laminate or carpet?

katiesmummy

my whole flat has to be re-floored i.e. 2 bedrooms, hallway and lounge (bathroom and kitchen have cheap tiles- fine for now!) after i had a flood last year. now that our baby will be here in a matter of weeks its getting a bit urgent.
what is generally cheaper, laminate or carpet?

playford

carpet will be cheaper if you pay to get laminate fitted.

other wise id say click laminate and carpet arent that far off per yard.

the fitting of laminate is often as expensive as the flooring itself.

mind you if you have kids coming can i suggest the laminate and I fitted it to two rooms before and its not as hard as you would think to fit perhaps other half could be of use? or you know someone who could do you a favour?

its mop clean too... kids being sick, spilling stuff and general muck comes off easily and looks brand new, the carpet will get wrecked in no time.

my mum had really expensive carpet that was scotch guarded when i was younger it was utterly wrecked within 2 yrs by my two baby sisters (theres a big age gap between us lol). she put down laminate and its still looking good 10 yrs later.

Mine'sAPintPlease

I put down some laminate a couple of years ago with the help of a mate, and it wasn't the easiest job in the world (especially going under a door into the hallway), but wasn't too expensive as I got some on offer in B&Q. That said, the trim around the edges was just as expensive as the laminate and under-flooring put together which didn't seem right. In hindsight, I wish I'd got a pro in to do the job exactly right, and put it under the skirting boards, etc. It still looks good though, and as said above is easy to clean.

I've recently had some wool twist 80/20 carpet put down on my stairs and lounge, and it came to around the same cost, but this was professionally fitted. I slightly prefer the laminate cos I'm constantly worrying about spilling something on the carpet!

Perhaps you could do what I've done and have a mix of both?

katiesmummy

if we get laminate my oh can fit it, so thats not a problem, but as you said, it costs almost as much for the trim as it does for the flooring and underlay which is ridiculous in my opinion!
what i am thinking at the moment is having laminate in the hallway and lounge (high traffic areas- 2 dogs, 2 adults, 1 7 yr old plus obviously a pram going in and out very soon) and carpet in the bedrooms

iwilldoitthistime

I have a 20 month old little boy - and have laminate in the living areas, and carpet in the bedrooms. I live in a house, so just floored down stairs with laminate and its been great.

Im moving house soon and am going to get wood downstairs again - it is so easy for spills etc - babies just seem to project wet things for miles - lol! The odd times he has been sick in a bedroom, Ive had a real time of it trying to get the marks out of the carpet.

Laminate is also great when you bring a buggy inside in the winter - track marks would be awful on carpet!

Saying that - laminate is not as easy to clean as just running a hoover over the carpet. I have to brush it every couple of days as fluff seems to arrive out of nowhere, and I have to go round on my hands and knees at least once a week to get the real dirt off. A wet wipe/mop thingy is okay in the main, but the only thing that really works is elbow grease! It just shows you how much dirt is trapped in carpets that you never see!

Hope this helps!

PasturesNew

You say you're in a flat. If you're not on the ground floor, check the deeds/rules in case there's an issue about noise to the flat below. Some will state that you have to have carpeting/vinyl.

It's a noisy flooring!

mateo_k

And remember never put laminate in kitchens or bathrooms as you will be faced with a floor that looks like the himalayas if the floor gets wet, laminates are dead practical but 1 thing they dont like is water, trust im a flooring manager for a carpet shop in leicester

affordmylife

We have just removed carpet in hallway and laid high quality vinyl. So much easier to keep clean. Lounge has carpet so it is cosy and soft for little people. They can be very accident prone when learning to walk. Carpets for bedroom or me to cosy and warm.

My vinyl has been down two months and although I sweep it everyday I ve only had to mop it about three times its brilliant. We also have a dog but children are all older now so no crawlers. God I had to mop floor daily then!

iwilldoitthistime

the laminate is cold for a crawler - but we just got a big rug and he practiced on that.

I personally havent had any problems in the kitchen with laminate, but then I havent spilled anything big, and always wipe up spills immediately. Its been down nearly 5 years now and there isnt a mark on it.

Everything will have drawbacks!

Mine'sAPintPlease

PasturesNew wrote: »

You say you're in a flat. If you're not on the ground floor, check the deeds/rules in case there's an issue about noise to the flat below. Some will state that you have to have carpeting/vinyl.

It's a noisy flooring!

My lease states that I can't have bare wooden floors and that I must have something on them for noise issues, but having thought about it, laminate flooring with underlay is perfectly fine as it's a covering. I wouldn't see laminate flooring as ever being an issue.

sweetmoneysaver

Although laminate may be an expensive choice, it is certainly the most child friendly. I would have a ruined living room carpet if we had laid one on the floor! My DS manges to get yoghurt, juice, ice lollies and all sorts of other things onto the floor instead of in his mouth. If you are staying in the flat for a while laminate may the way to go rather than having to fork out for a new carpet in a few years or be spending lots of money out on regular carpet cleaning.