Looking for input on flooring

[Redwolf]

OK...I'm sure a fair number of you have had remodling done in your time, so maybe you can help me out with my research.

After 20 years, I'm tired of dealing with wall-to-wall carpet (and especially sick of seeing the filth that comes out of the carpets whenever they're cleaned). We're also planning to get new flooring downstairs relatively soon, as we hope to get a new puppy some time this year, and our old dog (bless his heart!) thoroughly saturated the carpets during his last year of life (I ran the floor cleaner a couple of times a week, but still, you know there's no way to get that smell entirely out of the carpet and pad). Add that to the various allergies my husband and daughter have, and it all adds up to one thing: Hard flooring. Right now I'm doing research, trying to decide what kind of flooring will work best for us (and still be reasonably economical): Some kind of "wood-look" composite such as Pergo, sealed hardwood, or tile.

Our house is an A-frame, with natural knotty pine walls, so we want to stick with something that will look natural in that "lodge-like" setting...something having the appearance of either wood or stone/slate. It needs to be able to stand up to kids and dogs (especially a new puppy, who will undoubtedly baptize it more than a few times before he learns his household manners) without a lot of expensive maintenance.

Any thoughts? Anybody have experience...either good or bad...with any of the commonly available hard flooring options? I'm just now starting my research, so any input is helpful.

Redwolf

[scottielvr]

I can totally relate to the carpet thing...so warm and comfortable in winter, but the maintenance can be a nightmare, especially when pets are involved. We added some living space to a daylight basement downstairs, installed carpeting down there, and have since come to regret it...so you've definitely got the right idea, I think.

The upstairs/main portion of my house has hardwood floors throughout; the builder used the cheapest hardwood flooring he could get at the time (don't ask me how I know this), and we discovered later that they were never really sealed properly. While the hardwood is definitely more practical than carpet, I can't say the floor has stood up very well to dogs; lots of surface scratching and dulling, and a fair amount of maintenance to keep them looking good. So if you go with hardwood, at a minimum, if possible avoid the 'bargain' choices and be certain that it's been sealed adequately. Even with that, it may not be the best long-term choice if you plan to stay there a while.

I've heard good things about Pergo and the like. My neighbors have a gorgeous, laminate Pergo-type floor throughout their home, which is all done in knotty pine similar to your description. Their floor looks fabulous and appears to have held up well over about 5 years (albeit they don't have any dogs, for some incomprehensible reason)... but I wonder if that material has been around long enough to assess how it stands up in the really long term.

You can't go wrong with stone or ceramic tile, though, if you don't mind the "coldness" of it; very practical, and something like slate looks fantastic, esp. with a rustic style interior--and does a great job of hiding dog hair.

[fearfaoin]

Pergo also makes very nice stone-look tiles...

http://www.pergo.com/shop/category.aspx ... tartpage=0

Everyone who's installed Pergo has been pretty happy with it.
A coworker did his kitchen in two tones of stone-like Pergo, in a
checkerboard pattern. It's pretty cool -- kind of like a cathedral.

There's also an antique barnwood that's nice:
http://www.pergo.com/shop/ProductInfo.a ... =PG%207303


When we bought our house, it was mostly red oak floors, except the
kitchen (tile) and the living room (awful carpet). So, we had the carpet
pulled up and more red oak put down and ended up getting the rest
of the floor refinished in the process. It's pretty nice. Not cheap, but
worth it. We were thinking of putting an oriental rug down, but
decided we like the hardwood too much to cover it up.

[emmline]

Bamboo is an interesting, and durable, material that's sometimes used in place of wood these days. Don't know how it is to install as I've only done oak. We tend to have an inconvenient preference for natural materials such as wood and cork, but based on what you're saying, Pergo might be the best combination of attractive and practical for you.

[missy]

did an entire first floor in Pergo, and we're starting to look at the laminates available to redo this house.

The advantages:
*As long as you use their glue (saw you can buy preglued, now) and underlay, the floor is guarenteed for 15 years. Against everything, including dog nails. The house I put it in has held up well (until the upstairs bathroom burst a pipe and it flooded for 10 hours........ hey, it's the ex's house now - I don't care!!!!!! ).
*Cleaning is breeze. Dry Swiffer for the dust bunnies. If you need to wet mop, vinegar and water. If you get a bad stain, a little acetone will clear it right up.
*Non allergic - the composite itself gives off NO fumes, the glue is a very mild water based product. New carpet can outgas for up to one year, and polyurethane, even the new formulas, can be really bad. And, of course, with just the quick dusting or wet wipe, it's a lot more hypoallergenic then carpeting holding in dander and dust, etc.

