KronoSwiss Laminate Flooring - need advice
I'm thinking of installing 400+ sq ft of laminate flooring. I ordered samples of the KronoSwiss Swiss Solid laminate flooring and it seems to be a very sturdy product. Does anyone have any experience with this product or any suggestions they could give me? Any help is greatly appreciated as this is my first flooring project. Thanks! Testimonials claim this is a very durable floor. The solid is suppose to be 12mm thick, half again thicker than most laminate floors. It is supposed to have an excellent wear rating. Even though it has fewer color selections than more expensive laminate brands, it is reportedly a good product for the price. As with any floor covering, it is best to shop around. There are many laminate manufacturers. The larger ones tend to offer good, better, best levels of quality, warranty, and price. Purchase the best product that your budget will allow. Thanks twelvepole for your reply! I'm still looking around at other laminate flooring brands but I haven't decided on one yet. I'm trying to get the best quality for the lowest price (as is everyone....) Thanks! There are two types of laminate--plastic and wood. Plastic laminate is a picture of real wood adhered to a variety of subtrate materiials, and the picture is coated. The wood laminates are a veneer of real wood that is adhered to plies of substrate materials. The thicker the veneer layer (nothing less than 1/8 recommended) and the more plies the better. Finishes tend to compete with solid wood floor finishes and offer similar warranties. There are a variety of installation methods for these products--from glue down, staple, nail, and snap together (floating). If you plan on doing the project yourself, then ease of installation is a major consideration (most tend to go snap because of ease of installation). There are many manufacturers of laminate products, so many that it can make you dizzy. Shop around and go with a major manufacturer that offers a good, better, best product level in the show room rack at your local retailer. Quality, warranty, and price tend to increase as you move up the scale. Remember that there is a saying in the flooring industry: There is nothing good that is cheap and nothing cheap that is good. I just spent the last three days as a host of a local homebuilder's show. We had a local floor dealer exhibiting the +/- $1.00 floor coverings. I was embarrassed and fearful that show visitors would be lured to the products offered by this vendor. Laminate was less than $2.00. Sorry, but it was junk. Unless installation requirements require a laminate product, I encourage folks to go with a solid 3/4 wood floor product. A solid wood floor will last 200+ years and can be sanded and refinished. Solid wood floors add value to your home. Solid wood floors are require above grade (not in basement) installation and 3/4 plywood subfloor (3/4 OSB acceptable). It is a nail down product. Pickle, if it helps at all, I did quite a bit of research and ended up purchasing Kronoswiss 8.3 mm (the newer product release) cherry. We installed it this weekend and it looks great! The installation was relatively painless. I purchased it from Heidemann's online and have had numerous questions answered by them very quickly. The QuietStep padding was a bit more than foam but is seems to be of high quality. I thought that it was worth putting a better underlayment for the longer term. There demo video helped a lot too. Only 1 bad board (a nick) in the two rooms that I installed. I used it as a short piece so that was not a problem. I don't know how it will wear yet of course, but it is rated AC4. Yes, workingonmyhome, that does help. Thanks for your reply! I have ordered samples from this company and have asked questions via e-mail. The service has been exceptional. I am still researching for more laminate floors. Does anyone have expereince with brand name called Balta sold by the same company?? I know that he owns the company, but the owner (Mike?) comes across very open and honest. Instead of email, I would give him a call and get his opinion on the 2 laminates. I'd be interested in hearing what he says if you follow through. Good luck.
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