[mariadelagracia]

ready to start building our new home and planning on using laminate in the whole upstairs. so confused with all the laminates out there. don't want "shoddy" quality; don't need "top of the line"...just my hubby and me and one adult child at home. trying to keep costs down.
interested in the "click in place" laminates, at least an 8mm, darker shade, with a 25 yr. warranty. thinking of "harmonics", or "quick step"...and today found out about "kronotex". found kronotex very, very, very cheap online, but wary. please advise. thanks,
gracia

 

[tuman84]

Ive been working with Kronotex for about 3 years now, no problems yet. Kronotex has 7 or 8 different series, look for Dynamic Click 2 Click, the others arent too good.

Me and the fuzzy bear have arguments about costs, not all cheap laminates are bad, Krono gives u quality at a low price, Shaw gives u crap at a low price. Dont buy your laminate from the store, it will end up costing you way more than it should. Order it online and have it shipped.

 

[Floorwizard]

mm is important but not THE most important factor.
wear layer, high or direct pressure, how many kraft sheets, core density, thickness of wear layer, all play a part in the game.
Major manufacturers such as Quickstep, Wilsonart, Armstrong, Witex all carry more affordable quality in their line and they will actually be around to service warranties.

Online can get you a good price, but always check to see if someone locally can compete with an exact same product. Apples to Apples.
Keeping your money locally can save you money down the road if everyone tried harder to do it.
Online companies have lower overhead so that keeps the price down, but the service can't be as good as a local company, although there are some good online companies.
just make sure you know HOW good the company is and EXACTLY the product you are getting.

good luck

 

[Glasshousebltr]

Fuzzy Bear, LOL.

Flor I think (Tumar) found you a nick name.

Bob

 

[Floorwizard]

I've had worse.

it's better than fuzzy britches....

 

[tuman84]

ok fuzzy britches, lol, n e way, Wilson arts and Armstrong in my opinion have in fact been here for a while and got cocky, made the name (like pergo, no comments or fuzzy will yell at me again) and rose prices.

As far as being around and warranty:

How long does an average person live inside their house? full 25 years that the warranty covers?

Kronotex has been around in Germany for a while, they have opened an HQ in U.S. about 7 or 8 years ago, but even before that if you did have a problem, they would just get one of their distributors in U.S. to carry out inspections and product replacement.

Also, I hate Asian laminate, in my opinion it should all be gathered and burned at a great bon fire while a bunch of little korean kids run around it (dont ask).

You can get the same quality of flooring from other manufacturers that have not made a name in U.S. but did in Europe as EU quality testing is much much more strict than it is in U.S.

For laminate that EU gives 10 year warranty i noticed U.S. giving 20 year., and most of the imported laminate does have the EU sticker on them so you can see what they have rated it.

 

[Floorwizard]

Yea, cocky for sure. Although if MY laminate company was on the top of consumer reports for 3 years straight, I would get a bit cocky too. I think Pergo has dropped the ball on design, they have some catching up to do.

Wilsonart did upset me a bit with a price increase, but that will not prevent me from buying it when I am ready. I love Wilsonart all around.

Great points on the fact that you can cut out the brand name and get similiar quality, I just want to make it perfectly clear, that not ALL laminates are the same. Alot of them have bells and whistles that may not be on another branded or unbranded laminate. Such as the Unilin click system, or high pressure manufacturing....

More great points by you about 25 year warranty, most people don't top over 10 years in their home, so the most basic of laminates should carry them thru it, although, back to the original point, when I buy laminate for my home, even though I will be looking at 7 years tops, there are too many other factors I need to think about including 3 roudy kids...things the warranties don't even talk about. so I will need all the help I can get.

There is no doubt in my mind that euro lam is quality, but the real question is, do they make the quality that will fit a particuliar lifestyle better? they probably do.... But the consumer needs to be informed WHY, instead of statements such as "this lam is the same as Pergo" cause that just don't cut it.

you know, this really plays out with ANY product. I buy the grocery store's house brand all the time to save money...some products if you look in the back to verify that the ingredients are the same, the ARE the same...some are a tad off, but close enough for me. But some brands I am loyal, because there IS a difference for some reason...taste, texture..whatever, and this can be crossed over to ANY material....If I KNOW it is the same in all the areas I am concerned with, I will buy it all the time.

 

[Glasshousebltr]

Great Flooring bon fire? Korean kids running around? why not throw in some jewish books?

Dam Tumar, your not a NAZI are ya?

Bob

 

[tuman84]

Lol no im not.