Opinions on Laminate flooring brands please

[smithhill]

I'm searching out which laminate floor brand to buy. I want a high quality, I have 5 small grandchildren and a small dog. I've looked at Armstrong's best quality, also Mohawk's. Today I was at Sam's club and liked the pattern (Raven Oak) of one floor they sell "Living Floor", which is mfg. by Simple Solutions with attached pad, made in the USA. The price is great at $1.55 s.f., the color is great, but I don't want to fall into a trap of cheap price but bad quality. Does anyone know anything about it. I would also be very appreciative if those who have laminate, or install it, would share their experiences and insights about your choice. If you can list the mfg., please tell me what collection or quality it is. Thank you.

[lyndaa]

Dear Sir or Madam:
We are specialized in manufacture and exporting laminate flooring accessories .Our products hold high reputation by the clients in the worldwide with the high quality and favorable price.please advise if any product you are interested in.
We look forward to your early reply.

best regards.
lynda
foreign trade merchandiser
changzhou xiangrong decorated material ltd.
Address: Henglin town, Changzhou city,
Jiangsu province, China
Tel: (86-519) 8721550
Fax: (86-519) 8721722
email:laminate-molding@hotmail.com
site:xiangrongcn dot com
msn:laminate-molding@hotmail.com

[philly40]

I bought some of the SimpleSolutions Living Laminate Russet Oak and it's great! Had since the summer...cleans easy and it has a backing on it already so all you need to lay down is the plastic. Find some body to lay it down for you save yourself the hard work.....It's a great floor!

[mgripy]

Wilsonart is the best quality, High Pressure Laminate. There elite series has a 42 mil wear layer.

[huxley]

I am too in search of best quality of laminate flooring which is available in the affordable pricing as well as fine-quality. I want to know such branded laminated flooring which may never be damaged due to the heavy traffic of the kids. I prefere such flooring as it is easy to clean or wipe out any spots and also available in the beautiful designs.

[canoebuilder]

I did my floors about 8 years ago and there was so many choices. The way I made my choice was getting the best warrentee...20 years is about what the top flooring will run and a few at about double the price gave a 25 year and some low end was 15 so get the best deal on a 20 year ware warrentee...
Also for those who have it installed, when washing the floor you do not need to buy any special product. Sales rep in Home Depot said vinegar and water works just as good if not better!!!
I get a great shine useing about 1/2 cup of white vinegar in 1 gal of water.

[pushkins]

When purchasing laminate flooring the 1st thing you should be looking for is the "wear layer" this will be given in...."mil".

Basically there are two tyes of laminate floors.
1. Engineered>>>> very thin slither of a wood product glued to the surface of the floor planks. This is actually wood and in some cases can be thick enough that should the floor require repairing or refinishing at some time down the track it can be done by a very light sanding.

and

2. Photolamination>>> to explain this simply, they take a extremely high quality picture of a finished floor, for example, wide plank Brazillian hardwood, they may capture an area 3 planks wide and 3 feet long, this is then reproduced and and attached to the laminate flooring planks. (this is why this style of laminate flooring every piece is exactly the same.
So in basic terms with this style of laminate floor you have a piece of wood with a very high quality photo glued to the face and therefore cannot ever be repaired or refinished. The "wear layer" with these floors is more often the thickness of the protective sealing layers of film applied over the finished product.

Another thing you want to think about is in what area you want to use this floor, if your using it in a high traffic area with definite traffic paths, like hallways (everyone walks down the center) or doorways (again 99% of he wear is right in the middle) then you might want to consider a thicker "wear layer" floor.

Funny thing is from time to time "Sams club" actually have some good laminate flooring at good prices, but remeber your big box stores will more often than not compete with them even if it is branded differently.