[Codewiz]

Cats and (laminate or bamboo)

I am looking to replace about 800 sqft of carpet that was damaged when my brand new washer malfunctioned and overflowed.

I am looking at Kronoswiss NOBLESSE line of laminate. I have three cats. I try to keep their nails but that is close to impossible all the time.

How well does laminate hold up under the abuse of cats.

Kronoswiss seems like the best performance/price ratio at eurolaminate.com

EDIT: Since I am here asking a question. Here is the exact situation.

We live in a house that was built in 1991. We have a concrete slab. We have $2500 to use towards putting a floor down for 800sqft. I have to buy things like a table saw and mitre box. So that really only leaves around $2200 for the flooring, underlayment, and moisture barrier.

This looks like an outstanding deal. http://www.floorus.com/naturalhorizontal.html

We plan to stay in the house more than 10-15 years. What is our best bet in our price range.

 

[Teetorbilt]

I have yet to see a cat scratch a laminate floor. It's really funny to watch them squirt out of a bedroom and go into a 4 paw drift when they hit the laminate.
I did my first floor with a hand circular saw and the floor was twice what you're doing. Figure about 600 sq. ft. to a new carbide blade.
Now that I've saved you some money on tools, you can afford better flooring.
Armstrong 2-in-1 is a vapor barrier and underlay, you can do both at once. If your groundwater is near the surface, you might want to consider sealing the slab prior to installing the vapor barrier.
Flor will be passing by and I'll let him guide you to the best bang for your buck.

 

[Floorwizard]

All manufacturers make a good, better, and best lam in their lines.
I would suggest you stick with the major manufacturers.
Armstrong
Wilsonart
Quickstep
Pergo
Witex
Mannington

buy the best you can afford within those lines.
Other brands may get you by, but I am suggesting the ones who have been in the industry quite awhile.
the internet may be a way to buy the same quality for a better price, but give the locals a shot first if you have the time.
your economy will thank you.

as far as the cats,

fah get about it....no worries

 

[art_115]

I've never understood why people buy laminate on-line - just like hardwood.Surely your ocal stores can sell for similar prices and you have somewhere "solid" to go to should a problem occur. Certainly in my part of the world on-line sales CANNOT compete with locals merchants in ANY type of flooring if price were the issue
Of course you can save locqal taxes if buying "out of state" but that's about all.

Art

 

[Floorwizard]

well unfortunately you are wrong when it comes to laminate.
online sellers do get a higher cost, but they have a low low overhead. so the overall price will be (or should be) lower.
I work for a store that gets the best price around, but the internet can still beat me.
I rely on customers who are more service oriented, and products that are not available on the internet.
some manufacturers are getting tired of some high end products being undersold, they have full service store's to protect, and the full service stores are making their products have more value.

 

[Codewiz]

I've never understood why people buy laminate on-line - just like hardwood.Surely your ocal stores can sell for similar prices and you have somewhere "solid" to go to should a problem occur. Certainly in my part of the world on-line sales CANNOT compete with locals merchants in ANY type of flooring if price were the issue
Of course you can save locqal taxes if buying "out of state" but that's about all.

Art

You have lost your mind. I can beat almost any local store by at least a $1/sqft online on any type of product. When you consider 800sqft, that is a lot of savings.

Yeah I have to pay shipping it is still substantial savings online. My wife's father is a contractor so I go to him for help. He just isn't into putting in laminate. He has only done solid wood floors. But in general he can help me with just about anything. I usually don't go to stores for their service because nowadays, they just don't care. And if they do, they want 3x the cost.

Online, I can still see what I am getting because I request samples of everything. I have SO much sample laminate sitting around my house right now it is crazy.

Edit: Just as an example, I wanted to check out the cost of some bamboo flooring from a local dealer. Not a chain store. He quoted $5.25/sqft for the exact same product I can get online for $3.85/sqft.

 

[Floorwizard]

There is still a market for online sales in laminate. Some people find it useful.
But believe me, there is still a market for high end materials and service, and alot of people just do not want the liability to DIY.

The down side to internet buying is the local economy takes a bit of a blow, but it all works out in the end.
I am sure that within 5 years, all the major manufacturers will pull their highest end laminates off the online market.
but that will still leave alot to look at.

 

[Codewiz]

There is still a market for online sales in laminate. Some people find it useful.
But believe me, there is still a market for high end materials and service, and alot of people just do not want the liability to DIY.

