Is laminate floor out of date ?

We had tiles on our kitchen floor which were worn and we went out to buy new tiles to lay on top - however while looking we found what is really a very thick vinyl material in strips the size of laminate planks and looking like planks of wood but you stick them down. It has a grained surface. After much discussion we decided to go for it - a German made product and we got the kitchen/ bathroom quality which was the same price as tiles. It was laid very carefully - looks like wood and is nothing like as cold as laminate or tiles. It has been down five years and no signs of wear.
Upstairs OH has built a new walk in wardrobe and ensuite and he laid a wooden floor which we have painted and sealed - so far so good.

Thanks for that hint about rosemary, Shanma. I hadn't heard that before. Like you, we have a dog and I don't like the idea of the house smelling doggie. I'll definitely try this!

When it gets crunchy

Ha,ha roses, I only hoover when I notice the carpets need it!

Good Grief I hoover twice daily

Hoovering every second day? I only hoover round once a week.Yes, a brown heather mix hides everything, wonderful, although we may have the hall done as a wood flooring.Bathrooms are tiled.Kitchen is Karndean.

I love my laminate floor though only thing is I keep my Boots on most of the time as it can get cold. Much nicer though.

I would love to be able to afford real wood but I have laminate which has been down for 14 years . It has no real signs of damage apart from a few tiny dints and has had plenty of mini floods which have not cause any damage . I love it and would never go back to carpets or cushion floor .

I moved into a house that had cheap laminate from the DIY store, it was awful not only did it look cheap it was so noisy, my son dropped a £1 coin in his bedroom and it sounded like gunfire, even the cat hated walking on it. Next house had really expensive laminate and it was just as noisy. You can see every speck of dust on it and if you dont mop everyday you have tumbleweed rolling across the floor which is never a good look.At least with carpets you can get away with hovering every second day.floradora try a mid brown heather mix carpet, it hides the dirt well.

A few words to consider, please.
I live in a semi detached house. My next door neighbours at people aged 60+. Just a married couple who rarely have visitors. They have laminate in the lounge and some of the bedrooms. The noise is unbelievable! They still work and start very early. Every time they move a chair it sounds so noisy and this is pre 6 a.m. It is so inconsiderate to have such a din going on so early in the morning.
There are flats and houses in the area where it is against the conditions of the properties to have laminate or wooden floors because of the noise problems.
SPF

This year I replaced the old laminate in my lounge with carpet and it's lovely to have soft and warm underfoot However, I want to replace the ancient hall and dining room carpets with laminate (wood is too expensive) but it seems that it costs a lot to get someone to lay it so I'll have to go with carpet.

Ducking my head here, but I hate wooden floors! Here in France the whole house is tiled. It is very practical but I do miss carpets. To me either a laminate floor or a wooden floor just looks so bare.

We have laminate flooring and I find it a lot easier to keep clean than the old carpet we used to have.

In my ideal world I would have a real wood floor in the hall with persian rugs. My kitchen would be a stone floor, and carpets in the rest of the house.

In reality we have no hall, it is straight into the kitchen which is some sort of vinyl stuff which looks like tiles, been down ten years though and looks very good. Sometimes I scrub it with a bunch of damp fresh Rosemary, smells wonderful and the natural oil from the herb makes it shine. Rest of the bungalow is carpeted, and yes we have a dog, and yes I get it about the smell sometimes , but you know, open windows, breeze blowing through, and the odd freshen up with the carpet washer does wonders.

regarding the Rosemary, I sometimes put some in an old sock and throw it in the washing machine drum instead of laundry liquid. It is lovely, works well and leaves just a delicate hint of the herb.

We put a German heavy duty laminate (vorsprung durch technic) right through the downstairs of this house (barring the kitchen which is tiled) just after we moved in five years ago. It is wearing very well and looks lovely. I would never go back to carpet downstairs. I hate having tiles in the kitchen - I live in fear of something being dropped and damaging them. We have spares but it's not that easy to get the old ones up. DD has Karndean throughout and it is brilliant and bomb proof but not cheap.

My DD1 is talking about "Engineered Vinyl" , has any one got this , it is very expensive . She steam mops everywhere and was told this is best if she uses the steam mop

I love my wood and tiled floors and would not go back to carpets, partly because when you keep pets no matter how often you clean them that doggie smell seems to permetate. When we first moved in I had a gold hall carpet, it was always showing marks, much prefer our lobby and Hall tiled with victoriana effect mosaic tiles.

I do have a good laminate in one bedroom that is as good as it was 15 years ago but have since laid oak floors in the other rooms which look really in keeping with our old cottage and are warm to walk on.

Charleygirl - 'a mini flood'. We had one yesterday (don't ask!) onto a tiled floor . Dread to think what it would have been like on a carpet.
It must have been heartbreaking for those people who have so much devastation from floods.

I inherited laminated floors in the kitchen and lounge, I don't think it is real wood and in a few places there is a gap between the boards, it is not fitted inder the washing machine. It is laid on concrete and is very cold to stand on, so I have a large rug in the kitchen and a thick plain wool carpet cut to fit in the lounge, but it does not go into alcoves etc or right up to the edge of the walls because they cannot fit a fitted carpet over a laminated floor. I also have a large rug over the carpet which I was using over the laminate before I bought the carpet, but sometimes the floor still feels cold to me.
If I had lots of money I would rip out the laminate and have underfloor heating,

But yes, it is easy to clean and looks nice.

We inherited sanded wooden floors throughout our house when we moved here in 2012, apart from the kitchen which is wood effect vinyl. I love it and much prefer it to carpets. We have a large rug in front of the wood-burner in the sitting room and also bedside rugs. The bathroom and loo have ceramic tiled floors.

We have laminate in our hall, kitchen and conservatory. Good quality and appropriate for the location, we love them. In our previous home there was a laminate floor in our access from the garden room which was also my home office, lots of foot traffic, personal and professional. It was down for 10 years and looked as good as new when we sold the house. It's personal,preference and also depth of pocket, laminate is available in many designs now, it has worked for us, would advise good quality and a good standard of fitting.

I am never swayed by what's in and what's out. My taste is what I am comfortable with. I tend to avoid anything that everyone else has.

I am not really a fan of the laminate look. To me it looks cold but I think it's as in and as fashionable as it ever was. There is a new housing development nearby and the ground floors of the houses are fitted with laminate. I think they've all sold, so the flooring didn't put people off!

Thanks everyone no chance of having nice floorboards under the carpet it is wood chip .

My laminate has "worn" well and as I mentioned previously I could not then afford wooden floors and I certainly cannot now. I would never return to carpets and if I moved (unlikely) the carpets would be ripped up and laminate laid. I also do not care if it is out of fashion- I like it and that is all that matters.

We have laminate in our living room and wood in the hall. I would never go back to carpet. Laminate/wood is so easy to keep clean. We've had ours years and there's not a mark on it and no sign of wear. My daughter has it too, but is going back to carpet so maybe it is becoming old fashioned. I don't care if it is, I love it.