Hello, all. Short time lurker, first time poster. I'm needing some help picking a brand of laminate flooring.
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Some history (skip to the real question if you don't want to read):
My wife and I have decided to redo our kitchen floor. We currently have vinyl in the kitchen which transitions to carpet in the "dining room" (more like a combined kitchen / dining room). Our foundation is a concrete slab.
We have a 1-year old baby and another one on the way in October. As such, our carpet in the "dining room" isn't going to cut it.
So, we went looking for some wood-like vinyl. When we did, we realized it probably wouldn't be too much more to get laminate flooring. So I did a lot of research on here, learned a lot from someone named Florcraft (as well as others) by reading lots of posts on the topic.
Our combined kitchen / dining room is around 310 sq-ft. We called around to local flooring companies (such as CITY tile, CITY carpet company [don't want to say which city], CITY carpetplus as well as many many others) and got various responses which left us with a not-so-warm feeling about the company and/or the use of laminate in the kitchen.
We finally called another company here in town (we are in Indiana). The guy was very knowledgeable, answered all our questions, and even provided some insight we didn't think to ask about.
So, we think this may be the company we'll have do the work (I don't want, nor do I have the time, to do it myself). The charge is $2.00 / sq-ft for installation plus whatever the laminate costs per sq-ft. Pretty reasonable I think, and about the going rate based on posts on contractortalk and here. He says he uses a 3-in-1 base too?
Anyway, I'm now left deciding which would be the best I can get in my price-range.
_________________________________________________________
So, the company in question sells:
Mannington
Quick Step
Mohawk
Shaw
I was wondering what I should avoid, what would be the best, and which "series' within each manufacturer would be the best.
In reading on contractortalk, I can summarize my impression of the info on each manufacturer as:
Mannington - not too bad at all
Quick Step - very tight seal, very good stuff
Mohawk - Not bad, but may scratch easily
Shaw - horrible
Each one of these have what the owner called a "moisture warranty" of 15-20 years which covers small spills and such which shouldn't normally cause a problem. He showed samples of how each one had a green tint, which he said was the moisture protection built into the compressed laminate.
So, what should I look for. Which series would be best. What is a good price (for example, quick step classic and eligna was $3.30/ sq-ft, while quadra was $4.49 - are those good prices???).
Just want to get the most I can with what money I have (less than $1800).
Open to thoughts, suggestions, comments, recommendations and all that. Ask any questions I may have left vague in my description. We'd like good scratch resistance and as "water proof" as reasonably possible.
I appreciate any help you can give. Thanks.
DIYDD
________________________________________________________
Some history (skip to the real question if you don't want to read):
My wife and I have decided to redo our kitchen floor. We currently have vinyl in the kitchen which transitions to carpet in the "dining room" (more like a combined kitchen / dining room). Our foundation is a concrete slab.
We have a 1-year old baby and another one on the way in October. As such, our carpet in the "dining room" isn't going to cut it.
So, we went looking for some wood-like vinyl. When we did, we realized it probably wouldn't be too much more to get laminate flooring. So I did a lot of research on here, learned a lot from someone named Florcraft (as well as others) by reading lots of posts on the topic.
Our combined kitchen / dining room is around 310 sq-ft. We called around to local flooring companies (such as CITY tile, CITY carpet company [don't want to say which city], CITY carpetplus as well as many many others) and got various responses which left us with a not-so-warm feeling about the company and/or the use of laminate in the kitchen.
We finally called another company here in town (we are in Indiana). The guy was very knowledgeable, answered all our questions, and even provided some insight we didn't think to ask about.
So, we think this may be the company we'll have do the work (I don't want, nor do I have the time, to do it myself). The charge is $2.00 / sq-ft for installation plus whatever the laminate costs per sq-ft. Pretty reasonable I think, and about the going rate based on posts on contractortalk and here. He says he uses a 3-in-1 base too?
Anyway, I'm now left deciding which would be the best I can get in my price-range.
_________________________________________________________
So, the company in question sells:
Mannington
Quick Step
Mohawk
Shaw
I was wondering what I should avoid, what would be the best, and which "series' within each manufacturer would be the best.
In reading on contractortalk, I can summarize my impression of the info on each manufacturer as:
Mannington - not too bad at all
Quick Step - very tight seal, very good stuff
Mohawk - Not bad, but may scratch easily
Shaw - horrible
Each one of these have what the owner called a "moisture warranty" of 15-20 years which covers small spills and such which shouldn't normally cause a problem. He showed samples of how each one had a green tint, which he said was the moisture protection built into the compressed laminate.
So, what should I look for. Which series would be best. What is a good price (for example, quick step classic and eligna was $3.30/ sq-ft, while quadra was $4.49 - are those good prices???).
Just want to get the most I can with what money I have (less than $1800).
Open to thoughts, suggestions, comments, recommendations and all that. Ask any questions I may have left vague in my description. We'd like good scratch resistance and as "water proof" as reasonably possible.
I appreciate any help you can give. Thanks.
DIYDD