The down side to internet buying is the local economy takes a bit of a blow, but it all works out in the end.
I am sure that within 5 years, all the major manufacturers will pull their highest end laminates off the online market.
but that will still leave alot to look at.

I don't understand why they would pull it off the market. The online market allows you to reach more consumers. It allows the consumers to do more research. I don't see why laminate would be different from any other product in other industries. All other industries are still moving towards online sales.

 

[Floorwizard]

High end laminate is best represented by a full service store, and let me tell you why.
usually when a product goes bad, it is due to install, and or customer expectations. But when something happens, most likely the client will not believe either.
when they shop at an online store, it is rare that they are talking to someone with alot of experience with the floor, or, maybe has never dealt with install. We call these people "clerks".
Home Depot and Lowes can sometimes fit into this category.
now I am generalizing, because there are some bad salespeople at full service stores, and great salespeople at online places, but I am talking about majority here.

Now after alot of discussions with reps of many laminates, they are a bit irritated at the calls and complaints they get with their flooring from purchases online VS calls and complaints from full service sales.
it's all about service and expectations.
Plus full service store's have qualified installers, whereas a DIYer has NO labor warranty.
is it possible to get the best price and service online? Sure it is. But the manufacturers deal with numbers, and the numbers show that more people are satisfied from a pro store, than online.

but you are right, the manufacturers will not want to get out of online too much, so they will still have products available, but there will be some lines at specialty store's that you will not find anywhere else.

there is a reason why you cannot find Pergo Select at Home Depot. and the online guys might get the plug pulled too.
I know for a fact that QUickstep is the most irritated of all. Mostly because uneducated people use the word "uniclick" way too loosely.

 

[tuman84]

Well the on-line stores have cheaper pricing because you are not getting the full service you would in a store.

I mean most of the on-line stores sell mostly to contractors that know what they are getting. The customers that dont know what they are doing are most likely to buy from a local store.

Most of the on-line stores just have a warehouse, like a shipping point only where they dont have to keep a store front or sales reps in the warehouse for the full day.

On top of that Home Depot doesnt get the containers directly for example and the on-line companies do.

You can kind of see who gets the containers direct and who buys from those who get the containers directly as the farther down the line you are, the higher your price will be.

Im still buying from the eurolaminate guys and so are some of the other on-line stores. I have yet to see anyone beat them on Kronotex.

One thing that i dont like though is that they dont carry Classen anymore, that was a really good flooring and looked very very realistic.

As for pets, I have a little American Eskimo dog, and when it tries to run on laminate its just like on Looney Toones when they seem like they are runnign but they are still in the same spot, i dont know if that made sense?

I have yet to see a scratch.

All contractors have their favorites in flooring, while fuzzy (floorcraft) sticks w/ pergo and armstrong, I really dont like those 2 companies, I like Classen and Kronotex and my customers havent complained about quality yet.

There was actualy a laminate for sale by couple of companies called Horizon, it was AWESOME, easy installation and great durability, but now I cant find it anywhere , the only horizon flooring that comes up on search engines is made in China...

Other than that everything is peachy

 

[Floorwizard]

Actually my fav is Wilsonart and Quickstep.
Pergo has select, which has been on the top of consumer reports for the last 3 years. Their patterns were lame, but they have just made a change for the better.

Classen can be good too. They use the unilin technology for their tounge and groove. A product that Quickstep invented.

I have heard good things about Kronotex.

just about any lam out there can be fine with cats.

 

[ruapilot2]

I've never understood why people buy laminate on-line - just like hardwood.Surely your ocal stores can sell for similar prices and you have somewhere "solid" to go to should a problem occur. Certainly in my part of the world on-line sales CANNOT compete with locals merchants in ANY type of flooring if price were the issue
Of course you can save locqal taxes if buying "out of state" but that's about all.

Art

While I would love to help out my local flooring retailer the price differences are often too great. I just purchased 1000sqft (half pallet) of brand new Mannington I-core from TMC construction in Michigan for $1.50 sqft when in Dallas they are charging from $6.80 to $11.85 a sqft! I agree it is important to do your homework first and make sure you are getting what you ask for but these local shops cannot expect to mark up 500 to 1000% and still keep educated customers buying from them.

 

[Floorwizard]

I agree that online cannot be beat on price.
If the client agrees to the exta liability, then let it be so.