Advice for choosing laminate flooring for lounge / dining area

nLdn

I'm in the process of refurbishing my lounge / dining room and planning to get rid of the off-white carpet that never looks clean. I'm looking to get a quality laminate floor and I've noticed there are so many websites offering flooring. What should I be looking out for to make sure I'm buying something good quality? What should I be avoiding? Are there any particular features I should be checking for?

Any brand or retailer recommendations?

kobe84

Why laminate? Have you considered real wood, either engineered or solid, or maybe LVT?

Silvertabby

We have LVT (Karndean) in the kitchen and both bathrooms, and it's great - but it was never an option for our hall/dining room/lounge.  Engineered oak for living areas - no contest!

nLdn

I'm not sure I can afford engineered oak as much as I'd like to and it's twice as much as the higher priced laminates and that's just looking at flooring coat on its own

nLdn

Also, I think laminate can be thinner than engineered oak

kobe84

nLdn said:

I'm not sure I can afford engineered oak as much as I'd like to and it's twice as much as the higher priced laminates and that's just looking at flooring coat on its own

Fair enough, but when you mentioned quality laminate I thought you might have been referring to the higher end, Quickstep type stuff which is just about comparable in price with real/engineered wood. It's a personal (and budget choice) at the end of the day and for a main reception room I'd rather pay the bit extra for the better product.

kobe84

nLdn said:

Also, I think laminate can be thinner than engineered oak

Why do you need it to be thinner?

coffee_cake

We've just bought some laminate for re-doing the ground floor.  The thing to look out for is the AC rating - at a minimum go for AC3.  Ours is AC4 which is for high traffic areas / light commercial use.  

https://www.floorsdirectltd.co.uk/laminate-flooring-ac-ratings-explained

Silvertabby

kobe84 said:

nLdn said:

Also, I think laminate can be thinner than engineered oak

Why do you need it to be thinner?

Thin laminate may need to be laid on a plywood base - thus increasing the fitting costs. 

Grumpy_chap

Silvertabby said:

We have LVT (Karndean) in the kitchen and both bathrooms, and it's great

We have Karndean through the hall, kitchen, living room.  We'd never have Karndean again - it is thin and substandard quality and not even cheap - engineered wood would have been so much better value for money.  The Karndean is now under a carpet as that was the only way to salvage anything - makes for a very expensive carpet.

Having been burnt once by an alternative to real wood, I'd never go for a substitute again (whether Karndean or laminate)

Silvertabby

Grumpy_chap said:

Silvertabby said:

We have LVT (Karndean) in the kitchen and both bathrooms, and it's great

We have Karndean through the hall, kitchen, living room.  We'd never have Karndean again - it is thin and substandard quality and not even cheap - engineered wood would have been so much better value for money.  The Karndean is now under a carpet as that was the only way to salvage anything - makes for a very expensive carpet.

Having been burnt once by an alternative to real wood, I'd never go for a substitute again (whether Karndean or laminate)

To be fair, our kitchen/utility room/cloakroom Karndean is 10 years old, and bathroom and en-suite are 8 years old - and it's still perfect.  

We went for engineered oak in in hall/lounge/dining room because we thought that was more appropriate for (dry) living areas.