Flooring: Laminate vs Engineered Wood
 

Question for you home fix-up types.

We're redoing a basement room for use as a playroom. It's a former maid's quarters that was gutted by a previous owner, so it already has drains for a bathroom. The floor is bare concrete.

We're trying to decide on what kind of floor to put in. We want it to look like wood--pref light like maple, beech, etc. since it's a cellar room.

- Has to be very water resistant and moppable. Kid spills, plus the bathroom.
- Has to be very thin. The ceiling is low as it is, so a total installed height of 1/2" is perfect.
- Has to be durable. It's a playroom. He's a boy. He'll have a strong capacity for doing damage.

I've been looking at laminates like Pergo, plus the various plywood flooring products. Any experiences with these types of flooring in a basement?

You might want to look at the vinyl strip flooring. Looks alot like wood & glues down. Virtually indestructable.

Hadn't considered that. Looks like it's not prefinished and requires regular waxing though. I really like the idea of minimum maintenance.

Re: Flooring: Laminate vs Engineered Wood
 

Well #1 wipes out engineered and laminate and #2 put it in bold font. The only reasonable options are ceramic tile or linoleum. Plus you're in PA and the room is a basement which typically are moist environments.

I've noticed that the engineered wood products all seem to advise against use in bathrooms. Odd, since I have a beautiful, real wood floor in my kitchen and it looks great.

Pergo (and other laminates) all are approved for bathrooms. From what I've read, the issue is preventing water from getting underneath them.

Regarding durability, when I was reading up on vinyl/linoleum, it seems they're very sensitive to gouging and tearing from point loads. Also, it looks like I would have to pour a leveling underlayment to smooth out the concrete so irregularities won't show through the vinyl.

Ceramic tile would be great if it weren't so expensive.

I have Pergo in my small bathroom, it gets wet ALL THE TIME. We had a recurring leak that flooded the floor 3 times. My son enjoys splashy baths, in general it gets wet a lot.

NO signs of rot or mold or delamination.....10 years.

Why not have the concrete polished and stained? I've seen this type of floor in some very high-end homes with amazing results.

One particular home had grooves cut into the floor to resemble large tiles, but it was all just stained and polished concrete. Very durable, and no height penalty.

Do you have any links/info...I'm in the same search mode as RallyJon

The people who bought my house in CA..tore out 500 sq ft of Marble Flooring to stain and polish the concrete....I never thought anybody would do that...