Choosing Laminate Floor: Cheap vs. Expensive

We originally wanted cheap laminate floors. We just couldn't see how the expensive ones were better. But after a lot of enlightening research, we decided to dig deeper into our pocket and go with a middle-of-the-line product. After all, installing the laminate ourselves will save us a lot of money. 

So how does one know what to look for when choosing laminate flooring?

1.  Laminate products come in thicknesses of 7 to 12mm. The thicker they are, the better (and the more expensive). Thicker planks feel and sound more solid. It's hard to explain, but going into a home improvement store and knocking on laminate planks of different thicknesses gave us a good idea.

2. The flooring specialist in Home Depot told us that cheaper laminates are harder to install. He recommended products that are $2.50/sq. feet and above for beginner DIYers.

3.  According to the same guy, premium laminates look more real. Laminate flooring basically imitates real hardwood. Each hardwood plank is different because it's a natural product, but the patterns on laminates are printed on, so repetitions are bound to happen. More expensive products usually have fewer repetitions.

Pattern repetition on our laminate floor planks.

Interestingly, the flooring specialist also said that the grain or the finish (glossy or matte) of the planks didn't really affect how real they look. But I notice that top-of-the-line laminates often have a glossy finish, so maybe the gloss gives a more polished look .

4. Additionally, I think each individual laminate plank should only have the pattern of one separate hardwood plank on it. Some laminate products have wide planks, with each plank trying to pass off as multiple hardwood planks. These have printed-on borders between each fake hardwood plank. The thing is, under some lighting conditions and/or after being used for some time, it can be pretty obvious that the actual joints of the laminate planks don't match the fake printed joints.

See the white lines of the real planks?

In the photo above, I've highlighted the edges of the laminate planks, which have discolored over time. It's now painfully obvious that they are laminate planks and not real hardwood, because each plank is masquerading as three planks. Even before the laminates lose color, it's possible to see the edges of the real planks under some lighting conditions.

Price considerations aside, from personal experience, it pays to talk to someone in charge of the apartment or townhouse complex before buying laminates. We went through some unnecessary drama just because we didn't ask our strata manager to specify the kind of flooring we have to get to meet the building requirements.

Anyway, we got ourselves laminates that are 12mm thick for $2.49 per square feet. Because we got a 19-percent discount, we only paid $2.02 per square feet (plus tax) for them. Each individual piece looks like a separate hardwood plank. We've installed the laminate on two-thirds of the living room and so far, we think the repetition is not too obvious.

We think we did really well choosing our flooring and we give ourselves little pats on the back every time we see the installed laminate because it just looks so good.