Pros/Cons of Wooden Floor v Wooden Laminate

Was wondering what you think are the pros & cons of sanding a wooden floor and staining/polishing it, as opposed to laying laminate wooden sheets on top of it?

For example, does the laminate reduce heat loss though the floor, noise produced when walking on either surface, aesthetics, price, or anything else.

Thanks!

Hi, I know a person who sanded polished etc the original floor boards. It looked great and cost quite a bit.

Having lived with it for a year or so, and feeling the chill on their feet they put down a good quality laminate floor on top. What a difference.

Three advantages: less noise, a much, much cosier room and easier to maintain.

A neighbour of mine put solid wooden floors throughout the house and, as they have animals, the floors are scratched, pitted and look really bad.

If you have animals or young children, you may be better off with laminate.

110quests said:

Hi, I know a person who sanded polished etc the original floor boards. It looked great and cost quite a bit.

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Does this cost less than laminate though? I would have assumed so since you're not purchasing a product, other than the stain/varnish.

110quests said:

Having lived with it for a year or so, and feeling the chill on their feet

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I think I read somewhere that when you have an bare floor board you should seal between the boards with some type of product to reduce heat loss.

110quests said:

Three advantages: less noise,

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I hadn't realised laminate is quieter than bare pine floor boards.

Hi, it cost because a sander was hired and a person to do the sanding. Then varnish, sand again, another coat of varnish and seal. As against all this it would depend on quality/price of laminate and the cost of laying it.

It was sealed in the spaces but wasn't very successful and didn't look so good as seal was not identical col our.

Having the boards underneath and with the underlay noise seems to be absorbed.

Thanks!

Smythe said:

I hadn't realised laminate is quieter than bare pine floor boards.

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Not true. I have 22mm solid timber floors nailed /glued to high density chip board which is laid on batons. No noise and we have had no problems in 15 years. There's a reason why laminate is a fraction of the cost of solid wood - You pay for what you get.

demoivre said:

There's a reason why laminate is a fraction of the cost of solid wood - You pay for what you get.

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There is, and it's all down to production costs, nothing more. Solid flooring is usually from slow-growing hard woods, laminates use quick growing soft woods.

Just because one is more expensive does not make it the best solution. Besides, in this case, the OP most likely has an original pine floor that'll require quite a bit of work to make right.

Smythe, what condition is the floor in? Would it need a lot of sanding? Filling? Is it a ground or first floor? Is there insulation underneath?

Sanding a floor isn't that difficult with some patience and good preparation (every single nail will need to be punched below the surface). You'll hire a floor sander and edge sander for ~€60 + the cost of sandpaper.