Hello,
we purchased a 20-year-old house that still has the original laminate flooring installed in the upper floor.
At first, we planned to install laminate there again, but now we are leaning more towards hardwood flooring. A carpenter friend advised us: better to choose inexpensive hardwood than expensive laminate flooring.
We are not yet 100% decided. Our requirements are:
- There is no underfloor heating, and due to previous troublesome experiences, we definitely will not install it.
- The laminate was installed as a floating floor.
- We have two small children who will remain quite young for the next 10 years, so the floor will certainly be subjected to some wear and tear.
Initially, our thought was to install relatively inexpensive laminate, around 15 euros per square meter (about 1.40 USD per square foot), and consider hardwood in 10 years.
We no longer find this very sensible. Hardwood clearly looks better visually and is probably more comfortable to walk on. Also, while solid or engineered hardwood can be sanded and refinished after several years, this is not possible with laminate, which means removing and replacing the entire floor again.
At first, we assumed hardwood flooring would not be available for less than 80 euros per square meter (about 7.40 USD per square foot). However, we found offers for engineered hardwood at around 45 euros per square meter (about 4.15 USD per square foot) in a local store. Some online shops even offer it cheaper.
We are not looking for the cheapest option at any cost. For now, our budget for initial repairs is limited, so it’s a matter of weighing the options. If we were to spend 15-20 euros per square meter on laminate, it makes more sense to invest 40-50 euros per square meter in hardwood, which will provide better living quality, appearance, value, and durability.
However, if engineered hardwood at 40-50 euros per square meter is poor quality, this calculation doesn’t hold; but we currently cannot budget 100 euros per square meter for hardwood.
We are not fixed on a particular type of wood; both plank flooring and strip flooring appeal to us aesthetically. The product does not need to be premium eco-friendly, but we do not want a floor with strong formaldehyde emissions, especially in the children’s rooms. Also, the floor should have a wear layer thick enough to allow at least one sanding and refinishing.
we purchased a 20-year-old house that still has the original laminate flooring installed in the upper floor.
At first, we planned to install laminate there again, but now we are leaning more towards hardwood flooring. A carpenter friend advised us: better to choose inexpensive hardwood than expensive laminate flooring.
We are not yet 100% decided. Our requirements are:
- There is no underfloor heating, and due to previous troublesome experiences, we definitely will not install it.
- The laminate was installed as a floating floor.
- We have two small children who will remain quite young for the next 10 years, so the floor will certainly be subjected to some wear and tear.
Initially, our thought was to install relatively inexpensive laminate, around 15 euros per square meter (about 1.40 USD per square foot), and consider hardwood in 10 years.
We no longer find this very sensible. Hardwood clearly looks better visually and is probably more comfortable to walk on. Also, while solid or engineered hardwood can be sanded and refinished after several years, this is not possible with laminate, which means removing and replacing the entire floor again.
At first, we assumed hardwood flooring would not be available for less than 80 euros per square meter (about 7.40 USD per square foot). However, we found offers for engineered hardwood at around 45 euros per square meter (about 4.15 USD per square foot) in a local store. Some online shops even offer it cheaper.
We are not looking for the cheapest option at any cost. For now, our budget for initial repairs is limited, so it’s a matter of weighing the options. If we were to spend 15-20 euros per square meter on laminate, it makes more sense to invest 40-50 euros per square meter in hardwood, which will provide better living quality, appearance, value, and durability.
However, if engineered hardwood at 40-50 euros per square meter is poor quality, this calculation doesn’t hold; but we currently cannot budget 100 euros per square meter for hardwood.
We are not fixed on a particular type of wood; both plank flooring and strip flooring appeal to us aesthetically. The product does not need to be premium eco-friendly, but we do not want a floor with strong formaldehyde emissions, especially in the children’s rooms. Also, the floor should have a wear layer thick enough to allow at least one sanding and refinishing.
Lucy Westenraa schrieb:
We are complete novices when it comes to DIY and quite inexperienced. But we thought you could rent a sanding machine from a building supply store for a fee, sand the upper floor within about 2 hours, then vacuum once and clean once, and that would be it? Not so? It depends on the condition of the floor. Even if you only do one sanding pass, it will still take more time because you can’t use the large machine in the corners, and most importantly, you need to reseal the floor afterward.
Best regards,
Dirk Grafe
Lucy Westenraa schrieb:
You say "bonded naturally." So does that mean there is an option without bonding? That would be a problem for us because we definitely don’t trust ourselves to do the bonding, and hiring a professional for that would cost so much that it would exceed our planned budget for renovations. We thought with these click systems, with a bit of help from more experienced tradespeople, it would be manageable. But bonding, no.
In case anyone wonders why Lucyy is replying: technology is strange. I just logged back into the forum through Tapatalk and saw that I registered here or somewhere else back in 2011 (???), under the name miss Westenraa. And this username is now being used for house building? Anyway, just so no one is confused...
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