# Help me Choose a Laminate Brand



## DYI_DD (Jun 7, 2006)

Does anyone from the "contractortalk" forum visit here? I'm really curious as to the "expert's" recommendations. I wanted to post in there, but it said it's for "contractors" only, and that I'm not.


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## AtlanticWBConst. (May 12, 2006)

DIY DD,

Sorry that no one has gotten back to you yet. Don't worry about the "Contractor's only" heading over at Contractor Talk. It's really there - to keep ALOT of simpleton questions from popping up and also to keep 'rookie' how-to 'ideas', out...
If you have a legit need (in this case, you sound like you do), post your question on the flooring forum. Let them know that no one has reponded to your question over at DYI.

I have only installed a few laminate floors. What knowledge I have, I have gotten from speaking to:
1.) Flooring Store guys at the flooring stores.
2.) Speaking to my Flooring guy (That I use for carpet and VCT)
3.) Doing personal research: like on 'Epinons' , or doing a serach on the web for whatever particular 'thing' I need info. on.

Hope this helps a lil.


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## tribe_fan (May 18, 2006)

For what it's worth -(I'm not a pro) I put in a Mannington Laminate floor about 7 years ago, and it's still going strong. - It was a "Glue together" type. Its in a Kitchen/dining room area. Two kids, two dogs. I was worried about the dog claws - but no scratches. Same for the chairs. 

Personally I think the Glue type would give better spill protection - but most of my friends went to the snap together kind.


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## Floorwizard (Dec 5, 2003)

> He showed samples of how each one had a green tint, which he said was the moisture protection built into the compressed laminate


Actually it is just a dye. it is a gimmick to show moisture protection.
It probably is moisture resistant, but the green dye has nothing to do with it.
What does have to do with it is invisible to the naked eye, so they dye the core green.

All manufacturers have good, better, and best grades. so pick from any of those manufacturers, and pick the best in that line you can afford to.
I personally like Quickstep the best out of that group.



> So, what should I look for. Which series would be best. What is a good price (for example, quick step classic and eligna was $3.30/ sq-ft, while quadra was $4.49 - are those good prices???).


For that kind of quality......yes.


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## DYI_DD (Jun 7, 2006)

Thanks for the responses!

What is the "good, better, best" within those brands (especially quickstep)?


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## AtlanticWBConst. (May 12, 2006)

All I knowis that Pergo is the most popular. I've installed some cheap stuff for a client that was quite thin and fragile until put together. I will be installing some higher quality product soon (Not sure of the name yet) - I was given a sample of it, you can see the higher quality in just the top layer - it being thicker and stronger. Another consideration is in the foam padding you will use. There are several levels of quality. You should go to a few Floor stores and see what they have for both Laminates and Foam underlayment. They will show you samples of each and be able to tell you what the differences in each brand are.


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## Swimmfst (Jun 13, 2006)

DYI DD,

I am undergoing same process, and finally settled on Alloc as the brand. However, I heard favorable responses from wholesalers on both Mannington and QuickStep ... everyone hated Shaw. The rapidroll 3 in 1 product is effective per wholesaler. However, the wholesaler I spoke with suggested that if I was placing laminate on top of vinyl, that I would be much better off placing a thin layer of cork on top of the vinyl rather than the 3 in one barrier ... he said the 3 in one was a waste of time over the vinyl. The cork would provide better feel and sound protection. Otherwise, he suggested an underlayer was a waste of time over vinyl. Also, he suggested that I place a thin bead of silicone caulking around the entire perimeter to help with water protection, although the mfg instructions say only to put the caulk around kitchen / wet appliances. Hope this helps.


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## Floorwizard (Dec 5, 2003)

Quickstep

good - Quickstep builder grade - 10 year warranty
Better - Quickstep steps - 15 year Warranty
Best - 800 seiries and above 20+ Warranty

Different Variables will make these products a better quality.
Core, Water resistance, Alum Oxide finish thickness, ect....

