ᐅ Laminate Flooring – Why Is It So Unpopular Among Sellers?

We are building a single-family house with underfloor heating for hot water. The entire ground floor living area will be tiled, but we are still undecided about the flooring for the children’s rooms and the bedroom.

We initially considered installing floating laminate flooring ourselves – expected to cost around €15 (about $16) plus impact sound insulation per square meter (approximately 10.8 sq ft). If the flooring wears out in 20 years, we don’t mind replacing it.

We visited three flooring suppliers, and all recommended vinyl or engineered hardwood flooring, both to be fully glued down. We are generally against hardwood flooring because it is not ideal with underfloor heating and, above all, expensive. When the children (currently toddlers) damage it, it’s frustrating. Sanding engineered hardwood is often not an option, and replacing it when glued down is a real hassle. We are suspicious of vinyl due to pollutant concerns, which were confirmed by Ökotest in 2012. Laminate, on the other hand, appears to be free of harmful substances according to the same test.

Why do all salespeople advise against laminate? Is it because they earn more with other types of flooring? Also, is floating installation of engineered hardwood compatible with underfloor heating, or should it be avoided?

So, in our apartment we currently have both laminate and vinyl flooring.
Downside: You need very good impact sound insulation. The stomping from the floor above is really awful (and we only have a toddler!)
Since we don’t have underfloor heating, your feet get cold quickly, although with the somewhat thicker vinyl it’s quite manageable. Our son has about 25 square meters (270 square feet) of vinyl flooring. We haven’t noticed any health issues or unpleasant odors.
Upside: incredibly easy to maintain. For me, with small children, this is the most important factor. Right now, I’m almost worshipping our vinyl because I can wipe up urine spills without panic.

In our house, however, there will be a low-pile carpet in the children’s room. It’s simply nicer once they are out of diapers and playing on the floor. The underfloor heating won’t always be on anyway.
In the rest of the house, we’ll have laminate with proper impact sound insulation, probably installed as a floating floor.

AndreasPlü schrieb:


Why do all salespeople advise against laminate flooring? Because they make more profit with other floorings?

Yes and no. Yes, they do earn more with other types of flooring, but on the other hand, you yourself point out that laminate cannot be sanded down. Especially if it’s a low-cost option, it’s basically a disposable floor. After a few years, it usually looks worn out, and if the thin cheap boards are not glued down, it often clicks and creaks underfoot.

You should also consider why laminate is so popular in rental apartments… of course, because it looks good, is inexpensive, and the landlord doesn’t care about the lack of impact sound insulation as long as they don’t live below. After 5 or at most 10 years, the floor gets removed and the next tenant “enjoys” the “high quality” $5 floor (I understand that you’re not going for the cheapest at $15).

A hardwood parquet floor can actually be sanded down when it’s worn out, and you can seal and maintain the wood so that the surface becomes fairly hard and durable.

If you still decide to go with laminate and don’t choose the thinnest option including a proper impact sound insulation, then honestly you’re reaching a price range where you could also get real hardwood parquet. For example, we installed it in a guest room. The cost including subfloor/adhesive (installed over old tiles, without underfloor heating) and sealing was about €30/m² (about $32/m²). Admittedly, it was a leftover stock from a hardware store, matched exactly in terms of area and color, but sometimes you just get lucky. It’s been in place for 5 years now, it doesn’t creak at all, looks great, and with the light use, it should easily last another 25 years before needing to be sanded.

Of course, you can install laminate at $15/m² plus subfloor/adhesive, but I doubt it will last 20 years in high-traffic areas like a children’s room. By the way, we use carpet there. Not the cheapest either, but I would always do that again.

Best regards,
Dirk Grafe

I also find laminate flooring terrible; every rental apartment I’ve had in recent years had it installed. It feels cold underfoot, is noisy, and if it gets wet, it causes problems. Especially in the entrance area, the edges would warp up... And it looks unattractive as well. Plus, it’s far too slippery if you have pets.

Now that I’m in my own house, I’m definitely going with vinyl flooring. There are some nice options that are waterproof (since our subfloor isn’t) and have a good texture to prevent slipping. It also feels warm underfoot.

I think those are quite extreme prejudices against laminate flooring. You don’t always have to go for the cheapest option. We have installed it in several rooms, and there are some very attractive styles available—the selection is actually larger than for vinyl, for example. It doesn’t feel cold underfoot in our home—ok, we have underfloor heating—and our little ones also enjoy walking barefoot on it. It’s only been a few years, but it still looks practically new.

Of course, you can’t sand it down after 25 years, but once my kids are no longer toddlers, they can choose the next floor themselves since it’s their room (I’m still paying for it ), so that doesn’t bother me at all.

Edit: Moisture hasn’t been a problem with ours either, at least so far. And with two little ones, there’s certainly a lot coming onto the floor...

Not prejudice, but years of experience with laminate flooring. Yes, you can get more expensive options and should definitely consider that for your own home (not exactly the ones priced at 3.50 per square meter).

But they are all smooth and cold, no matter the price. I haven't seen any with a textured surface yet.