Laminate / Engineered Flooring recomendations

Fromdownwest

Afeternoon all, anyone make any recomendations on laminate / engineering flooring companies?
Quick step seem to be very well reviewed
Does anyone have any experience with Barlinek, Natura or Kahrs?

neilmcl

I have a Kahrs engineered wood flooring (14mm I think) throughout the downstairs of my house, must be 14 years old now and has stood up quite well. It was a natural oak but being a natural product it has changed colour of the years to a more of a golden hue, except the bit by the French doors at the back of the house which has become quite bleached from the sunlight. I'd avoid using rugs over the first few years or make sure you move them around a bit as you'll end up with areas that have aged differently to others.

There are few dings here and there and scratches where things have been dropped or dragged along the floor but being a wooden floor you do have the option to sand it and refinish it but I've never bothered. I purchased the floor and underlay myself and got someone to fit it which worked out much cheaper than having someone supply and fit.

Overall I've been happy with it.

I'd discount laminate, if you want something to resemble wood then get wood not something that's a facsimile of wood. That's just my opinion but having said that I'd also consider LVT, particularly in areas that might come into contact with liquids.

Troytempest

Big fan of Quickstep laminate. If you go for the more expensive end of the market they are fairly realistic, easy to lay and bullet proof!

starving_artist

If you are considering LVT have a look at Impervia .

Fromdownwest

Troytempest said:

Big fan of Quickstep laminate. If you go for the more expensive end of the market they are fairly realistic, easy to lay and bullet proof!

Many thanks - if I am relaviley DIY competent, would you say laying in a rectangular room, with one door join is acheiveble?

travis-powers

Fromdownwest said:

Troytempest said:

Big fan of Quickstep laminate. If you go for the more expensive end of the market they are fairly realistic, easy to lay and bullet proof!

Many thanks - if I am relaviley DIY competent, would you say laying in a rectangular room, with one door join is acheiveble?

Absolutely just take your time setting it out so it ends up square to the room

Troytempest

I think you would be OK. However laminate or wood needs expansion gaps. The best way is to remove skirtings which can be tricky. Might be better to replace skirtings which are reasonably priced.

benson1980

Fromdownwest said:

Troytempest said:

Big fan of Quickstep laminate. If you go for the more expensive end of the market they are fairly realistic, easy to lay and bullet proof!

Many thanks - if I am relaviley DIY competent, would you say laying in a rectangular room, with one door join is acheiveble?

You need to get the sub floor prep right. That's the tricky part that will take a bit of time. I missed a very minor dip once and the joint between two planks above it soon broke- it doesn't take much at all in terms of subfloor imperfections to cause problems further down the line

Rosa_Damascena

My Liberty Floors engineered wood floor has been down for all of a month and looks good although not quite as amazing as the online pictures would suggest. It was laid by competent builders so I expect it to outlast me.

Silvertabby

We have Karndean in the kitchen and bathrooms and engineered oak in the lounge and dining room, so the best of both worlds.

Before choosing our Karndean stone effect flooring, we did consider wood effect for the kitchen but decided that the stone looked more natural.

We still had the Karndean 'wood' samples when we chose our engineered oak - and the real deal looks so much better/warmer/softer.  Manic kitten episodes have resulted in some minor sanding down and re-oil waxing, but easily dealt with.

Rosa_Damascena

Silvertabby said:

We have Karndean in the kitchen and bathrooms and engineered oak in the lounge and dining room, so the best of both worlds.

Before choosing our Karndean stone effect flooring, we did consider wood effect for the kitchen but decided that the stone looked more natural.

We still had the Karndean 'wood' samples when we chose our engineered oak - and the real deal looks so much better/warmer/softer.  Manic kitten episodes have resulted in some minor sanding down and re-oil waxing, but easily dealt with.

Very glad I didn't go with this