I would not use Cork as an underlay unless the manufacturer will still warranty the product.
I would Caulk everywhere there is an expansion space -----cheap insurance.


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## DYI_DD (Jun 7, 2006)

Where on the quickstep page do I find these "good, better, best" all I see is "Eligna," "Classic," "Quadra," "Perspective," "Country," and "Elegance"

Am I missing something? 

DYI_DD


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## Floorwizard (Dec 5, 2003)

look at warranties. the lowest is good, the mid is better, and the longest is best.


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## DYI_DD (Jun 7, 2006)

Gotcha. Thanks!


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## DYI_DD (Jun 7, 2006)

Okay, everything I find on quckstep website says it has a 25 year warranty.

The dealer says it's all about the same anymore. The only difference is in price for the picture they put on it.

I found my favorite U842 - Honey Oak Double Plank. It says it has a 25 year warranty + 25 year moisture warranty.

This will be good, I take it?

thanks

-DYI_DD


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## Floorwizard (Dec 5, 2003)

Yes it will be good.
And yes they are starting to be right.
Laminate is heading in the direction I predicted.

High quality and low quality will be more easily determined by the look.
But there are still lots of manufacturers where you can not tell the difference visually.


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## sierraac (Jun 28, 2006)

*Article*

Hi. I have been looking for laminate flooring also. I found an article on ifloor.com (http:\\www.ifloor.com/learnmore/laminate.html) called "Brand Wars 2: A Laminate Showdown". It is a comparison of several brands and series within brands. I found it helpful.

Anne


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## putri (Jul 13, 2006)

*Mannington for us*

We're owner builders and just ordered our laminate. It took us 4 months to decide which to buy since there are sooooo many (between brands, color, pattern, and ease of installation) options. 

We wanted something mid-range, nothing more than $3/sq.ft. material. First we were going to go with the Lumber Liquidator cheapie stuff, but after a lot of reading, we thought that it seems worth the exra cash for better stuff. So we went to our local flooring store and saw some samples and of course got the run down on each brand (Shaw, Mannington, Alloc, QuickStep, and a couple others that I forgot). We ended up getting Mannington locally (considered ordering online) for $2.87/sq.ft. (got a deal from the dealer) with the good sound proofing underlayment (some blue color item) since we're buying 1500 sq.ft. of it. We ended with Mannington because of the pattern, it was more beautiful to us than the rest. The other items like installation, warranty, and other basics were comparable to the other mid-range brands.


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## Monty61 (Nov 15, 2008)

*Quick Step*

I had Quick Step installed in Jan. 08. The salesman came to the house. We have 2 large dogs, which he saw. Originally we were going to get tile in the whole main area, kitchen, living and hallways. He sold us on the Quick Step for the living and hallways. We went with tile in the kitchen and small bath. 

We told him our concern about the dog's nails scratching the laminate. He told us that he had seen someone try to scratch a sample with a screwdriver and could not scratch it. So we went with the laminate, Quick Step series 700 gunstock red oak color, 7mm. After less than six months, it is totally destroyed with scratches. I trim the dogs' nails to what I consider normal length at regular intervals.

I see how almost everyone on this site and the net in general are so happy with Quick Step. The installer is offering to replace it with the same tile that is in the rest of the house, but wants $2200 more since the tile cost is more than the laminate. 

Some questions going thru my mind:

1.Is it possible that I got a bad lot of Quick Step? 
2.Could it have been exposed to heat or something during shipment that rendered it weaker than it normally is? 
3.Is it possible that if I had them put a new set of Quick Step down that I would get the good results everyone else seems to get with Quick Step? 4.Did they sell me one grade of Quick Step and install a lower one? 

Please help! I need to make a decision soon.


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## Floorwizard (Dec 5, 2003)

> 1.Is it possible that I got a bad lot of Quick Step?


