Jennarator Posted September 19, 2011 Report Share Posted September 19, 2011 We have a small apartment connected to our home. It's a one bedroom with a livingroom and decent size kitchen and one bathroom. We have recently framed it out, and will shortly be adding new drywall and windows, and flooring. We are not going to re floor the kitchen. My question is: Should we do carpet, or laminate (that looks like wood) flooring? (This would be for the livingroom and bedroom, only. My husband wants carpet, and I hadn't really thought about the laminat until today. We're in Idaho and it can get cold, carpet might have a warmer feel, but it seems the trend is a wood or laminate. I'm just looking for opinions. Thanks, Jennarator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slamjet Posted September 19, 2011 Report Share Posted September 19, 2011 Laminate with a throw-rug. My ex-wife has all solid hardwood flooring (old house) with a basement. Believe it or not, it's not that much difference between summer and winter because the temperature in the house tends to be stable. It does get a little cool, but nothing like standing on concrete in the winter. If they feel need to (because they are most all girls and always cold), they put on their slippers. Plus, with all the kids, it's so much easier to take care of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennarator Posted September 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2011 Laminate with a throw-rug. My ex-wife has all solid hardwood flooring (old house) with a basement. Believe it or not, it's not that much difference between summer and winter because the temperature in the house tends to be stable. It does get a little cool, but nothing like standing on concrete in the winter. If they feel need to (because they are most all girls and always cold), they put on their slippers. Plus, with all the kids, it's so much easier to take care of.This is what I am thinking, too. I don't know how hard it will be to convince my husband. I'll take all input about it I can. For or against laminate. Either way we can decide what might work best for possible tennants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slamjet Posted September 19, 2011 Report Share Posted September 19, 2011 Laminate stays for a long time. Tenants destroy carpet and you will be changing it and/or cleaning it every five years, or whenever a tenant moves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beefche Posted September 20, 2011 Report Share Posted September 20, 2011 I agree. Laminate will be cheaper than carpet and it'll be easier/cheaper to maintain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pam Posted September 20, 2011 Report Share Posted September 20, 2011 I go with the laminate. For someone living there, laminate is easier to keep clean and doesn't wear out as fast as the carpet. As far as winter, you can always use throw rugs on the floor to keep your tootsies warmer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 20, 2011 Report Share Posted September 20, 2011 Plus if your husband is handy at all, laminate isn't all that hard to install and can be done pretty cheaply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dahlia Posted September 20, 2011 Report Share Posted September 20, 2011 I'm renting a house. They put in new carpet downstairs and after almost 5 years, I'd tear it up with my bare hands if I could. I can't help but think how many germs it harbors. We're not messy, but I certainly worry about stains and dirt (beige carpet). Everyone who comes in takes off their shoes, so I end up entertaining elders and ward members in their stocking feet. I won't even discuss the older carpet in the bedrooms. Yuck. Get the laminate. If I were looking at two similar places, one with, one without carpet, I'd choose the one without in a heartbeat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iggy Posted September 20, 2011 Report Share Posted September 20, 2011 I vote for the laminate too. We just bought a 1993 double wide manufactured home. We are the third owner. The carpet is original except in the 2 bedrooms bedrooms. The kitchen has indoor/outdoor carpeting. I absolutely hate it! Starting Oct 1st- all the refundable cans and bottle money is being saved to put tile down in the kitchen. I will do it myself if I have to!! Thankfully the laundry room and two bathrooms have vinyl flooring. Then in about 4 to 5 years, I want ALL the carpeting removed and Pergo installed. Or something similar to Pergo. Much easier to keep clean, no stains, no breeding spiders, fleas, & other bugs-n-germs, etc. Think your carpet is clean? Put on white socks and walk around your carpeted areas all day. Then take a good look at the socks. Go with laminate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classylady Posted September 20, 2011 Report Share Posted September 20, 2011 We have laminate in our kitchen and entry way. I love it there. We've had a refrigerator leak and the laminate did get slightly damaged. My living room and bedrooms are carpeted. I'm one of those people who have cold tootsies. I love walking on my carpeted areas barefoot, but hate walking on cold flooring. My master bath is tile. Looks great, but I can't stand walking on it--too cold to my feet. Also don't like walking on the laminate with bare feet. Our carpeting in the bedrooms are over 20 years old. Love to get new carpet, but can't afford it right now. I'll probably stick with carpet in the bedrooms just for the comfort of walking on it. For the ease of cleaning, laminate would be the way to go--especially with a rental. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwen Posted September 20, 2011 Report Share Posted September 20, 2011 I agree with everyone else go with a solid floor, I can't wait to get my carpets out. If I were renting the home I'd want solid floors. We'd lose our security deposit off carpets alone with all my kids and I'd be a horrible mom always worrying about stains. Let the tenants buy throw rugs or slippers.The kitchen has indoor/outdoor carpeting. I absolutely hate it! Starting Oct 1st- all the refundable cans and bottle money is being saved to put tile down in the kitchen. I will do it myself if I have to!! Thankfully the laundry room and two bathrooms have vinyl flooring. Go with laminate.This is kinda off topic but not really, it's flooring. We are looking at doing some tile and doing it ourselves to save money. I've come across this brand SnapStone. Right now it's what I want to put in when we get to that point. It takes away all the concerns I had for doing tile myself and should be a money saver for us.Has anyone used it or seen it in a home? