Personally, I like the look over carpet. Carpet also tends to show wear and tear quicker than wood or laminate. Less maintenance is also an advantage. Lastly, you never know what the heck is living in your carpet, ie. dust mites.
Guys I bought some Armstrong laminate and am having a HELL of a time putting it together. The pieces just dont snap together all that easily. Whats wrong? SOMEONE HELP! Thank you. Love you all.
Carpet is a must for me, yes, it's harder to clean, yes, it will look **** in the long haul if you don't take care of it, but I still prefer carpet over anything else because it's more comfort. Now days, the trent is that people likes wood or bamboo floor instead of carpet, it's one of the hottest selling point, well well well, it's just like that people think a fireplace is a must even though most of them won't ever use it.
I JUST QUOTED A SWOLY POST WITH NO SMILIES!!!!!!!!! what do i win, A-Train???? OMGOMGOMGOMG... i have hardwood floors (pier-and-beam house) everywhere except in the master bedroom. i prefer the wood, but it's nice to get out of bed (in the winter months) and not walk around on the cold floor to get to the bathroom.
Same for my house. It was built in 1952. I used to be a carpet person, but hard wood floors have won me over. I helped put laminate down at a friend's house. It looked nice, but felt flimsy. It didn't strike me as durable in the long run.
I can't comment on rental units, but we put laminate everywhere except the bedrooms 3 years ago. Once you make the switch there is no going back. We should have done it sooner. It's also fun watching our dog (a very small poodle puppy) run, slip and fall on the laminate.
Real hard wood all the way! There's nothing like a nice, newly finished real hard wood floor! A-Train: If you're planning on pulling the old tiles up, be careful- many manufacturers used to use asbestos in their tiles.
Carpet is nasty. Anything but carpet. Well - carpet in the bedrooms is fine, since that is more "sellable".
Wood rocks. I've had wood in the last 2 places I've lived and it's cleaner, and for some odd reason, we don't spill as much **** as we use to when we had carpet.
Jesus guys! I revived this old ass thread for HELP! Is it possible for a single plank to somehow throw off the entire structure? I think thats the problem... Anything? Killin myself here man.
Sorry, that post was from July of 2005, so it doesn't count. I think that post was before Swoly went on his current smiley rampage Ziggy, this may be a stoopid question, but are you staggering the planks? Also, you should let the laminate sit in the room in which you'll be putting it for a couple of days to get used to the humidity and air conditions in the room. If you just take it out of the box and start putting it together right away, it might warp on you. I think laminate flooring is intentionally difficult to put together, though. It is supposed to have a real tight fit. Get a scrap piece of lumber, put it up against the piece you are trying to install, and whack it a few times with a rubber mallet. Don't use a regular hammer, because it could be too heavy and damage the flooring.
Thanks for the help a-train. I appreciate it. But ya I have those steps down. It just doesnt feel as easy going together as I hear. Perhaps I am just not using enough force when hammering? Seems so delicate so I am shy about being brute.
Anyone know of any good contractors that would install it for a good price? I want to get it in my parents house. I was thinking about spending $2500-$3000 total. Only two rooms that would add up to a 1000 sqft max I think. But I went to home depot and picked something that was about $4 psf and they charge $2 psf install. So at $6 for a 1000 sqft it would be $6000. Is that expensive? I dont know crap about wood floors. Exactly how hard is it to install yourself?
My girlfriend's dad did their house by himself so I doubt it is very difficult although I don't know for sure.
