We have a quote for the entire ground floor with glued-down vinyl flooring featuring a 0.55mm (0.02 inch) wear layer. At first, this seems a bit thick, but since we do a lot of home office work (office chair) and will also have vinyl in the entrance and kitchen area (to avoid constantly changing and thus mismatched flooring in the fairly open ground floor, and because we are not fans of tiles).
1. Does it make sense to additionally seal the vinyl floor for extra protection with such a high wear layer?
For the upper floor, we plan to install laminate that looks similar ourselves for budget reasons. We also have a not particularly cheap quote for the laminate material.
2. What is the difference between cheap DIY-store laminate and laminate from a specialist retailer? We could save almost 10€ per m² (10.4 USD per sq ft), but the saying “you get what you pay for” applies... what is really different? Is it softer? The salesperson mentioned that the “tongue and groove” joints are not as well made. However, paying the extra for that seems too much to me, especially since it’s a one-time installation.
1. Does it make sense to additionally seal the vinyl floor for extra protection with such a high wear layer?
For the upper floor, we plan to install laminate that looks similar ourselves for budget reasons. We also have a not particularly cheap quote for the laminate material.
2. What is the difference between cheap DIY-store laminate and laminate from a specialist retailer? We could save almost 10€ per m² (10.4 USD per sq ft), but the saying “you get what you pay for” applies... what is really different? Is it softer? The salesperson mentioned that the “tongue and groove” joints are not as well made. However, paying the extra for that seems too much to me, especially since it’s a one-time installation.
C
Changeling8 Mar 2018 08:30Evolith schrieb:
We have had both. Good and cheap laminate flooring.
In our apartment, fairly inexpensive laminate was installed (I think under €10 per square meter). As soon as my child rode their balance bike over it, scratches appeared. Apparently, it had a poor abrasion rating.
In the house, we installed laminate with a higher abrasion class throughout the entire living area. 8mm (about 0.3 inches) thick and (very important!) with a properly thick underlay. My son rides over it with his sandy Puky bike, and the cats scratch there as well. No visible damage. It holds up well and was also quite straightforward to install. The flooring feels good underfoot too.
My tip: Choose a good abrasion rating, avoid the thinnest laminate, use a high-quality underlay, and go for laminate with texture.
We bought from Laminatdepot. For 100 square meters (about 1076 square feet), we paid €2300 including everything. Thank you, the experience report is very helpful! Do you happen to remember the exact abrasion rating?
What exactly does “including everything” mean—did you install it yourselves? So the price per square meter was roughly €20–23?
Malz1902 schrieb:
No negative feedback so far Thanks here as well. How long has the floor been in use?
Changeling schrieb:
Thanks here as well. How long has the floor been in use?The floor has been installed since early December, so not for very long yet. However, the walking experience is excellent, and the warmth from the underfloor heating comes through well.
Changeling schrieb:
Thanks, the review is very helpful! Do you happen to remember the abrasion class?
What exactly does "including everything" mean – did you install it yourselves? So the price per square meter was about 20-23€?
Thanks again here. How long has the floor been in use?I don't remember the exact abrasion class. It was one that's also used in commercial spaces.
Included were the impact sound insulation, baseboards, connector clips for the baseboards, the laminate flooring (8mm thickness), and tape for the impact sound insulation.
We picked up and installed the laminate ourselves.
C
Changeling8 Mar 2018 14:45derbauretter schrieb:
Hello Changeling,
we also have vinyl flooring in our current house and are very satisfied with it. I work from home and haven’t experienced any scratches or damage to the floors. I would say save your money and have vinyl flooring installed in your upper floor as well. I’m not a fan of laminate flooring, but definitely a fan of vinyl because our experience so far has been very positive. We are currently building and have chosen vinyl flooring for our new house too.
Good luck and best regards,
derbauretter Sounds good! May I ask which wear class or thickness your vinyl has and how long it has been installed?
Similar topics