Floors Even My Family Can't Destroy

When my husband and I were looking for a house we knew basically what we wanted. We wanted a log home, in the country with a couple of acres of land, and hardwood or laminate floors. When we first viewed the house we eventually bought it had everything but the floors. I fell in love with the house so we bought it and decided to redo the floors later.

We wanted wood or laminate floors for a couple of reasons. First, we like the way it looks especially in a log home. Second, my husband and sons are murder on carpeting. We looked at the different types of hardwood and laminate flooring and decided to go for the laminate. Then we had to decide on the brand and style of laminate we wanted. I wanted something that came close to matching the trim in our house.

After a few months of looking we decided on the 3 plank style in honey maple by Tarkett. It matches the trim very closely and was reasonably priced. It was $1.79 a sq. ft. in cartons of 24 sq. ft. Each board measures 48 5/8 in x 8 1/16 in. and is 7 mm thick. It has a 25 year warranty. It has an abrasion resistance rating of AC3. I'm not sure what this means but we have had the floors for 18 mths and there are no scratches yet. It has survived furniture being movef around, kids running toy cars around on it, my husbands workboots and anything else my family throws at it.

This laminate was very easy to install. It took my husband, brother and brother-in-law about 6 hrs. to do a 20 ft. x 20 ft. room. One would measure and cut the boards and the other two would snap them in place. It does require an undercovering on the floor before installing the laminate, but that was simple to install. You just roll it out, cut to fit and tape the seams.

I think what I like best about this flooring is how easy it is to clean. I just sweep it with a dust mop and then go over it with a damp mop.

We are very happy with our new floors and would recommend the Tarkett brand of laminates.