Wooden floors - experiences

That's not too bad - no worse than a light coloured carpet!

Thanks for the advice!
 
hi guys

I have used laminate floors on my previous project and my clients are still encouraged by it. Its better and can be adjusted too..


Charlene
 
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We have laminates in some places (We didn't fit it) and I don't think it looks as good a real wood floor as we have in other parts of the house. It is also possible to scratch and chip it, as our kids have proved. Where it was in direct sunlight and under heavy use, it has started to move a bit. Its down about 6 or 7 years. Theres probably better stuff you can get now though.

But it was cheap, looks smart, every easy to clean and I'd have no problem using it again. Just don't expect it to be scratch or chip proof. It really doesn't like water either it.
 
Eviecarwash - just logged back in now & saw your post. We got our floors in Brerton's in Greystones (very end of the village as you head out towards Delgany). We found them great to deal with & very helpful.
 
If you are going to use wide plank then you should consider engineered v's solid. Engineered (like semi solid), has a ply backing which will prevent warping of any kind. Laminates (which are essentially plasticated), in my opinion don;t look great - but if you are looking for good value, then use semi-solid.

ninsaga
 
If you are in the Dublin area, have a look at these guys.

[broken link removed]

Competitive proces & different range of floors, doors etc
 
Sorry to hijack this thread. I was wondering if any of the suppliers of the wooden floors recommend a fitter or fit the floors themselves. I checked with a couple of flooring companies and they advised that they supply the flooring only?

I was hoping to get all inclusive quotes but its proving harder than I thought.
 
PM1234 - we used Brerton's in Greystones & got a price including fitting. We were really pleased with the job the fitters did. They arrived on time, worked the whole time they were here & cleaned up afterwards, taking away the rubbish.
 
I am in the process of getting wooden floors down in my sitting room and hall. The ones I am interested in is the "Signature" range by floorwise. They have a beautiful oak wide plank with an oiled and lacquered finish to it. My front door aluminium is also set very low so I am not sure if this will work either. Alternatively, Floorwise also have a Sienna (semi solid) range - with an oiled and lacquered wide plank, but this is more expensive than the solid?

Everywhere I go, carpet shops, etc are trying to talk me into laminate for cost, hard wearing etc, but my own opinion is that no matter how good laminates may have come on, that they still look false, so I want the real mccoy.

Anyone any experience of these ranges, I noticed someone says stay away from the oiled look, but I really like the finish.
 
Just to add my two cents, there are more expensive laminates which look lovely. I had a lovely beech pale laminate in my apartment. However if you want the real mccoy I guess laminate just isn't going to cut it.
 
MandaC said:
I am in the process of getting wooden floors down in my sitting room and hall. The ones I am interested in is the "Signature" range by floorwise. They have a beautiful oak wide plank with an oiled and lacquered finish to it. My front door aluminium is also set very low so I am not sure if this will work either. Alternatively, Floorwise also have a Sienna (semi solid) range - with an oiled and lacquered wide plank, but this is more expensive than the solid?

Everywhere I go, carpet shops, etc are trying to talk me into laminate for cost, hard wearing etc, but my own opinion is that no matter how good laminates may have come on, that they still look false, so I want the real mccoy.

Anyone any experience of these ranges, I noticed someone says stay away from the oiled look, but I really like the finish.
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I'd look very carefully at what you put in the hall - it needs a very hard wearing surface. No specific recommendation (other than oiled won't wear as well as lacquered, and natural worn always looks better than synthetic worn), but consider what it'll look like in a years time rathar than what it looks like when new.
 
Can anyone explain/define simply the difference between semi solid, engineered and laminate? (I presume solid needs no explanation).

My previous post extolling the virtues of laminate floors probably should be extolling the virtues of semi solid or even engineered.

J2K
 
Laminates look very "plasticky", but are useful in bathrooms & utility rooms.

I recently put down solid wood Canadian Maple & am very pleased with it.

It is a hardwood but it can be marked/scored by dragging chair legs, moving furniture etc., unless you are careful and (preferably) have not covered the legs of furniture with Felt.
 
We replaced he floors in our siting room and hall last october. We went for solid oak which was pre-sealed and it looks great. I subsequently bought an oak dinig table which was oiled to match. Absolutely gorgeous, however it does need to be smeared with vaseline, left overnight, and buffed regularly to lift stains from cups/watermarks, food etc. It's high maintenance, but we love it. Certainly wouldn't fancy doing the equivalent with the floors though! Our floor fitters were polish and v hardworking... came on a Tuesday to show us the samples/measure/price up, and fitted on Thursday/finished Friday. They offer they ran was extremely reasonably priced at something like €45 m2.

My mother had untreated beech laid throughout her home and it is really lovely. It scratches really easily so it needs to be sanded and varnished every couple of years, which is expensive and inconvenient (moving furniture/dust/smell of varnish in house). Had semi solid been around at the time she prob would've chosen that....
 
any idea what are the best makes of Laminate flooring?Anyone in cork have any recommendations of retailers?
 
Hi, I posted on this thread just over a year ago when I was getting my floors. Thanks to the advice here, I did not go for the oiled finish...I went for a lacquer finish, but its natural rather than shiny finish...it is a beautiful finish and quite hardwearing, even in the hall. Having said that it was €90 sq yrd.

Had the upstairs sanded and varnished but 2 rooms dont look great so am trying to get a laminate to match(not spending €90 sq. yrd) what I have downstairs already. It is amazing how the laminates have come on, even from last year, most of them are wide plank and v groove.

Two of the more realistic ones I looked at were Balterio and Kaindl. Depending on what shades you are going for the Kaindl had some really realistic good shades of oak, and there was a Walnut shade in the Balterio which was the most realistic laminate I have ever seen (very dark though)

I dont know who stocks them in Cork, they are many stockists in Dublin and they range from about €16-€20 sq. yrd supply only depending on where you get them.

Here is the links
http://www.balterio.com
http://www.kaindl.com/

Phloor in Parkwest distribute Kaindl, you could ring them and find out where they retail in cork.
 
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