am looking to using laminate flooring for lounge as opposed to carpet.  can 
anyone give any hints and tips of what types etc to look for that would be 
hard wearing etc, etc, etc.

cheers

Its price, as always. there are 2.50p a metre and there is over 12 a
meter. I am going through he same process and bother in law is a layer of
the floors.   You get what you pay for in laminated floors           So
clear the floor, I.e. get rid of the existing floor and then you can
decorate the room and then order the wood/floor and while your are doing
that, get a floor layer in

in my situation I knock down a wall. I stripped the skirting boards and I
decorated the walls. I then in the process of removing the old laminate
floor   then order the new floor, and while I am doing that order the floor
layers and get a price off them and a date. While I get date from the
layers, I have to order the floor to come on the same day as the layers .The
floor as to be cleared out complete I stripped the skirting, so the layers
fit the floor right up to the wall. The joiner will come in and put the
skirt on top of the floor and you don't have to buy quadrant to hide the
mistakes in cutting up to the walls

good luck, because I need it ;-)

Stephen

-- 

"From the man who can't make proper gravy"
"Phil"  wrote in message
news:eMHme.47684$g12.2585@fe3.news.blueyonder.co.uk...

> am looking to using laminate flooring for lounge as opposed to carpet.
can
> anyone give any hints and tips of what types etc to look for that would be
> hard wearing etc, etc, etc.
>
> cheers
>
>

On Mon, 30 May 2005 17:08:26 GMT, "Phil" 
wrote:


>am looking to using laminate flooring for lounge as opposed to carpet.  can 
>anyone give any hints and tips of what types etc to look for that would be 
>hard wearing etc, etc, etc.
>
>cheers
>



Buy the cheapest you can find because it wont be down for long.
Remember wood chip paper and artex on the ceiling? In five years time
some long haired leather fetishist will be appearing on tv telling you
that if you want to sell your home you will need to get rid of all
that laminate. 


When buying flooring you will notice knee pads placed strategically
nearby. You may be tempted to ignore them thinking they are for
hairdressers, ice skaters and Mazda owners. 
Wrong! You will need them if you are laying anything more than a
square metre of flooring. 


Think about what the laminate is going to replace and how you will
dispose of it. If you start to lay laminate on a Saturday, you will
suddenly realise that upwards of 20 square metres of carpet is heavy
and bulky. Leave it in your garden and you might as well get the 
sky digital dish, leather sofa, Alsatian, stick a Kenwood sticker on
your car  and put a gold chain with your name on it around your neck
for the total effect. 

Local council will inform you that despite you paying community taxes
they wont uplift it without charging you even more money.  Heres a
tip. Drag it onto the pavement and phone the council to complain that
its been dumped, they will then uplift it free. In fact if you are
smart enough to dump it outside a neighbours house they will probably
make the phone call for you. Here you can learn from my mistake. Dont
dump it outside the house of neighbour who has been inside your home.
They may recognise it and get suspicious. If this happens, just say.
"Carpets!!!!  Carpets!!!!  I have laminate flooring in 
MY home." Sound indignant when you say it. 


Laying the flooring will involve sawing some of it to fit. This is
more easily done in situ rather than making umpteen trips outside.
Therefore before you start, give any women who live in the house a
handful of notes and tell them to treat themselves to some new 
shoes. Trust me on this one, they will not be back until 45 minutes
after the shops have closed and you can get on with the job without
complaints about the mess you are making. GBH on the ears is the last
thing you need when laying flooring. Its also potentially
psychologically damaging, you being on your knees and a woman standing
above you talking down to you. 


When finished, watch telly until you hear women returning, they will
not have had any thoughts in their heads about buying food or
preparing a meal. Hold hands to small of the back, in same pose as
women who are pregnant, and say you will start clearing up 
shortly, grimace as you say this. You will find that you can now relax
for the evening and all the sweeping up etc. will be done for you.
Another small tip here. Give explicit verbal instructions as to where
your tools go otherwise next time you need them they wont be 
there. 


Plan your time carefully. Laying about 20 square metres of laminate
flooring takes about an hour. Lifting old carpet, lifting carpet
treads, removing nails from floor etc. takes about half a day. Once
planks are down the fiddly bits of edgings etc. takes another half 
day. Therefore a rough rule of thumb is 20 square metres equals one
hour plus a day. 


Lastly and most importantly, you remember the money you gave the women
for shoes? Well they only had a day to buy them, which is not enough
time for any woman.  As they havent got the shoes you need to claim
your money back. Its a small point but easily overlooked as you bask
in the afterglow of having joined the 2005 version of woodchip 
and artex.

"Phil"  wrote in message
news:eMHme.47684$g12.2585@fe3.news.blueyonder.co.uk...

> am looking to using laminate flooring for lounge as opposed to carpet.
can
> anyone give any hints and tips of what types etc to look for that would be
> hard wearing etc, etc, etc.
>
> cheers
>

I would look at the textured laminate, as it appears much less artificial
than the usual. Or you can now get real wood veneer laminate - the top layer
is wood and can be sanded upto five times. All packs come with gaurantees
that indicate how hard-wearing it is - usually 10, 15, or 20 years.
Ignore the nay-sayers - laminate is so easy to clean and looks great when
layed well, and you can plonk a nice rug on it if you want. If you later
want to go back to carpet it can be layed over it. It does look more
polished if you remove the skirting and put a new one on after instead of
the quadrant. If you do use quadrant, using a real wood one looks a lot
better than the cheap cardboard type they sell in the big DIY stores...If
your lounge is faily wide, then using a tensioning belt helps a lot and
prevents you getting to the middle of the room and finding you can't slot
the boards in easily..
Graham

My tip would be to get the correct tools for the job. You'll find them 
lurking amongst the laminate stuff. I did my last house out entirely with 
laminate flooring and in the kitchen and bathrooms we had ceramic tiles.

(Main reason was one of the family has bad asthma and it made an enormous 
difference to them. Saved hoovering the carpet daily as well - just a swipe 
it over with Swiffer cloths now.)

The only slight drawback I can say about laminate floors is they can get 
slippery when wet or if you have a dog charging about on them it can be 
dangerous to your wallet.

A friend's dog slipped and slid across it one day breaking his leg!

In the summer expect to stub you toes at least once as you enjoy walking on 
it barefoot.

The plus side is that it does look good, it's easily cleaned and all you 
need to do is look for special offers on Swiffer cloths!

Don't go near the glue laminates - click and fit is just so much less 
hassle. And if you spend more on a decent underlay and you'll reap the 
benefits of a 'quieter' and better insulated floor.

chas

Laminate flooring has brought with it a new modern annoyance--namely noise.
It is obviously noisier to walk on and the noise level of the whole
house/room goes up. If you are in a flat, then expect complaints. Other
drawbacks-- the cheap stuff marks easy and doesn't like stiletto heels.

STEPHEN wrote:

>  get a floor layer in


Why, its not hard to lay, if you take your time


>  While I get date from the layers, I have to order the floor to 
>  come on the same day as the layers .


The flooring should become acclimatized to room temp for at least 24 
hours before laying.
-- 
®ÖÐ