2nd Flooring Question!

You guys have been so helpful - thanks!!

OK - as a whole - what flooring wears the best? Hardwood, laminate, bamboo? We have pets, we're going to have a baby - so we need something we can live on - just not for show. Most of the house is tiled and we're not doing anything with that at this point - but looking to put floor in a few places - living room, guest bedroom.

Re: 2nd Flooring Question!

That is a great question!

The home we are *hopefully* getting has tile in the foyer and kitchen which we decided to keep - it's new and neutral so there is no reason to replace it...

We would still need new flooring in the living/dining area, our master bedroom and the office - right now all of those rooms have carpeting and I really don't care for carpeting - especially since we have a dog....I know that for at least the first floor we'd like all hard floors even in our bedroom (since our dog sleeps in our room - and she's gotten sick on the rug - I don't want to deal with that anymore! )

I heard bamboos can dent and scratch easily....

Hardwood scratches BUT it can be re-finished

I don't know much about engineered hardwood - I don't think you can refinish those??

Laminate is pretty good depending on what you get....my parents had Pergo and that wore well....we replaced the flooring in our apartment with the cheapest laminate we could buy (very very poor quality stuff) and you can't drop anything on it b/c it will gouge the floor - the flooring is paper thin and it's poor quality - that never happened with my Mom's floors - even though our floor is cheap stuff it doesn't scratch, not even with the dog - but you can't drop anything heavy on it (tools, an iron ) or else it will take a chunk out of the floor ....

I *think* we are going to go with a higher quality laminate. I don't want anything that will show scratches - I want something easy to install ourselves and something that isn't too expensive....The house we are buying probably won't be our forever house I'm comfortable with not spending as much to upgrade....especially in this real estate market...

Message edited 8/4/2009 11:05:53 AM.

Re: 2nd Flooring Question!

Nik made a lot of great points.

I think, engineered laminate flooring can be sanded once in it's life time. But you would have to check into that. Maybe someone else on here knows.

Bamboo is great because it is a renewable material and I like "Green" materials, but I think they don't ware well over time. We tested some bamboo samples out from Lumber Liquidators and the bamboo was easily scratched or dented. Straned (sp) bamboo is the hardest one and LL does sell it and it's hard to dent it. So with kids and dogs you would probably be good with that.

Of course hardwood floors would be the best bang for your buck, since you can sand and refinish hardwoods about 3 times if done right, I believe.

GL in your decision.

Re: 2nd Flooring Question!

Dirt floors wear the best, like the Pilgrims had... If you get a dent, just put more dirt in the dent....

The *right* bamboo is much stronger and dent-resistant than almost any hardwood. You just need to do the research on the bamboo. Many stores have the cheap stuff, which does dent easily, so they get a bad impression of it.

Tile wears very well, but can crack if something heavy is dropped on it. Wood and bamboo can scratch and dent. Linoleum can discolor and pull up at the corners. Engineered flooring can't be repaired.

There's pros and cons to all types, it really depends on what sort of traffic it will see, and what you like best. What works and wears well for one person may not do as good with another person. Even different rooms will see different results, based on use.

Message edited 8/4/2009 1:25:36 PM.