Snap together type flooring

[Eric Wettschreck]

The wife and I will soon be doing some work in a main floor laundry, dining room, and our kitchen. All the existing flooring is pretty nasty and we want to replace it, all rooms at the same time. Anyone have any experience with the snap together stuff? My neighbor put some down a while ago and it looks nice. Pros and cons to this stuff???

[cavalierowner]

About 4 months ago pulled up all the carpet in one of my duplexes and replaced it with laminate flooring, about 550 s.f. It has not yet withstood the test of time, so I'll see how well it lasts. I decided to try it because Habitat For Humanity in this area now puts it most of their homes. It came well recommended by a couple of Habitat's project managers. I was very impressed with the scratch resistance and it looked really nice. The downside is that it is very slippery in stocking feet.

I used Tarkett's laminate because it happened to be on sale, the stuff without the attached backing. I bought the best underlayment. Once I got the hang of putting it down, it was very easy to install. A little fussy at doors because you have to undercut the jambs, but not too bad. It took a 12" power miter saw to cut completely thru the boards; a 10" saw would not have done it. The surface is also tough enough that it takes a carbide blade to easily cut through.I did the entire installation, 2 bedrooms (including the closets), a long hall, dining room and living room in 2 long days. Then another 6 or so hours to install new quarter round at the baseboards.

The only thing I would question in your case is how well it would hold up to water spilled from the kitchen or laundry. The finish is certainly waterproof, but the rest is a particleboard. Perhaps someone else will have some experience with that.

[Eelpout08]

I put it in our dining room and it has held up to two young kids pretty well for 2 or 3 years now. The only problems i have is the short cut peices at the end tend to slide apart with the kids running around like the houligans they are. had i known that i would have made sure to not have any peices less than 24" or so. I have also seen some that has swelled up and cupped at the edges, i assume from water, so i make sure to not let any spills soak into the floor.

The finish has lasted better than i expected and it was a 'snap' to install( sorry, i couldnt help myself)

[cavalierowner]

Eelpout08, didn't the ends on your floor snap together too? The ends of the Tarkett that I laid snapped together too, so I assume they can't separate. In fact it took me a while to get the hang of the technique to snap both the ends and the long dimension together.

[Gordie]

I've had my laminate down for 13 years but it was the snap/lock and glue stuff from Hardie its a maple looking type and I love it.

Eric as long as you have a good solid sub-floor that is nice flat and leveled out that snap/lock flooring does work real good.

[Surface Tension]

I've seen it where the pattern is worn off and it looks like heck but by the looks it was some cheap stuff. In this case I'd much rather look at a hard wood floor that has aged with time and abuse.

If you have hardwood floors I'd refinish before installing a lam over it. Time vs. money deal but you know which will last longer.

If you don't have hardwood floors then I do the lam. Don't go cheap and take you shoes off in the house.

Wipe up spills right way.

[paceman]

We have had ours in for a solid 3 years. It looks just like new still. We have two kids, 2 dogs and a cat. Lots of running. dirt, mud, action.... Clean up any spills, snow... right away and you should be fine. We put ours in the living, dining and kitchen. We love it.

[crothmeier]

I have it in my dining room and kitchen and entryway. # years running, i only have one spot that the seam swelled up because it got water spilled on it and did not get wiped up, but its not even noticeable to others. i have felt pads on the bottoms of my chairs to prevent scratching.

[TruthWalleyes]

I had it installed in an apartment a few years ago, they installed it too tight - in February. I tried to let the owners know come march when it started to buckle from the humidity. They didn't listen, and by June there was spots as high as 3". Stuff does work good, looks good, but pay attention to the required spacing, and humidity during installation.

They installed this stuff in dry weather, and everything was tight.

I think that even if you installed it in the high humid days of summer, you will still want to leave some space for expansion.

Good Luck Eric!

[cavalierowner]

The Tarkett product I installed said to leave a gap around everything regardless of temparature or humidity. Any wood floor, whether it's engineered or real wood, needs space at the perimeter to expand and contract. In fact, virtually all building materials expand and contract and you have to account for that. That's taught early on in architectural technology classes.

[Eric Wettschreck]

I never thought of the humidity thing. We don't have AC in the house. Will this matter much???

Andy, you ever been in my house? It's the same old junky carpet and linolium that was there when we bought the place, way back when. Only God know how long Ruby had the same stuff down. I'm guessing it's about a million years old.

[cavalierowner]

It shouldn't matter if you have air conditioning or not. Or what the humidity is. If you keep the spacing around the perimeter like the manufacturer's instructions tell you, it can move all it wants and will not be affected by temperature or humidity. Don't forget to maintain that gap when you undercut the door jambs and if you install a quarter round to cover the gap at the perimeter, be sure you nail the quarter round into the baseboard and not into the flooring. The idea is that when the flooring expands and contracts, it slides free of the quarter round.

[pureinsanity]

The Tarkett product I installed said to leave a gap around everything regardless of temparature or humidity. Any wood floor, whether it's engineered or real wood, needs space at the perimeter to expand and contract. In fact, virtually all building materials expand and contract and you have to account for that. That's taught early on in architectural technology classes.

You are 100% correct. I use to install laminate, hardwood, pergo, you name it I installed it if it was manufactured flooring.

even laminate should be bought and stored in your room for atleast a week or so. It needs to adjust to your house temp and humidity.

Also leave about a 1/4 gap no bigger around the perimeter. This is a free floating floor. So take your trim up and lay it down or lay it down with your trim down and add 1/4 round or 1/2 round. which ever you need to your trim.

[fishwidow]

Just finishing up kitchen, dining room, laundry room, and bath with snap together vinyl--Mannington Adura luxury vinyl planks. My wife is a kitchen/bath designer and chose this after research. We have two dogs so scratch resistance was important. The people who have seen it are all surprised that it is not really wood.

[chasineyes]

We have it in our office and yea it's ok but I wish I would have just laid real hardwood instead. I don't think it would have costed a ton more but it would have looked and sounded better. I keep thinking resale and wonder if real wood would be better. Granted it was a 10x12 room not a kitchen. with LOTS of cuts. Have you priced out a "cork" flooring?

[upnorth]

We have it in our Basement rec room and the kitchen. Rec room has been there for about 4 years the kitchen 2. The rec room I wish I would have left more gap to allow it to expand as there is a rather long section and when it gets real hot and humid it has a few spots where it kind heaves up a little. The kitchen we lightly glued all the edges to keep any spilled water from getting in the seams. So far both are holding up very well.

[pureinsanity]

We have it in our Basement rec room and the kitchen. Rec room has been there for about 4 years the kitchen 2. The rec room I wish I would have left more gap to allow it to expand as there is a rather long section and when it gets real hot and humid it has a few spots where it kind heaves up a little. The kitchen we lightly glued all the edges to keep any spilled water from getting in the seams. So far both are holding up very well.

Easy fix where it binds is to set something heavy on the spot that heaves to push it down. Then pull off the trim board and see where it is hitting the wall. Attack it with a sawzall! reinstall trim. problem solved.