Is laminate floor out of date ?

A few words to consider, please.
I live in a semi detached house. My next door neighbours at people aged 60+. Just a married couple who rarely have visitors. They have laminate in the lounge and some of the bedrooms. The noise is unbelievable! They still work and start very early. Every time they move a chair it sounds so noisy and this is pre 6 a.m. It is so inconsiderate to have such a din going on so early in the morning.
There are flats and houses in the area where it is against the conditions of the properties to have laminate or wooden floors because of the noise problems.
SPF

I moved into a house that had cheap laminate from the DIY store, it was awful not only did it look cheap it was so noisy, my son dropped a £1 coin in his bedroom and it sounded like gunfire, even the cat hated walking on it. Next house had really expensive laminate and it was just as noisy. You can see every speck of dust on it and if you dont mop everyday you have tumbleweed rolling across the floor which is never a good look.At least with carpets you can get away with hovering every second day.floradora try a mid brown heather mix carpet, it hides the dirt well.

I would love to be able to afford real wood but I have laminate which has been down for 14 years . It has no real signs of damage apart from a few tiny dints and has had plenty of mini floods which have not cause any damage . I love it and would never go back to carpets or cushion floor .

I love my laminate floor though only thing is I keep my Boots on most of the time as it can get cold. Much nicer though.

Hoovering every second day? I only hoover round once a week.Yes, a brown heather mix hides everything, wonderful, although we may have the hall done as a wood flooring.Bathrooms are tiled.Kitchen is Karndean.

Good Grief I hoover twice daily

Ha,ha roses, I only hoover when I notice the carpets need it!

When it gets crunchy

Thanks for that hint about rosemary, Shanma. I hadn't heard that before. Like you, we have a dog and I don't like the idea of the house smelling doggie. I'll definitely try this!

We had tiles on our kitchen floor which were worn and we went out to buy new tiles to lay on top - however while looking we found what is really a very thick vinyl material in strips the size of laminate planks and looking like planks of wood but you stick them down. It has a grained surface. After much discussion we decided to go for it - a German made product and we got the kitchen/ bathroom quality which was the same price as tiles. It was laid very carefully - looks like wood and is nothing like as cold as laminate or tiles. It has been down five years and no signs of wear.
Upstairs OH has built a new walk in wardrobe and ensuite and he laid a wooden floor which we have painted and sealed - so far so good.

We have had laminate down for over 8 yrs now and it looks as good as new,cleans well and looks modern it gives our smaller sized apartment a sense of space,I don't think we would ever consider carpets again as they carry so many germs and dust mites in their fibres.

I have had laminate down, in various rooms, for about 15 years. I have always bought the best I could afford and I can honestly say I have always been very pleased with it. As required, I give it a sweep over with a soft brush and once a week I wipe it over with a floor wipe.
My daughter has karndean and it is excellent. When her washer flooded she just mopped it up and the flooring wasn't affected at all. I would definitely have it if the budget allowed

Don't tell me it's out of date! We've just replaced the tiled floor in the dining room with light pine laminate that looks like stripped floor boards and is such an improvement!

It's mainly because of the dogs that we got rid of all downstairs carpets. Just brush or hoover on the full moon and a wipe bi-annual wipe down keep everything smelling fresh

Laminated wood ('engineered' wood) is cheaper than wood floors and looks as good.

Be careful if stripping carpet to reveal original floor boards at ground floor level, check what is under the floor boards. If it is concrete or a solid floor, fine, but if it is void underneath, you will end up with a very cold house as drafts of cold air come up through the floor. DD found herself in this situation so put a layer of insulation with laminate floor on top and the difference in comfort was incredible.

Solid floors and I include Karndean, can be very slippery for older dogs, as can tiles. I think laminate is probably worst of all. We have a tiled dining kitchen and I have Turtle mat runners everywhere as poor Grace has been known to come a cropper going round the table and also if she lies down, can't get up as she can't get any "purchase" on a slippery floor ?(Turtle mats happily go in the washing machine and drier though.)
Bear in mind, you have to trap dirt from outside somewhere. We used to have Minton tiles in our hallway in our old house, great, but there was more risk of dirt and mud being carried further into the house!

DaphneB My Karndean kitchen floor is far from slippery. My feet seem to be sticking to it as I walk about.

You don't have claws and long long legs (well maybe the latter!!) think the canine equivalent of Naomi Campbell in high heels. It's not getting purchase on the ground/floor because of the very small surface area of the paws in relation to the length of the legs. Try walking on tiptoes in smooth leather soled very high heels!

Karndean and Amtico are both very expensive Anya and Harrigran gorgeous though .

I have a tiled hallway, kitchen and downstairs loo and a laminate floor in my dining/family room, it's been down for about 4 years and still looks as good as new. It does get a lot of punishment too and is constantly being swept, vacuumed and mopped. It is used as a race track a dance floor and is frequently covered in glue, glitter, paint, peas and grains of rice. Talk about "well used"

On a practical note beware Karndean in a very sunny room. It fades! Mine has been replaced by suppliers but 2nd lot has now faded too.

Those long-legged dogs such as greyhounds and pointers do find hard floors a problem. We had a friend's pointer staying and his legs kept sliding in all directions . Smaller dogs with lower CoG seem to cope no problem.

I must admit Gilly that hard floors make the best race tracks. My crackers (from the Guide Dog Dogalogue) contain wind-up robins intended to be racing robins. My hope if that the GC will finding these entertaining after Christmas dinner and leave us humans adults free to enjoy our post-prandial talk, the hard floors making good robin race tracks.

We had huge ceramic tiles in the hall with a well mat as you walk in. Looks smart, can be washed etc.
Carpet would have been very grubby by now whereas the tiles look good as new.

I'm not keen on laminate mainly cos you can't wash it. My daughter has wood in the entire ground floor ..... Looks fab & hard wearing. She bought hers on the internet and it wasn't exorbitant. No more expensive than an average carpet.

I'm sure whatever you choose it will look great.

i get loads of ideas for decorating from programmes like 60 minute makeover. don't like some but there are some ideas which are worth bearing in mind especially colours for paint and wallpaper.
lamiminate flooring has its place but these days it's generally engineered wood not laminate.
however, as a friend found out, laminate can make a room "echoey" and not as cosy as carpet.
i, for one, wouldn't forsake my carpet!

This is a really interesting thread for me. We have a flecked creamy carpet everywhere except kitchen, bathrooms and loos but the hall looks awful. We have decided to change the carpet in hall for something wood like. So there is lots to think about here.

I wouldn't like to get rid of the carpet anywhere else as I like the warmth.

Well Im amazed! We have had laminate flooring in the kitchen for 20 years. It is washed at least every week. Apart from a few chips its absolutely fine. Much warmer underfoot than ceramic tiles.
I prefer carpet in the lounge and bedrooms - much more cosy and again only vacuumed once a week. Doesnt look dirty and Im not neurotic about germs!
Im all for easy care and don't care if Im not fashionable!