Maybe. I had my first complaint in 8 years recently due to the same thing. Since it is a minority, I would imagine this may be a possibility. Doubtfull though.



> 2.Could it have been exposed to heat or something during shipment that rendered it weaker than it normally is?


no



> 3.Is it possible that if I had them put a new set of Quick Step down that I would get the good results everyone else seems to get with Quick Step?


Doing the same thing and expecting different results rarely pays off.



> 4.Did they sell me one grade of Quick Step and install a lower one?


That is totally possible.



> He told us that he had seen someone try to scratch a sample with a screwdriver and could not scratch it.


umm...I can scratch ANY material with a screwdriver.
Maybe they used the handle? 



> I trim the dogs' nails to what I consider normal length at regular intervals.


Are you sure they are scratches and not Bone that has worn on the Alum Oxide?
Konecto has a scratch remover that works well if they are scratches.

Are these deep scratches or micro-abrasions?


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## Monty61 (Nov 15, 2008)

What do you mean by "Bone" that has worn on the alum oxide? I take it you don't literally mean "bones"!

The scratches are not so deep that they have any actual depth to them. But I wouldn't actually call them micro either. And they don't look like abrasions, they are long, parallel scratches, so they do look like they came from the dog's toenails.


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## Floorwizard (Dec 5, 2003)

Aluminum Oxide is stronger than bone. 
If nails are sharp enough, and the dog is heavy enough it can cause scratches.
If the nail is nubby then the BONE wears down on the Aluminum Oxide and transfers to it causing a streak.
I was wondering if this was the case.

One time a car forced me into a Birm of ice on the side of the road....
after hitting it I got out to check for damage.
There was a HUGE scratch on the side of my truck!
I had a bad drive home and my wife came out to look at it.
She rubbed at the scratch and it disappeared. Turns out the Ice just rubbed off on my car making it look like a scratch.

Same kinda thing here maybe........


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## Monty61 (Nov 15, 2008)

I see what you mean. And it kind of makes sense, because it does seem that the scratching worsened after I clipped the nails. I don't clip them down to bone, but just the base of the nail, which is thicker and harder than the tip that I just trimmed off. Do they have that commercial for the Pedi Paws device up there? It is a motorized nail file. I have started using that, maybe it will help somewhat.

I see what you mean about the coating and rubbing off the surface imperfections. I have tried all different kinds of sprays, cleaners, mops etc to rub off the surface scratches. I am surprised no one makes a liquid solution of that aluminum oxide that you could put on to touch up the surface. Maybe that Konecto solution you mentioned will help.

In the mean time, I was thinking of meeting the installer halfway. I think he way overcharged for the install. He was telling me if he did the tile replacement for $2200, he would be taking a total loss on the laminate. I am estimating he paid about $1.00 a sq.ft for the laminate and the going rate for install down here is about $2.50 a square foot. If he gives me credit for everything over that, I'll settle for that and not make him come in and replace it. We'll just live with it until we have the money to do it ourselves. I financed it with their finance company so I am not out any money yet.


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## Floorwizard (Dec 5, 2003)

> Do they have that commercial for the Pedi Paws device up there? It is a motorized nail file.


Yes, I really want one of those big time-



> I am surprised no one makes a liquid solution of that aluminum oxide that you could put on to touch up the surface.


Sometimes manufacturers glaze it on top, sometimes it's immbedded into the surface layer.
I would imagine a spray on Alum Oxide would look terrible...nice thought though.



> Maybe that Konecto solution you mentioned will help.


It helped on some huge scratches on my showroom floor.
dang near completely gone-



> In the mean time, I was thinking of meeting the installer halfway. I think he way overcharged for the install. He was telling me if he did the tile replacement for $2200, he would be taking a total loss on the laminate.


but what if you get the same results......



> I am estimating he paid about $1.00 a sq.ft for the laminate


Only if the distributer sold to him direct.
Probably more in the $1.50 range


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