More help needed: Flooring (isn't this fun?)

[hamerhead]

Like Turdus, when the wife gets an idea, I try to stay the hell out the way. My job is to make sure she doesn't get gouged, or end up with sub-par materials (I worked construction enough years to have seen some sh!t).

We're now converting a bedroom into a home office. She wants a laminated wood floor. I want a laminated wood floor that will stand up to an office chair being rolled over it constantly without looking like an office chair is being rolled over it constantly.

What (I think) I know is that the top layer thickness and material type plays into this. Any of y'all know or have any recommendations (pro or con) on what to look for? This is new to me.

Thanks.

[Turdus]

I think you're gonna want to get a sizeable chair mat from Staples. Not the kind for carpet, but I thought I'd seen one somewhere for floors....

When my kids were young, my mom brought over one of those plastic cars that the kids can get in and wheel themselves around... I watched in horror, as the seams on the plastic wheels were doing their thing on the nice hardwoods. Scratches everywhere.

Words to the wise my man.

[HAMERMAN]

I am also curious about how well these hold up - in particular with cats and in high traffic areas.

What about moisture resistance over basement concrete? I imagine they are supposed to have tar paper or some form of vapor barrier underneath but what if water gets to them anyway, do they swell up and get ruined?

[murkat]

same boat here, looking to redo kitchen, dining areas...

Leaning towards the bamboo products.

Looks good, promising, but will give it a little more time to see what actually happens...

My 90's pergo stuff is all buckled and damaged over many years of abuse (not by us)

esp with no protective seallent top coat post install... not good.

[LordOfTheThighs]

I think you're gonna want to get a sizeable chair mat from Staples. Not the kind for carpet.

This.

We had hardwood installed everywhere but our kitchen. In the kitchen we installed a laminate. It has

sort of a stone look to it, instead of a woodgrain pattern. Looks pretty sweet.

Anyway, my wife works from the corner of the kitchen at her desk, and we have a big chair mat for her

office chair. It folds in half, so she stores it behind a hutch when she's not at her desk.

[mathman]

Laminate is much different than hardwood floors. I installed laminate in our living room area in appx. 2003. We have a lab and poddle and kids that were small then. It looks almost as good now as when we put it in. As long as you don't go cheap it should last a long time and not show many if any marks.

The main thing about laminate is that it is noisy to walk on, especially animals. They have some that has pads built in and some where you put down your own pad. The pads are much thinner than a carpet pad and both types seem noisy. More of a clicky sound and different from real wood floors.

[Toadroller]

Ironically, I took leftover cherry hardwood laminate slats and put them together as a mat for my office chair. This sits on top of a cork floor.

The floor is happy and the hardwood is wearing its finish after four years. I can replace it at any time by pulling more leftovers from the box.

It's not a Better Homes & Garden solution, but I'm happy.

[hamerhead]

Well, we picked up some with a 40 year warranty which - in theory - should be better than the 25 year stuff, and got the best pad Menards had to offer. It's going in a back bedroom so wear (or noise) shouldn't be too big an issue. We'll soon find out. Using the leftovers as a mat is a great idea. Getting a chair with softer wheels probably wouldn't hurt, either.

What I noticed on the bamboo display was that it looked like people had gouged it with their fingernails. Seemed pretty soft for flooring. I like the look and the 'green' aspect of it, but the durability may not be as good. I don't know.

My sister did real wood in her new house. After 2 years of kids, cats, and dogs, it wasn't pretty. The best thing about real wood floors is the random squeaks.

I like carpet.

[Studio Custom]

I installed laminate in our old house and regretted it, after a few years it looked beat up with little actual use. There is no way to refinish it other than start all over, I wouldn't do it again.

[CraigP]

I put down a tongue and groove prefinished, hardwood floor in a small room adjoining my kitchen. It is 3/4" thick and had a million coats of poly on it (sorry can't remember the brand -- Home Depot special). It has now been about 8 years and it still looks new. It gets a ton of traffic from four kids, dog, and a cat. The only marks are where I was too vigorous pounding the boards together. It was glued and then nailed down to a regular plywood subfloor. Very easy to do.

[peedenmark7]

Anderson makes an awesome engineered floor. Google Virginia vintage hand scraped 1/2"x 5" planking.

It's a plank product and the finish has a 20 year warranty. We are going on 8 years and the floor looks great.

We have 2 labs , which can do a real number on the floor, the hand-scraped defuses that some.

It is by no means inexpensive, but you get what you pay for .

There is another product made by LM flooring. Its made overseas, looks like the Anderson, but is less expensive than Anderson.

the product is called Heritage hand scraped. We have both products between the 2 homes.