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Thread: Recommendations for engineered (or laminate) wood flooring?

  1. #1
    Master MakeColdplayHistory's Avatar
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    Recommendations for engineered (or laminate) wood flooring?

    As title really.

    I know we need some and that's about it.
    Last edited by MakeColdplayHistory; 10th October 2017 at 15:19.

  2. #2
    Grand Master JasonM's Avatar
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    Used these guys last year for our engineered flooring and couldn’t fault the wood or the service.

    www.ukflooringdirect.co.uk

  3. #3
    Master MakeColdplayHistory's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JasonM View Post
    Used these guys last year for our engineered flooring and couldn’t fault the wood or the service.

    www.ukflooringdirect.co.uk
    Thanks - Ill have a look.

  4. #4
    Craftsman Nuisance Value's Avatar
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    First off get your spec sorted before buying;

    Board width; thinner boards (up to about 120mm) look fine in small rooms, larger rooms need larger widths otherwise they look too busy (my room is 7m x 7m and I went with 220mm wide, they look great) Wider boards are usually more expensive.

    Board thickness; the thicker the veneer (2-3mm vs 4-5mm wear layer) the better the quality and usually more expensive the price. But overall thickness will depend on the existing room/s. You may have to undercut doors if it's a retro fit or butt up against full height windows, so watch your thresholds. Secondly, if it's going on underfloor heating thinner boards (say 13 - 15mm o/all) allow the heating to work more efficiently than thicker (say 21mm) boards

    Grade - Generally fall into 4 grades A,B, C & D (or a mix of say A&B or B,C & D) but many places now confuse this with Rustic or country (C or D), natural or classic (B or C), prime (usually B) and select (usually A or A&B) read their grade descriptions carefully and compare against other websites.

    Different makes will come with different pack sizes, board mixes (all one length or mixed lengths), click or T&G (not much difference between the two really)

    Finish - personal preference really, I prefer oiled but you may prefer varnished or lacquered. You can get hardwax, UV oiled, UV lacquered, stained, painted... UV is for stopping UV fading obviously.

    Fitting method; how are you fixing it and is it suitable? This will depend on if it's retro or new and what the substrate is. Don't forget this will also mean what fixings or underlay etc is required for instance.

    Get samples, they're usually free, but remember don't bank on the colour. The boards will vary to some degree.

    Don't dismiss laminate! They are a world away from what you think, and the newer ones are almost indistinguishable from wood, plus they are much harder wearing if you have kids. Of course they are generally cheaper too.
    Last edited by Nuisance Value; 9th October 2017 at 21:34.

  5. #5
    On finish, the beauty of oiled is that it wears beautifully.

    We got Kahrs flooring from flooringsupplies.co.uk who were very helpful and also recommended local guys for the install.


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  6. #6
    Craftsman Nuisance Value's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mystery Scott View Post
    On finish, the beauty of oiled is that it wears beautifully.
    TZ-UK mobile app
    Totally agree. Oiled finish usually lets the wood 'breathe' a bit better instead of sealing it fully. I think it's easier to maintain and minor repair than other finishes, and I don't see the point in getting wood and then putting a barrier between you and it. It's a more tactile finish than lacquer.

    I've always oiled wood for years now.

  7. #7
    Another Kahrs buyer here also from flooringsupplies.co.uk after visiting one of their stores, they were very helpful, I took some samples and they posted some they didn't have in stock.
    I very nearly went for a nice walnut but the surface was so smooth that I could scratch it and the marks were obvious, I went for a slightly more rustic Matt lacquered oak with a bit of surface grain in it and it seemed to hide marks well. I also did a drop test with a hammer and couldn't see the mark with the oak but there was an obvious dent with the walnut. I want something that is going to wear well and to have a decent life, that said I doubt I would refinish and probably just buy a new floor, the beauty of floating means it's easy to take up and relay something else.
    There are probably cheaper floors out there but I am impressed with the quality of Kahrs, would have gone with quick-step if I hadn't found something I liked in their range.

  8. #8
    Master MakeColdplayHistory's Avatar
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    Thanks all. Some really useful info.
    We definitely need to go for something resilient with teenagers in the house. It will be less than a week before one of them goes sliding across the floor with a piece of grit stuck in their shoe...

  9. #9
    Master MakeColdplayHistory's Avatar
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    Am I being a snob only looking at engineered wood rather than including laminate?

  10. #10
    Craftsman Nuisance Value's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MakeColdplayHistory View Post
    Am I being a snob only looking at engineered wood rather than including laminate?
    Not at all. I went for wood because I like wood and as there's only me it won't get hammered. It's just worth remembering that the laminates are highly resilient and are leaps and bounds ahead of what they were, which is useful in high traffic areas.

  11. #11
    Master Chukas's Avatar
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    I’d look at Karndean, I’ve got this down in my whole down stairs expect my front sitting room, really hard wearing and looks superb.
    In my last house I laid 60m3 of solid oak flooring and it ended up marking badly and don’t think I’d get it again.

  12. #12
    These people are on the same industrial estate as me https://www.junckers.com/en

  13. #13
    Master MakeColdplayHistory's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by adrianw View Post
    These people are on the same industrial estate as me https://www.junckers.com/en
    Yes, but are they nice people who make great flooring? Or a bunch of shoddy layabouts??

    (I'll look them up)

  14. #14
    Craftsman Nuisance Value's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MakeColdplayHistory View Post
    Yes, but are they nice people who make great flooring? Or a bunch of shoddy layabouts??

    (I'll look them up)
    Junckers are one of the best, regularly specified for high end and commercial works.

  15. #15
    We had some from Howdens but that was a while ago, still going strong.

  16. #16
    Journeyman frankieflow's Avatar
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    I recently finished building our new home and we put down PERGO laminate upstairs and down.They also have a stairs system
    which we utilized. I find them to be a great product and wear very well.

    https://pro.pergo.co.uk/

    Frank.

    PS We powerfloated our concrete floors and still needed to put down leveling compound in places.

  17. #17
    Grand Master Chinnock's Avatar
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    Karndean Parquet for the whole of my downstairs. With 3 kids and 2 dogs it is perfect. Hard wearing, no marks and simply stunning. Many people assume it's original wood.

    Used this;

    https://internetflooringsupplies.co....hoCBU0QAvD_BwE

  18. #18
    Master gunner's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chukas View Post
    I’d look at Karndean, I’ve got this down in my whole down stairs expect my front sitting room, really hard wearing and looks superb.
    In my last house I laid 60m3 of solid oak flooring and it ended up marking badly and don’t think I’d get it again.
    The beauty of wood though is that you can simply sand it back and it's good as new. We've just put in c. 150sqm of the stuff.


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