Flooring, Wood-Look: Vinyl Vs. Laminate Vs. ?

Geekomatic on 05/11/2019 - 14:39

Hi all,

My son is going to be purchasing his first home. One contender we've seen thus far will require redoing at least the main living area + hallway.

He's going to be on a tight budget after the purchase, so real wood will be out of the question, but I said it would be better to get at least that one main room done before he moves all of the furniture in. Currently, it has very old, low-pile carpeting that really needs to go (starting to basically disintegrate). The bedrooms are okay for now- not anywhere near the wear & tear as the main living room.

What are your recommendations, based on your own experiences— in choosing, and then how happy/not happy you were in your choice.

Thanks in advance for your input. We're in the Mandurah area of WA.

Ta!

:)

Home & Garden

Comments

  • PissLUR on 05/11/2019 - 14:42

    firm-fit?

  • Stewardo on 05/11/2019 - 14:43
    +6

    Vinyl planks

  • qwerty on 05/11/2019 - 14:48
    +4

    Have you checked whats under the carpeting ?

    Some people put carpet over polished wood or if the wood is decent just get it sanded and polished

    • Geekomatic on 05/11/2019 - 15:21

      Only at the "made an offer & waiting" stage- agent prob wouldn't be amused if I ripped up a spot in the carpet- lol.

      But thanks for a very good reply. Will do if he gets it!

      • Aukay on 09/11/2019 - 18:59

        If the house has a ducted heating vent then you could just lift up the vent and check what's underneath the carpet.
        Good luck on the house!

  • Cluster on 05/11/2019 - 15:05
    +2

    You can also get wood look porcelain tiles. It's the more expensive option but the floor will last the life of the house unless you star dropping bowling balls onto it. My entire house is tiled and I haven't regretted it for a moment.

    • fyeahm on 05/11/2019 - 15:13
      +1

      Get the ones made in China. Quality-wise they look the same to me when compared to Italian made ones.

      • Cluster on 05/11/2019 - 15:17
        +1

        I tiled my house with Italian and Australian made tiles. I was honestly shocked that we made tiles in this country given our high energy costs. Both were cheap porcelain tiles and still look brand new 7 years later. Self laid.

        • gooddealmate on 05/11/2019 - 20:13

          Most likely ceramic. Don't ever recall seeing an Australian made porcelain tile.

          Probably made by NCIA. Got a very bad rep amongst tilers for being some of the worst tiles to lay in the world .

  • onetwothreefour on 05/11/2019 - 15:35

    Keep an eye out on the centre aisles in Bunnings for cheap laminate. I bought some recently that was reduced from $65 a pack to $30, then then we bought most of it. The next day they'd reduced the last few boxes to $20 each so we asked them to refund the difference on the packs we already bought which they did.

    • Cluster on 05/11/2019 - 15:45
      +2

      The only catch with buying end of line deals is you have to be very sure you have enough to finish the entire job.

      • onetwothreefour on 05/11/2019 - 16:44
        +1

        Yes good point, buy too much rather than too little then you can take any extra back for a refund.

  • BertieBrown on 05/11/2019 - 16:28
    +1

    Luxury Vinyl Plank, or LVP is the latest vinyl style, and mostly is a floating variation of clip-lock, where the planks are laid end to end, side to side, and then using channels and receivers clip in to each other. Generally, depending on the colour, and the quality, they’re fairly scratch resistant, though if you’ve got dogs or cats, I would think, as is the case for me, that in the reflection of the sun you can probably notice some micro scratches. I’ve scratched some of mine up using furniture and then used an eraser to buff out the scratches where they’re no longer visible. A piece of coloured wax in a stick can also be used to buff out deeper scratches. Mostly LVP will come with a foam backer, which is designed to reduce noise, which IMO does work. Our place we’ve got a mix of Indian Slate tiles, and LVP and the difference in echo between the tiled rooms and the LVP is noticeable. Tiles absolutely will make your house echo.

