Laminate brand for rental home under $2/sqft

dkirklin

We are replacing some nasty carpet and messed up parquet flooring in our house that we are currently renting out. We have concrete subfloors and would like to install laminate flooring ourselves (about 1200 sqft). I've been doing a lot of research on laminate floor brands, but unfortunately, many of the recommended products I've found have been discontinued.

I really need to know what is the best brand for laminate flooring that is under $2/sqft that can hold up to the wear and tear of a rental unit for the next 15 years or so (if there is such a thing!). I'm not as concerned about how much it looks like real wood. I've heard Armstrong and QuickStep are good brands, but what about their lower end products? Are the 7mm products acceptable? What about Carpet One's Mirror Lake (8mm), which I can get for the same price as a 7mm Armstrong laminate? Also, what is the deal with so-called "odd lots" on internet flooring sites? Are these the laminate version of carpet remnants - same product, just limited quantity, or are they a lower quality product?

Floorwizard

Best to stick with a major manufacturer.
the entry level quickstep is a great idea, and Mirror Lake is a combination of major manufacturers anyway, and it's been tested for quality by Carpet one....so both would be good to go...

poppameth

Yep, Quickstep 700 and Shaw Natural Values Collection are what we usually use. The Shaw is generally about $0.10 cheaper.