Flooring Question - Hardwoord, Bamboo, Laminate, Carpet???

[fishoholic]

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 I do have tile in the front enterance and bathroom and I love it.

Originally Posted by Slick Fork

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!

[andsoitgoes]

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?

Originally Posted by fishoholic

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 I do have tile in the front enterance and bathroom and I love it.

[andresont]

Don't listen to salesman or installer they are not thinking with your perspective of water protection. From their's point of view, few drops here and there not a big deal.
They don't have a fogiest idea how much water we spill on our floors and it has corrosive salt in it right?
At any rate hardwood will be damaged even if there is a hint of moisture.
It will warp just because of humidity forget the spills.. and you will spill for sure.
So get your scretching tool out and the bucket with water from your tank, soak the samples for 12 hrs. Dry it up and in 3 to 6 days you will have a clear picture right away wich product to go with.
3 years ago, IKEA laminate with glue in between the seams, worked for me and i use to spill a lot on it. It was very hard to scretch even with screwdriver.

[Skimmerking]

I have real oak hardwood floors in my house and I love it. I have them in the Kitchen diningroom, and livingroom and hallways and the front entrance and back entrance I have Slate that i did I went with the saloon grade because it looks old. And if you go with a darker wood the scratches will show up faster then on a lighter piece of floor. i will take some pictures to show you.

[Skimmerking]

here is my flooring that i put in along with slate tiles.. I went with the saloon grade i like it







My wife says you could have cleaned the shoes away its all about presentation...

[andsoitgoes]

ugh - see, this is what I'm talking about :P

andresont - I totally get what you're saying, and that's why I was going to grab some samples to really test them. I was seriously considering the glue, even with the snap lock pieces..

asmodeus - how much do you spill on the floors, and do you guys have kids? I'm really concerned about that side of things.

See - even without salesman, I'm getting 2 completely different sides to the story! :P

[andresont]

I am confused, how is that you see a difference in our stories?

Is this because I am saying that hardwood will warp when moisture is present?
I remember two people who had to replace the hardwood for this reason. One was on top of Coral Ocean shop in Vancouver on Boundary and KingsWay, she replaced her floors twice in one year! Just call Colin at (604) 733-1888 ( 3622 Kingsway - Coral Ocean) and ask him. He will tell you that woman on top of his store did replace the floors twice. (I don’t think it was moisture from his store though, but this is a different subject)
The other one is on top of my old apartment on Patterson ave. when they had a supply line broken in the bathroom. In both cases hardwood warped.
That is why I am recommending to test samples by submerging in salt water for 12 hrs , regardless of what you choice is laminate or hardwood.
In any case, as people here are indicating that whatever case may be (laminate or hardwood) it is a matter of personal preference. The point is to test it that’s all there is to it.
You may want to test few assembled samples just to see that it will stay aligned, so perhaps a small vat/bath would be even better for this purpose

[michika]

I would say go for hardwood. I have oak hardwood from the 50s, the small 1" slats through all of the first two floors of my house, and from what I've put it through it holds up really well.

They hold up quite well if you clean up a saltwater related spill immediately they do warp if the water isn't cleaned up/dried quickly. The warping I see is only the edges of the boards where the sealant has worn off. If you do go for hardwood invest in a fan you can direct at your floor in case of spills.

I have two dogs, and they haven't managed to damage our floor yet. I just make sure that their nails get cliped regularly and that I file them down a bit after to prevent sharp edges.

As for kids I can't comment, but I'm pretty rough with my floors; moving furniture around, dropping stuff, etc. If your worried about child-related damage consider putting down a nice rug with underlay in their primary play area to prevent damage/stains.

If you opt for underfloor heating, you won't regret it. My parents have it in their bathroom, and its a nice refreshing change from cold hardwood in the winter. They went with the above mentioned heating mats under 1ftx1ft tiles. I haven't heard any complaints, and according to my mother it hasn't caused any damaged to their heating costs.