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennarator Posted September 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2011 Never seen snap stone. But I know that my husband put in some vinel tiles and they were easy.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bini Posted September 20, 2011 Report Share Posted September 20, 2011 We put pergo flooring in our rentals and are very happy with the result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maureen Posted September 20, 2011 Report Share Posted September 20, 2011 What about cork? We need to do our kitchen, and I am considering cork. It's a little more expensive than laminate but I think it looks great. M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 20, 2011 Report Share Posted September 20, 2011 What about cork? We need to do our kitchen, and I am considering cork. It's a little more expensive than laminate but I think it looks great.M.I agree! Put a cork in it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pam Posted September 20, 2011 Report Share Posted September 20, 2011 I watch HGTV a lot. They use cork quite often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just_A_Guy Posted September 21, 2011 Report Share Posted September 21, 2011 I would just worry about scratching; particularly if it's a place where people will be moving in and out fairly often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rachinesafire Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 You must install laminate flooring if there is a comparison between hardwoods and laminate flooring. It is very durable, easy to clean with low maintenance and the best thing is that it looks like hardwood flooring so your husband will also like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IamMe Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 I agree on the laminete, tenants don't always care as much about taking care of your things and can be hard on carpet. Also, you'll appeal to tenants with allergies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 Laminate is soooo 5 minutes ago. Engineered wood it is now. My neighbor put in snapstone 2 weeks ago. Looks just like wood... but it's tile. Very interesting. It's perfect for barrier-free house with constant wheelchair action. My neighbor lost both her legs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizzy16 Posted March 25, 2012 Report Share Posted March 25, 2012 (edited) My grandparents have laminate and I actually like it better then the hard wood floor at my parents home. I'm not sure if thats because I like my grandparents a lot or what haha. I think laminate is easier to clean. I love swifers. And while you can swifer real hard wood floors its not the same lol. Plus you have to like buff them and shine them and stuff. Have you thought about doing real wood? It's not that hard to install if you buy the peices that you snap together and then nail and shine ect.. I'm not sure how pricey the actual pieces are. However last summer my dad and I redid the floors in my new house. It was really actually kinda fun. I fit them in and did the hammer thing on the machine. Not that hard at all. Whenever someone comes over and compliments the flooring 'nice wood floors!" I'm always like "Thanks. I put those in." haha :) Also, cork flooring? How would that work with high heels...wouldn't your heel like keep denting it.....I'm thinking like..Cork like my cork board... Edited March 25, 2012 by lizzy16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annewandering Posted March 25, 2012 Report Share Posted March 25, 2012 (edited) One of my daughters has a beautiful house and it has all tile or laminate. Only thing she hates is the laminate in the master bathroom but she will replace it. We have been watching a lot of dyi shows on tv. No one recommends carpet. It is very 'last year' as far as style goes. I think its because the carpet is hard to maintain. Especially in a rental or home with kids or hmm men. We are redoing our living room this summer with tile. I would have never considered it before seeing how beautiful my daughters home is with it. Frankly it is much more beautiful than laminate although the laminates dont look bad but then I am not fond of any plastics in design. The tile we are going to use is going to be a very nice stone looking ceramic. I am amazed how much like real stone they look and feel like and they do not have the breakage problems. By the way you can actually get tile that looks like wood lol. Not that I have seen that in person so have no idea how good it looks. Oh and on laminate, the bathroom laminate my daugher hates is a floating laminate. It is all supposed to be nice and wonderful but hers has bounces in it. Feels like the floor is collapsing in one spot but its not. Its just a 'bubble' where the laminate isnt snugged down right. You might take that in consideration if you are considering the floating laminate. Edited March 25, 2012 by annewandering Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pam Posted March 25, 2012 Report Share Posted March 25, 2012 When I moved into my house 4 years ago, I completely recarpeted it before moving in. I wish now I had done hardwood floors....oh well..that will come next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwen Posted March 25, 2012 Report Share Posted March 25, 2012 We did end up putting the snapstone in our dining room a couple of months ago (I think, it's been awhile lol). I love it. It looks great and was easy enough to do ourselves. We are doing our kitchen in a couple of weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bini Posted March 25, 2012 Report Share Posted March 25, 2012 Anne, carpet being out of trend or not - it's terrible wear and tear! Especially for renters, people with kids and or indoor pets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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