    LVP is cheap, and more or less fool proof. Laying your own tiles is a bit of an art to avoid drums in the lay. But certainly if you take your time and use enough adhesive shouldn’t be an issue. Obviously paying a tiler will cost. I was quoted around $40-$50 sq/m including adhesive, but tiles bought separately so it adds up.

    If your son isn’t 100% sure if he’s gonna be there for a while I’d go for LVP because it’s cheaper and easier to put in than tiles, will be warmer in winter, and won’t be as noisy as tiles. That being said, they do scratch. Tiles are easier to replace than LVP but are more expensive, will be colder in winter, and will be noisier IMO but will probably look nicer and feel nicer underfoot than LVP, and when you use a decent quality tile they will probably hold up longer than LVP. I personally just didn’t have the patience to lay what was three bedrooms and a lounge in tile, but if money wasn’t an issue I would have paid someone to put in wood grain rectangular tiles in say a 300 x 600 profile.

    I personally wouldn’t use laminate as it’s prone to water damage, where the melamine boards will swell and warp if they get wet. Lots of folks who’ve installed laminates in kitchens regret it because they have a spill and the boards warp. Just do a search for problems with laminate and you’ll likely find people with that experience.

  • zedz on 05/11/2019 - 16:44
    +4

    I would go with a quality wooden laminate (which is what I did a few months ago). My tenant has lived in it for 8 months and I have just moved into it. I am very happy with the way it looks, feels and the price. And barely a scratch on it.

    Laminate
    - a lot cheaper than tiles
    - installation. Generally can be installed in a day (if you have a flat floor) or 2 days if you need to smooth the floor underneath.
    - Feels warm when you don't wear shoes
    - Very scratch resistant
    - A lot of laminate has some really nice finishes.
    - Keep some spare boxes of laminate and you can very cheaply repair any flooring later on
    - Need to be be careful laying it around anywhere with water (ie the intersections between the laminate and kitchen or bathroom).

    Tiles
    - Pretty difficult to organise the tiles plus the tiler. Eg if you go to a tiles shop, they will point you to a list of tilers for you to organise yourself.
    - A lot more expensive to install
    - A lot more expensive to repair
    - Also very resistant to almost everything (unless you drop something really heavy on it)
    - Generally a better look and finish than both laminate and vinyl (eg in my opinion, tiles gives your property a much more refined look), except when it comes to wooden tiles.
    - Feels cold when you don't wear shoes.

    Vinyl
    - Premium vinyl is actually more expensive than laminate
    - Finish is an acquired taste
    - More hardy than laminate but more suited to a commercial premises where there is a lot of foot traffic.

    Other people may have more pros and cons but this is what quickly came into my head.

    • Cluster on 05/11/2019 - 17:32

      Someone downvoted this post… strange.

      Laminate can be very scratch resistant, but if you lay something like AC3 you'll regret it a few years later. Water damage would also worry be greatly. It is possible to buy waterproof laminate but obviously at a higher price.

  • Geekomatic on 05/11/2019 - 20:26

    We're not planning to do the kitchen, as it's tiling is fine as-is. This is only for the main living area, for now. It's square-ish roughly 6 x 8 m or a bit more. I'd like that done and possibly the short hallway running off of it and along the beds/bathroom (bedroom carpet is okay & can wait). I'm mainly thinking of how difficult it is to move the entire, min living room furniture after-the-fact.

    I'm starting to lean towards laminate (AC4+). I'm trying to decide if we can do the work ourselves or not. Time to watch some YT and see!

    • Euphemistic on 06/11/2019 - 17:19
      +1

      The laminate tiles I did in one room was a piece of cake to lay. Cuts with a knife, snaps together with a tap of a rubber hammer. Hardest parts were working it which wall to start on and selecting the different wood grain patterns so they didn’t repeat too much.

      Happy with the result.

      • Geekomatic on 06/11/2019 - 17:39

        Just so I know exactly what you're talking about— do you have a link to the product you put down?

        ta!

        • Euphemistic on 06/11/2019 - 18:39

          It was about 5yr ago. Just a timber look vinyl interlocking tile.

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