laminate flooring

clath · Nov 20, 2007 12:07 am

hi looks like we will choose the floating laminate flooring for our house. Im after a good quality laminate. The flooring will go in the entry, hallway ,kitchen, family room and meals area. Has anyone checked out National Tiles laminate flooring? If so what are your thoughts on it?

The sales guy says it comes from Germany and he has quoted us for 78m2 at a 7mm thickness $1717.10 labour $22m2 $1716.00 total cost $3433.10

We have had other quotes totalling $5000 the labour charges and flooring seem to differ from quote to quote.

would like to get peoples feedback on wether the thickness will be ok for those areas ? and wether the price seems reasonable to pay. thanks.

http://clathsbuildingagain.blogspot.com

FionaL · Nov 20, 2007 6:55 am

Just wondering if you looked at carpet choice? They have a spring sale on atm including laminate flooring. When i was looking the lowdoc looked nice. It's 8mm thick and $19.95 sqm (I think) My cousin and parents both have it in their homes and both are very happy with it so far.

rellie · Nov 20, 2007 7:23 am

We used 'Quick-step" laminate flooring through Carpet Court.

http://www.quick-step.com/australia/au/ ... 00142.aspx

This is how they look in the house. Quite a few visitors have been suprised when they have found out our floors are laminate not real timber. From memory they were about $60 sqm without labour

clath · Nov 21, 2007 12:05 am

Thanks fiona and rellie for your help. Just shows the more you pay ..(as in your flooring rellie) the better quality product. I think that $60 might include the labour. A sales guy from macys said their labour charge for installation is $30 m2 and anything cheaper than that you might get bad workmanship. and anything from china stay away from. Fiona i will check out carpet choice.

Tellsth · May 10, 2008 11:15 pm

I think 8mm thickness is a better choce. And the pices are almost the same. But the quality of 8mm is more reliable. For Kitchen puose, you should buy laminate flooring which is waterproof. Most types of floating flooring doesn't have the characteristics.

Simon · May 12, 2008 9:09 am

Hi,
I've been going through this for a few weeks now and have pretty much narrowed my choices down.
As with you i'm looking at putting the laminate in the kitchen / dining / Living area.
I beleive no laminate is totally waterproof, however there are a few that have additives in the core and also a wax edging that gives it the best possible chance in a kitchen enviroment. Its an anti-moisture / Swelling Compound.
I've been to Nat Tiles and can tell you that theirs isn't one of them.

I'm looking at the Quickstep 800 range - a few companies sell this and i haven't finished getting quotes yet but up till my best quote has been for 90 sq metres roughly 4,500 (39/ sq metre) and this doesn't include installation as i'm doing it (so apart from installation thats everything including edging, underlay cleaning kit and even a DVD on how to lay it !!!).
Have you looked at doing it yourself - it really is pretty simple.
Here's a couple of companies that i've found sell it
Carpet Court and Carpet World. I know another but can't remember the names.

Another brand i've seen is Witex - this lookes pretty good as well and has the anti-moisture / swelling compound added.

By the way i had a bad experience at C/Court in Hoppers where the guy told me the anti-swelling coupound was Cr*p and then proceeded to try to sell me their cheap brand - you figure it. Not happy with them !

Hope this helps

Simon

Zedman · May 13, 2008 5:37 pm

Or for something that looks like timber but definetly isn't......
Yep there tiles... Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅

Zedman · May 13, 2008 5:37 pm

Or for something that looks like timber but definetly isn't......
Yep there tiles... Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅

FionaL · May 16, 2008 4:19 pm

We ended up going with carpet choice and got quick-step 800mm vintage oak natural varnish. At the time i brought it i wasnt aware that it came in different finishes, we got Eligna. I can tell you, we won't be getting it again! Don't get me wrong, it looks lovely but it's really slippery. The kids are skidding out everywhere :lol:

It also scratches really easily. The kids toys ect have left fine scratch marks on the top layer in the family room. We ended up paying $65 a sqm layed.

Simon · May 19, 2008 1:24 pm

Thanks for the feedback. Thats pretty much the same flooring i'm thinking of going for and like you we have a couple of small kids.
Gives me a lot to think about - i'll have to see if they do a different kind of surface to the laminate.

Not keen on tiles - too hard and cold. I want something that has a bit of give in it. Our youngest has already got more bumps on his head than i care to remember.
Had Laminate before. Its a lot more forgiving than ceramic.

I read on another thread that putting your fridge on it can help open up the joints - Have you noticed this? If so i'm considering using tiles purely in the fridge and dishwasher space which are in a nook and under the workbench respectively.

Simon

rellie · May 19, 2008 1:49 pm

Simon

Thanks for the feedback. Thats pretty much the same flooring i'm thinking of going for and like you we have a couple of small kids.
Gives me a lot to think about - i'll have to see if they do a different kind of surface to the laminate.

Simon

We have the same flooring, have two young boys and a golden retriever. We have no (noticeable) scratch marks and have been in our house for 6 months. I love our flooring

We also had a problem with a couple of the sales guys at CC hoppers Crossing :shock:

I let rip one afternoon and after that we got VIP attention and service.

Simon · May 19, 2008 2:06 pm

Thanks Rellie - its good to get a first hand view from more than one person.
Thats what i like about this forum

Simon

FionaL · May 27, 2008 1:59 pm

When i say it has scratches on it already, I mean that I myself can see them when cleaning the floor. I know where they are i guess. If you were to stand and look at it it looks fine but if you get it in the right light you can see the fine marks. My floor has been down for 5 weeks, we have a 2 yo boy, 1 yo girl and a cavalier king Charles spaniel which is why we choose laminate and what we thought was a good quality, i wouldn't expect scratches of any sort on it after such a short time.

Simon, My fridge cavity has the flooring on it but the fridge doesn't fit but my parents also have laminate flooring in their kitchen which the fridge is sitting on. I don't believe they've had any trouble with it.