Gentlemen, I live a 13 year old starter home, I do expect to live here for the next 10-15+ years and am wondering which flooring type to choose. I have three pets, two cats and a small dog, so whatever I choose needs to be scratch/pee resistant. I am looking at either Pergo laminate or Bruce hardwoods lock and fold products wood or laminate. I wish to keep the price under $4.00 per sq foot, and I will be installing it myself, that alone will save me $2000! Your opinions please.

Second question, which sort of mitre saw do you recommend. I am looking at a Dewalt six inch cutting area. What brands do you recommend? All I have ever used is Dewalt when I used to work in construction. Other brands are cheaper but I do not wish to compromise quality for price. Your opinions please.

get snap together flooring, and you can't go wrong with DeWalt

you mentioned pets - on here or another forum a similar chat took place and it was recommended that you get unfinished flooring installed then put poly down afterward..  With the pre-finished flooring liquids can get thru the seams and then it gets under the flooring which causes it to expand..

goodluck

B

I have used a lot of laminate flooring from some cheap laminate all the way to some very expensive stuff with a quality backing.  Having said that, I prefer real wood.  Real wood also adds value to the house.

I would not install engineered wood though.  If you are going to install wood, IMO I recommend that you go with solid wood.  I have found solid wood flooring for $2.50-4.00 per sq ft.  All in all those price ranges looked very good and were well made.

In my house that I build a year ago, we installed commercial grade laminate.  It is nice and looks great but laminate tends to creak in places...more that real wood does IMO.  I plan to rip it up in a few years and install real wood.  

Do NOT cut corners on your flooring.  There are plenty of places that you can cut corners but IMO the flooring is not one of them.

I have indoor pets(boxers), and installed Mannington commercial grade vynal 'planks'. Basicaly heavy duty plastic faux wood tile that comes in long skinny plank form instead of normal 12" square tiles.

Not real cheap, but has held up great to traffic from 3 dogs, 3 kids, and two adults.

Thanks guys for the input! Ill post pics of the work once I get started because I think you guys at least deserve that. Im ordering the stuff on 8-3 should in by the 10th ish and start shortly thereafter.

What did you go with??

If you haven't ordered already, I've had very good luck with Lumber Liquidators.   At least check them for prices.

FWIW, I've installed laminates, real hardwood, and engineered.  Real 3/4" oak is my favorite, but I recently installed some 5/8" bamboo flooring and really liked it.  The floor went down easily and looked great, even with some dips and bumps in the subfloor that are to be expected in a house that is probably 75 years old.  It was really cheap compared to other prefinished floors of lesser quality.

Also, make sure you have a good blade for your miter saw.  Many laminated floors use aluminum oxide or some other such material for their wear coat.  In case you don't know, that's one of the materials used as sandpaper abrasive.  Any flooring with a coating that tough (which is what you want) is going to be rough on saw blades.

We had pergo laminate in the old house.  The stuff is indestructable.  Doesn't scratch, get's wet? no problem, no denting, etc.

New house has hardwood.  Requires more care to avoid scratching and although it's poly sealed, liquids can cause swelling if left long enough.

In either case, please make sure you leave plenty of float room.  You do not want it buckling up in the middle of the room as the temps change.


In all honesty, I prefer hardwood and tile to laminate.  Wood and tile require extra care, but they do add value and IMO are a much better looking floor.

I had thought about the blade on the saw whats a good reccomendation for one that will hold up? Another question how much float room is good do you thing 1/8 inch whole way round or what?

Required expansion room for floating floors will be specified in the installation instructions but is around 1/4" typically.  You'll want a jamb saw to undercut doorjambs so you don't have a visible gap if you're transitioning between rooms.  Rent the electric kind if you want, but a hand saw made for the job is a cheaper option.

As for the miter saw blade, anything carbide-tipped is GTG, but more teeth gives a cleaner cut.  If you're doing quite a bit of cutting I wouldn't count on using the blade for millwork when you're done with the floor, although it should have plenty of life left as a utility blade.

I use to hav laminate. it felt cheap and hollow when stepped on. when i did a major remodel kast year,I replace it all with prefinished hardwood. are you speaking of a 6" trim saw???  I would get a 10" miter for flooring.

If it is not too late for you to order.  With dogs who have the run of the house, do not use a soft wood.  Those claws will put grooves in the floor.  Not scratches, since that is the surface poly, but the wood underneith will dent causing grooves.  I put down maple, and it is much too soft.  I would stay away from bamboo.  I have had oak and it did well, but this maple is going to have to come back up.  and yes, it is real 3/4" sand in place wood.

side note, make sure you have a humidifier, or that would is really going to shrink and swell on you, leaving more place for pee and dirt to get into.