Laminate vs. hardwood...again - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

ron schenker · 04-09-2006, 06:09 PM

What do you think of "Tarkett" no glue, double click and lock floating laminate wood floors. That was a mouth full

Customer bought some for their master bedroom and hallway and a I installed it for them. Didn't really like the look compared to real hardwood, but was much nicer than the cheap stuff I have in my den. He loves it, and wants me to do his cottage next (he'll be renting it out most of this season) The price is not much less than a 3/4"x 3 1/4" pre-finished oak hardwood, but he saves a bit on labor.

P.S....Is there a way to make the Smiley's blink simultaneousely?

PrecisionFloors · 04-09-2006, 07:02 PM

Floating floors in general (both hardwood and laminates) have come a long way in recent years. They are not true hardwood and all the comparisons to such are kinda short sighted and just plain dumb imho. They are their own animal and have a place in the market just like everything else does. The only thing most have in common with *real* wood is color or pattern. There are alot of vinyls out there that have those very same common characteristics but everyone doesn't compare them to hardwood on a daily basis. The bottom line is...is your customer happy? Did it fit the bill for what they were trying to accomplish? If so then you have a winner. Just recently I tore out 1200sf of 3/4 site finished oak and carpet to replace it with Wilsonart Red label hand scraped laminate. Alot of purists would wince and show disgust at that and try to talk the homeowner out of a "stupid" decision. I didn't and helped him select a product capable of standing up to a very active lifestyle with two big labs and three kids. Thats why I got the job, all 14 grand worth. I would love to see a real wood product look just as new as his "fake" floor will in ten years. When I was finishing up he had several guests drop by and none could believe the floor wasn't real wood.

Sorry didn't mean to go off on a tangent there Ron, sounds like you did a good service for your customer and the result is repeat business, good for ya.

Mike Costello · 04-10-2006, 04:46 AM

Here here Precision. I could not agree more.

adams,b · 04-12-2006, 11:11 PM

Laminate is not bad, But the lady where we just finished a very old house could not believe her floors would look that good after like 60 years.