quality laminate flooring

suzy-wong_5

I am looking for a quality laminate wood. Can anyone advise. Someone recently told me about "Grand Prix Evolution" which they said is a quality laminate wood.
Any advice much appreciated.

vansboy

Check the Loc Floormaster range in B&Q.

They order it in for you, better range & thicker product, then the cheaper stuff, stacked in the store.

They have BIG pull out trays, to see some samples.

Order more than you want & take back the surplus.Got 12 year guarantee, too.

VB

Steve_xx

You should take care with this. The most important thing about laminate flooring is the thickness of the face of the laminate, NOT the thickness of the whole plank. If the surface coating on the laminate it too thin it will wear easily and also it will scratch more easily, thus exposing the composite underneath.

You may wish to consider using a vinyl laminate. These viny laminates come in strip 3"x 36" and in a range of shades. The product is called Karndean DaVinci Woodplank. It is available in a range of thickness for use in light domestic or heavy duty contract type locations. Because the product comes in strip form it minimises wastage etc. I used this product in a works canteen some four years ago and I can inform you that it is immensley resilient and it still looks brilliant.

I hope that this helps you in your choice.

suzy-wong_5

who stocks this wood

Steve_xx

There are many stockist of this up and down the country. Below is a link which you could try. They will send samples if you request them.

One other point - this is NOT wood, it is a vinyl. But it is extremely hard wearing.

http://www.floors-online.co.uk/acatalog/Da_Vinci_Woodplank_Collection.html

TONYTROUBLE_2

Steve xx....i have used Uniclic Laminate before which is quite well known...probably about £24 a metre now...you sound like you know what you are on about...is this vinyl harder wearing than the laminate....Tony

savvy

I'm considering buying laminate flooring and have 2 questions - What is the best insulation to get and are the laminate panels easy to cut and shape?

Steve_xx

I would say that the vinyl is, on balance, harder wearing than the laminate. Also it has better resilence to scratching and scuffing. In addition to that it is easier to lay due to the fact that the sections can be cut with heavy duty scissors as opposed to wood laminates which have to be sawn. Also, bear in mind that wood laminates, due to their thickness, may require that you shorten any doors which would open onto the new floor, whereas the viny laminate option would probably not require that, as it's thinner.

The vinyl strips are glued to the sub-floor. Therefore, you need to ensure that the sub-floor is both flat and reasonably smooth. If you decide on the wood laminate option you may get away with it if your sub-floor is less than perfect.

Hope this answers your questions.

TONYTROUBLE_2

Steve XX thanks...to answer Savvys question...i am only a reasonably good DIY er but managed to make a good job of laying wood laminate in my conservatory.

The stuff you lay the laminate on with uniclic is a blue foam type substance which is about 4 mm thick and comes in rolls like carpet underlay. It takes up small irregularities in your floor.

Insulation which i have seen adverised is a bit like fibre board and from seeing it on tv looks about 12 mm thick. They tend to use it in appartments to stop the neighbours below coming upstairs and beating you round the head.

All considered i think i am going to go for the wood laminate. I just moved into a house where they had layed some self adhesive laminate which was quite thin and it shows all the joins in the chip board floor. You would have to have very good sub floor to avoid this or lay some plywood first which seems to defeat the object.

Uniclic have brought one out which is like immitation oak floor boards and has a textured grain so it should help to disguise any scuffs i would have thought...T

blogtim

I have a poll on my forum on laminate flooring that might be of interest. Also, you can ask for recommendations there. The biggest issue is how the floor takes to spills IMHO. Choose carefully - but there is some very nice looking, good quality stuff out there.

condyk

I have a poll on my forum on laminate flooring that might be of interest.  

Ha, Ha ... isn't the Internet great :-) Even people interested in laminate flooring have a place to hang out!!Seriously, some useful stuff there.

One question I have is about the 'interface' between rooms, i.e. how to you prevent a small step as you go from a carpeted room to a laminate floored room. There must be a 1cm, at least, step, especially when you have used insulating and sound deadening underlay. Or, maybe you guys have some ingenious work around. Would love to know as that's the only thing that's putting me off fitting it at the moment.