Advice on laminate/hardwood flooring

I have solid hardwood Bruce flooring in my dinning room/kitchen. It was laid about 4 years ago. It is called "Gunstock".

The carpet in my adjoining dinning room and adjacent hallway is showing it's wear due to the kids spilling things and traffic in general.

I have available to me some new "laminate: hardwood flooring also called "gunstock" althought the color is not exactly the same as my solid hardwood floor. This flooring is basically free and have debated laying it myself. (I have never laid laminante or solid hardwood for that matter.)

What is your opinion as to if this will look aceptable? I can still go back with carpet, but it will cost more. I can also go back with solid wood flooring, but it will cost alot more. I plan on leaving the carpet in the bedrooms as it is in good shape.

Here is a link to a video of my current flooring and a few pieces of the laminate butted up against it:

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Reply to
stryped
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stryped fired this volley in news:98f37a9c-fbfb- snipped-for-privacy@z35g2000yqd.googlegroups.com:

Bad link, Stryper.

Anyway... I've re-done my entire house with a melamine laminate, and we're quite happy with it (they're pretty much all melamine over a fiberboard backing).

Laying it is something of a chore, but certainly NOT difficult. Just remember to stagger your joints, and clean up any damages to the tongues/grooves before attempting to mate two pieces. They virtually "snap" together (with a little encouragment) to a nearly-invisible joint.

I laid 540 sq' of it two weekends ago in a little over 8 hours. Of course, I'm not an expert at it, but it went quickly from my perspectives.

LLoyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

We have laminate "Gunstock" flooring in the kitchen with carpet elsewhere, except bathrooms. I am quite happy with Gunstock's durability in the face of my, errrr, shoddy maintenance; which is always with Bruce laminate cleaner. I can't speak to the differences one might expect from brand to brand, sample to sample. You could ask for a comprison piece of laminate Gunstock to determine compatibility. I would not expect a great deal of vaiance, however.

The carpet in my adjoining dinning room and adjacent hallway is showing it's wear due to the kids spilling things and traffic in general.

I have available to me some new "laminate: hardwood flooring also called "gunstock" althought the color is not exactly the same as my solid hardwood floor. This flooring is basically free and have debated laying it myself. (I have never laid laminante or solid hardwood for that matter.)

What is your opinion as to if this will look aceptable? I can still go back with carpet, but it will cost more. I can also go back with solid wood flooring, but it will cost alot more. I plan on leaving the carpet in the bedrooms as it is in good shape.

Here is a link to a video of my current flooring and a few pieces of the laminate butted up against it:

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Reply to
Robert Swinney

Harbor Freight sells a package of the spacers you'll need. Item #

69447 $7.99.
Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

That link should be correct now. Should the laminate be layed in the living room "parallel" to the wood in the dinning room that is already there or perpendicular?

Reply to
stryped

stryped fired this volley in news:90dc26d5-9fd0- snipped-for-privacy@c16g2000yqd.googlegroups.com:

'seems like that's up to you. My house demanded that at some point I "take a turn" with the flooring orientation (It's an "ell" shaped ranch). I did the best I could to find a natural break, ending up changing orientation at a pocket door between the formal dining room and the breakfast room. It's almost unnoticable.

One thing... it might help disguise the color difference between your solid and laminate flooring if you changed orientation at the line between them. I wouldn't if it didn't look "right", though.

Most laminates call for having the flooring lie perpendicular to the line of incoming light, in order to best hide the end-butts.

LLoyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

I would look at and walk on some of the proposed flooring in the flooring store, and/or in a store that has that kind of floor (in my case a local liquor store). Many kinds of melamine-topped laminate flooring are very noisy - footsteps make loud "clack" sounds. And the laminate wears out faster than you would think. The liquor store expects to refloor every few years, but that would be a problem in most houses.

I went with solid wood floors.

Joe Gwinn

Reply to
Joseph Gwinn

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