in the smallest bedroom, a big mistake in retrospect.

Simba_25 & Nicki - the only suggestions I have is to limit the damage with the pads or using rugs. Sorry but no real ideas on covering the scratches except maybe trying some of one of those scratch cover type liquids/polishes in the right shade from a hardware store, but it depends on the laminate as to if it will work or just wipe off.

tootles_2

We have laminate flooring in our hall and living room, I have a rug down in the living room and a large mat in the hall as you come in the door, our floor was down before we came into the house and it was scratched, have not done anything with it except do over it with one of the cloths they make specifically for laminate floors, I clean mine once every two weeks.... but then we do not have little ones.

apprentice_tycoon

We laid laminate flooring in our tiny hallway, within one hour of it being finished one of our cats was startled by something and gouged 6 claw marks into the surface.
By the next day we decided that it was a crazy idea, lifted it up and put the carpet back.

Allexie

SnowyOwl wrote:

I'm on the brink of ordering laminate for half my house, including the room I'm going to use as an office. My chairs in there will be office type chairs, ie on wheels - will these scratch laminate flooring? Please save me from making an expensive mistake as I could yet swap to carpet.

Thanks!

The room where my computer and computer wheely-type chair is has laminate flooring. I got one of those see-through, floor mats for hard surfaces which protects the floor and is hardly noticeable. It cost £19.99 :eek: from somewhere like Computer World/Staples (sorry, can't remember which!). I thought it was a heck of a lot to pay at the time but there are some even more expensive ones! Someone suggested using those plasticky protective carpet runner things instead!

hth

se999

Just remembered a pet incident a bit like Apprentice Tycoon's!! This was a large house with hard flooring not carpets, normally not that slippy!! But they had three very large adult Berneese Mountain Dogs!! Their favorite game was to play chase, and intentionally skidding and sliding, they didn't notice when they collided with hard objects either, it was all part of the game, it was hilarious to watch from a safe distance

Oh, first experience of laminate was a disaster, we used it in kitchen, and there was a slight seepage of water from washing machine hose, not enough to notice normally, but it got under the flooring and ruined it. So we would never use laminate in a kitchen/bathroom/utility. Elsewhere we've found it brilliant, but we didn't have cats or dogs

Simba_25

Thanks everyone!!

Looks like i'll be better getting a rug to put under the chair as its on wheels so the pads wont work i dont think.

The reason we got laminate was mainly because i got reaaly fed up of trying to get play doh out of my carpets! and while Tyler was potty training we had loads of accidents which no matter how much i cleaned it up i could still smell it. At least now i know the floor is clean. It is a lot more work as i hoover ever other day and damp dust it every day with a proper clean twice a week, it shows up every little speck of dust too but i still prefer it to carpets. We have it all the way through downstairs....except kitchen which is tiled, but carpets upstairs.

se999

I used to hoover the floors too, but then found it quicker to use an old fashioned brush with soft bristles, and a dustpan and small brush to gather up the bits. It was so much easier to get out and put away, and then plugging and unplugging when the lead won't reach. Then went over with a damp mop afterwards. It did seem quicker and easier to me.

Only used the hoover for rooms with carpets and a quick go over the rugs when I needed to, but small ones got shaken outside anyway.

ancasta_2

I have a laminated kitchen and living room and as were in a rented property im always worried about damaging it, theres a few little marks from stilletto shoes (not mine. grrr) but there hardly any wear and tear, The only thing i would do differently when we move house is to pick a darker shade as the light flooring shows up all the bits, even after you have just vacuumed.

It does make you think how dirty your carpets must get between vacuums as you can see all the dirt and muck on the laminates.

Magazines like the betterware books usually have "wood repair crayons" that my grandma has used on her solid wood floor but she is convinced they could me used on "plastic wood" as my grand calls laminate flooring.

AP22

When buying laminate flooring, make sure you get for heavy domestic use (or light industrial). Just bought ours for dining/office/play area and it is pretty tough! Our 2 year old lad likes throwing things on the floor, he hasn't marked it yet. Don't forget all that food that ends up on the floor... Had it been carpet, it would have been well trodden in by now!

apple_mint

Browsing round Poundland today I noticed they have a rack of laminate flooring glues, repair stuff etc. .. inlcuding scratch repair kits in various shades. So try your local pound shops there may be some there.