After my recent reno I discovered that you've got a lot of options now flooring-wise.

The cheapest would be the cheapo laminate that you can get a under a buck/sq. foot. There's actually some very good higher quality laminate that you can install yourself and can hardly tell the difference from real wood. Expect to pay $2-$4/sq. foot for this stuff.

Engineered hardwood is next up the chain of expense. This is nice since you can put it in places such as basements and kitchens where the solid wood flooring would warp.

Of course real hardwood is the most expensive. I'm not sure it's worth it except in your living room perhaps given how good laminate and engineered hardwood floors have become.

Tile is wonderful and will last forever. Even the cheapest ceramic tile will look great if carefully chosen and it's the best type of flooring for your reef tank.

Adding electric underfloor heating beneath laminate, engineered hardwood or tile is as simple as unrolling the heating mat and getting an electrician to hook it up. I added a Nuheat mat to the basement bathroom. This investment paid off the first time I stepped out of the shower and onto a warmth rather than ice-cold ceramic.

Hmm - This is interesting. where would you recommend going for tile in the Fraser Valley area? I'd REALLY like to look at the heated flooring, it would be so perfect in our new little bathroom - but I know for certain it won't go under the reef tank (which is going to be right in the entryway above the stairs).

So anyway - I think high quality (15mm+) laminate is the way we're going to go - and that's a benefit as it's easier than most things to install, and we could get it in fairly quickly. Again though, it's a matter of what to look for and sources. We're going to get some samples this weekend and we'll go from there - but if anyone has any specific suggestions on brands/etc - It would greatly be appreciated!!

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I would HIGHLY advise against laminate. It is okay unless water seeps through the cracks and the backing for that stuff will instantly dissolve, warp, crack, or otherwise become ruined. You might want to check out a company on terminal that sells great prices stuff called end of the roll. There are a few places right beside it as well that offer very very competitive prices. I love bamboo and I think they have a pretty good price on that and it's a workhorse of flooring

Nick, We are going to take out the carpet and tile our hallway and corridor to bedrooms like Ruth .I love the tile look and there are so many colour choices .
Home Depot and Rona may be worth a look.

.......................Dave

I just looked at our pictures taken, and we've got tile throughout the hallway upstairs, so it looks like we'll just have to do the flooring in the 3 bedrooms, living room and main "entry" way

I'm concerned about the comment about Laminate, it's REALLY frustrating as I'm hearing that Laminate is sturdy even against water. Then it isn't. Then Hardwood will show the dings and marks from the toys and pets.

Who do I listen to?? :(

Justusfish - I've actually got a connection at End of the Roll in Surrey - hopefully they can point us in the right direction!!

The key with laminate is to make sure that it's Green in colour underneath the "wood" that's your clue that it's been treated to withstand water. If in doubt, grab a sample and leave it in a bucket for a day. When I redid our floors I put all my samples through torture tests as we have the fish, a dog, I'm clumsy and drop things all the time!! I dropped hammers and bricks on the stuff, left it in water, drove over it with the truck... Some of the high end stuff failed miserably, while some of the midrange stuff did just fine. Don't be afraid to destroy their samples!

Why in the world would u do that! :lol:

I used Mirage too and really like it. I installed it myself about 7 years ago, around $4 sq/ft at that time. To have it installed was easily double that. I had my 77g on it for 4 years with no damage to the floor with the inevitable small floods. Easy to care for, maybe I'm biased but I have yet to see any laminate that looks as good.

Torture tests for laminate is a great idea. I had a good quality laminate in my condo that I never had a problem with, however I have cheep laminate in my house and when the dishwasher leaked a bit the laminate warped. I plan on replacing with tile when I stop spending all my $$$ on SW stuff:lol: I do have tile in the front enterance and bathroom and I love it.

Okay, made a trip to home depot so I could check some samples out.

I came out of that store more confused and bafled than I was at the start.

I took a few samples and did some very basic scatch tests.

Even the most expensive hardwood scraped like it was paper against some small edges of metal, even light dings left marks!

Looking at laminate, some just breathing on them scraped the crap out of them, others (the dupont and trafficmasters) wouldn't scrape if you tapdanced on them.

The trafficmaster, which promises water sealant protection, had no "green" colour, whereas some of the no-name brands *DID*

Either way, I'm now confused as even flooring people are saying to toss the idea of laminate, but what with the experience I just had at home depot, I'm about 20x more confused than I was walking into the store!!!!

Ugh.

Help? Again?