Is laminate floor out of date ?

Out of date or not I love my laminate flooring. It's been down now for more than 9 yrs and it still looks as good as new, I am so glad we got rid of our carpets downstairs we have the whole ground floor and one bedroom done in it including the kitchen it comes up beautifully with a quick whizz over with a mop and Flash it's just so easy.
I'd go for it.

The flooring in my hall and downstairs loo is ceramic tiled as is the bathroom. The kitchen has vinyl flooring but everywhere else has laminate flooring.It is very easy to keep clean, the downside is that if there is a mini flood it will be ruined.

Wooden flooring I would think is the "in" thing but it is very expensive to buy and fit- it was beyond my purse.

A wooden floor is a good idea in a hall, it's easy to clean. I would always go for real wood, either engineered ( manufactured into easy lay strips on a composite base) or solid boards. To look really good they would require the skirting boards to be removed and then put back over the wood.
Real wood is warm under foot and is repairable if there is damage.

Laminate is a printed plastic layer, with a repeat pattern. After time the surface can lift, it is not easily repairable and susceptible to water damage.

Have you considered Karndean?

Engineered wooden flooring is hard wearing and looks nicer than laminate. Cheap laminate chips easily. Something like Karndean or Amtico looks like real wood and is probably as expensive . You get what you pay for really. We have Amtico in our hall, kitchen diner and real wood everywhere else. We used to have laminate in the kitchen but it didn't wear well.

Just another thought, what is underneath the carpet? Is it floor boards which could be professional sanded and sealed?

We once lifted carpets in a new house to find beautiful parquet flooring underneath.

Laminate flooring is not something I would ever consider, we had Amtico fitted.

Can I just say that not everybody can 'run' to wooden flooring and as I've previously said my laminate looks good after 9 yrs of pretty heavy wear, there isn't one chip or mark on it and I think that's good going for something that didn't cost me the earth and certainly better value than the carpets that were down before.

Laminate is not as good as wood but not all our finances stretch to this . Laminate is is ok, tiles are good but also expensive.
We have a mixture of tiles and laminate all through the house and would never go back to carpet now.

We have laminate in our living room and wood in the hall. I would never go back to carpet. Laminate/wood is so easy to keep clean. We've had ours years and there's not a mark on it and no sign of wear. My daughter has it too, but is going back to carpet so maybe it is becoming old fashioned. I don't care if it is, I love it.

My laminate has "worn" well and as I mentioned previously I could not then afford wooden floors and I certainly cannot now. I would never return to carpets and if I moved (unlikely) the carpets would be ripped up and laminate laid. I also do not care if it is out of fashion- I like it and that is all that matters.

Thanks everyone no chance of having nice floorboards under the carpet it is wood chip .

I am never swayed by what's in and what's out. My taste is what I am comfortable with. I tend to avoid anything that everyone else has.

I am not really a fan of the laminate look. To me it looks cold but I think it's as in and as fashionable as it ever was. There is a new housing development nearby and the ground floors of the houses are fitted with laminate. I think they've all sold, so the flooring didn't put people off!

We have laminate in our hall, kitchen and conservatory. Good quality and appropriate for the location, we love them. In our previous home there was a laminate floor in our access from the garden room which was also my home office, lots of foot traffic, personal and professional. It was down for 10 years and looked as good as new when we sold the house. It's personal,preference and also depth of pocket, laminate is available in many designs now, it has worked for us, would advise good quality and a good standard of fitting.

We inherited sanded wooden floors throughout our house when we moved here in 2012, apart from the kitchen which is wood effect vinyl. I love it and much prefer it to carpets. We have a large rug in front of the wood-burner in the sitting room and also bedside rugs. The bathroom and loo have ceramic tiled floors.

I inherited laminated floors in the kitchen and lounge, I don't think it is real wood and in a few places there is a gap between the boards, it is not fitted inder the washing machine. It is laid on concrete and is very cold to stand on, so I have a large rug in the kitchen and a thick plain wool carpet cut to fit in the lounge, but it does not go into alcoves etc or right up to the edge of the walls because they cannot fit a fitted carpet over a laminated floor. I also have a large rug over the carpet which I was using over the laminate before I bought the carpet, but sometimes the floor still feels cold to me.
If I had lots of money I would rip out the laminate and have underfloor heating,

But yes, it is easy to clean and looks nice.

Charleygirl - 'a mini flood'. We had one yesterday (don't ask!) onto a tiled floor . Dread to think what it would have been like on a carpet.
It must have been heartbreaking for those people who have so much devastation from floods.

I love my wood and tiled floors and would not go back to carpets, partly because when you keep pets no matter how often you clean them that doggie smell seems to permetate. When we first moved in I had a gold hall carpet, it was always showing marks, much prefer our lobby and Hall tiled with victoriana effect mosaic tiles.

I do have a good laminate in one bedroom that is as good as it was 15 years ago but have since laid oak floors in the other rooms which look really in keeping with our old cottage and are warm to walk on.

My DD1 is talking about "Engineered Vinyl" , has any one got this , it is very expensive . She steam mops everywhere and was told this is best if she uses the steam mop

We put a German heavy duty laminate (vorsprung durch technic) right through the downstairs of this house (barring the kitchen which is tiled) just after we moved in five years ago. It is wearing very well and looks lovely. I would never go back to carpet downstairs. I hate having tiles in the kitchen - I live in fear of something being dropped and damaging them. We have spares but it's not that easy to get the old ones up. DD has Karndean throughout and it is brilliant and bomb proof but not cheap.

In my ideal world I would have a real wood floor in the hall with persian rugs. My kitchen would be a stone floor, and carpets in the rest of the house.

In reality we have no hall, it is straight into the kitchen which is some sort of vinyl stuff which looks like tiles, been down ten years though and looks very good. Sometimes I scrub it with a bunch of damp fresh Rosemary, smells wonderful and the natural oil from the herb makes it shine. Rest of the bungalow is carpeted, and yes we have a dog, and yes I get it about the smell sometimes , but you know, open windows, breeze blowing through, and the odd freshen up with the carpet washer does wonders.

regarding the Rosemary, I sometimes put some in an old sock and throw it in the washing machine drum instead of laundry liquid. It is lovely, works well and leaves just a delicate hint of the herb.

We have laminate flooring and I find it a lot easier to keep clean than the old carpet we used to have.

Ducking my head here, but I hate wooden floors! Here in France the whole house is tiled. It is very practical but I do miss carpets. To me either a laminate floor or a wooden floor just looks so bare.

This year I replaced the old laminate in my lounge with carpet and it's lovely to have soft and warm underfoot However, I want to replace the ancient hall and dining room carpets with laminate (wood is too expensive) but it seems that it costs a lot to get someone to lay it so I'll have to go with carpet.