The disadvantages:
*It can be costly if you aren't going to do it yourself (I'll get to that in a minute).
*You really need to buy all you are going to need at one time (unless you are changing patterns) so you have it all match. Pergo swears they don't have ANY differences in color between lot - but we found that wasn't quite true.
*You need to have fairly stable underflooring. It needs to be somewhat flat (you do use a foam underlay, so it'll take some bumps, but nothing major). And you need to have somewhat square walls (we were doing a 100 year old house........). Plus you cannot put it on concrete or any floor that "sweats". They tell you to tape a plastic garbage bag down on the floor and leave it for 24 hours. Afterwards, if there's ANY moisture under the plastic, they do NOT recommend using a laminate.

Installing it is fairly straightfoward. You rent a "kit" that has tow straps and ratchets in it - you need to pull the pieces together after you glue them. Plus you have spacers in the kit - you need to leave 1/4" all the way around to give the floor room to expand and contract (and you need to install toe molding to cover up that gap.
A table saw and miter saw are handy - and plan to use the BEST blades, and lots of them. This stuff is HARD and you need a clean cut to keep seams from showing.

Good luck with whatever you decide - then you can come and do my house!!!!!!

[Craig Stuntz]

I don't think Pergo can be sanded down and refinished if it is scratched. Their site isn't clear about this, but it's hard to see how that could work.

Personally I can spot Pergo a mile away, but it is much cheaper than most solid wood.

[Chiffed]

My parents just installed Lyptus (farmed wood, click to install) to replace their old laminate. Lots of great stains available, environmentally friendly-ish, and idiot-proof installation. It's advertised as long-wearing, but who knows? It looks good so far...

[I.D.10-t]

Bamboo?

[Redwolf]

Oh, I should have mentioned...we'll absolutely have to have this professionally installed. We're both "do it yourself" klutzes...even the simplest DIY has potential to go awry here...probably because we both really dislike doing it! I'll paint walls, but that's it. We also have no way to dispose of the old carpet and pad. So relative difficulties/costs with that would apply as well.

My very first inclination when Tony and I started talking about this was to go with tile (personally, I think slate tile would look fabulous in here), but my biggest worry with tile out here in earthquake country is cracking. I know that tiles have had to be replaced in this house before, due to cracking from earthquakes, and that can get expensive if you don't buy a lot of extra tiles in the original color.

In one area, we'd be going from whatever we decide to use to our already tiled entryway (which I don't plan to change if I don't have to)...I wonder if there could be a problem with different heights?

Redwolf

[kkrell]

Actual Linoleum? Used for the chemically sensitive, and can be isntalled with a Zero-VOC adhesive. A natural product: http://www.themarmoleumstore.com/

That's what we popped for. Tile is too cold (and prone to cracks, damage to/from dropped items), vinyl is toxic throughout its entire lifetime, wood will not hold up to dog nails.

Kevin Krell

[Cynth]

Actual Linoleum? Used for the chemically sensitive, and can be isntalled with a Zero-VOC adhesive. A natural product: http://www.themarmoleumstore.com/

That's what we popped for. Tile is too cold (and prone to cracks, damage to/from dropped items), vinyl is toxic throughout its entire lifetime, wood will not hold up to dog nails.

Kevin Krell

How often would you think you would have to strip and polish it? I wasn't too clear on the difference between Marmoleum and Marmoleum Click. It looks really nice though. But the stripping and polishing thing could be a problem for me I think.

[s1m0n]

Everyone who's installed Pergo has been pretty happy with it.

I hate lamiates. They look gross, wear badly, and are cold under your feet.

I got talked into laminates in one place I used to own, and I regretted it every minute until I sold the place.

Go with wood.

[emmline]

Everyone who's installed Pergo has been pretty happy with it.

I hate lamiates. They look gross, wear badly, and are cold under your feet.

I got talked into laminates in one place I used to own, and I regretted it every minute until I sold the place.

Go with wood.

Actually, I pretty much agree with this, but there are people who are happy with them.

[Lorenzo]

I just installed a solid oak hardwood floor (no plys) in the kitchen, hall, and laundry. All prefinished, 5/8" x 3" @$2.75 p/sq ft. (material only) -all 6 ft. lengths. Went down fast. I don't like anything about Pergo. My sister just replaced the Pergo in her kitchen with real wood. The cheapest I've seen Pergo is about $2.38 p/sq. ft. The oak flooring was purchased locally at a carpet outlet store. It was made in China though...probably the reason why it was cheap. It's really beautiful though and good quality. T&G all four sides. Rich color. Looks like Koa or Hickory or something. Maybe I can post a pic.

[Lorenzo]