Laminate flooring .. how much do I need ?

another_casualty

Howdy

I'm not the greatest with metric measurements .

Just purchased my new flat . Some of you may have seen my other threads.
I've decided (90% anyway) to rip out carpet in flat and go,for laminate flooring . Thing is, I don't know how many boxes do I need.
I'm recovering from illness , so it will have to,be fitted with underlay etc . Is carpetright , the way to go?

Not sure of the measurement of hallway .

Rest of rooms : reception room: 12'8"x 7' 11"
Bedroom 1 : 12'9"x 7'7"
Bedroom 2: 9' 1"x 6'6"

Kitchen &bathroom won't have laminate flooring .
It looks complicated .
Thanks

Marktheshark

Is anyone below you ?

-taff

Times the idth of your room by the length to get the square meter

e.g 2.5m x 1,7 m = 4.25, so you need 4.25 square meters of laminate to cover the room. Add in at least 10% for odd cuts and mistakes., so say 5msq alltogether.

On the packets, it tells you how many square meters it covers, so buy as many packets as you need to cover the room.

Don't forget the edging material, whether quadrant or matching colour laminate edging.

It's not complicated to fit, but it does take a toll on the knees and back....Not sure how much is charged for fitting it, since I've always done it myself.
You can buy this stuff from pretty much any diy store, or online if you fancy....

another_casualty

Marktheshark wrote: »

Is anyone below you ?

Good question
I'm on the ground floor . If I wasn't , it'd be carpets all the way .
Thanks

prosaver

is laminate floors still in fashion I like carpet,, keeps the house warm

missile

Take those measurements into the shop or get the shop to give you a free estimate.

FreeBear

By all means use Carpetright to estimate quantities for you, but do your wallet a favour and buy elsewhere. Plenty of other outlets that are much cheaper for exactly the same product.

firefox1956

1)
Take your room measurements in metric to start with makes calculating everything easier.
2)
Use one of these online calculators
http://www.homebase.co.uk/en/static/flooring-calculator
Things to bear in mind........
Laminate flooring is out of fashion
It is noisy & feels 'cold'
It shows every little speck of dirt.
Cheap laminate will mark very very easily as will more expensive wood floor.
Drop a knife / plate or anything heavy with an edge & you will have a serious mark that you cannot get rid of.
HTH

TheCyclingProgrammer

Laminate is not cold and not noisy if fitted properly with decent underlay.

Laminate is easy to keep clean, requiring only a quick vac and occasionally a very light clean. Carpet can get grubby too. Small dry spillages can be swept up with a broom or dustpan and brush or even a hand vac and liquid spillages aren't going to stain.

Who cares what is "in fashion". Hard wearing laminate is practical and can look good.

If you have decent laminate, minor damage can be repaired with wax repair kits and with worse damage boards can be replaced.

I highly recommend Quickstep laminate. There's a world of difference between the cheap laminate that everyone was putting down in the 90s and the high quality stuff you can get today.

That said, if you can afford it and don't have children/pets then engineered flooring is a good option too.

another_casualty

Thanks again everyone
It's good to see the carpet v Laminate pros and cons .
The main pro for laminate for me , is that I live on my own, so the risks of any damage are minimal .
One of the other reasons , is it seems low maintenance .

The seller of this flat let it out to people , who let it go to an unclean manky state . However, the carpet looks ok but would need a professional deep clean . Hope fully it can remove a couple of drops of emulsion .
My take on laminate : it's noisy , especially if you drop a tv remote on the floor for example . It's obviously hard . It looks lovely .

I think part of my problem , is im trying to think ahead too quickly .
I need to be careful . I have a certain amount of money to spend on the flat but am currently unemployed due to starting my life all over again. (Long story )
In truth , the bathroom and kitchen are the only things that really needs doing .
I thought about laminate flooring as it's a one off expense .

Thanks

silverwhistle

Just a gloss on the above discussion. Damage depends on the occupier (it's amazing what damage my tenant did to my laminate whilst I was away abroad, and the HA did sod-all to oversee the tenancy. But at least most of the laminate was still there, the stairs and upstairs carpet completely disappeared!).

Decent underlay attentuates sound as well as insulating, and I've never had problems with mine feeling cold or noisy. In fact in the summer the absence of carpet keeps it feeling cooler and easier to keep clean, and there's less dust and mites particularly if you have pets or, like me, a wood burner. In winter I put down a rug in the lounge for additional cosiness underfoot, but it's easier to clean the red wine off the laminate (ahem..).