Laminate advice

Sir Scruff

I'm looking to put down floors in a new house and would really appreciate some advice with regard to laminates and ac ratings. Would be looking to do the living room, hall, and bedrooms.

I have been mainly looking at laminates from quickstep, balterio, and kronoswiss. It's my understanding that quickstep and balterio are the most reputable brands.

Is there much point in getting an AC5 rated laminate over an AC4 for domestic use? Also how much weight should you give to the thickness of the board? Would a 12mm AC4 be that much better than an 8mm AC4?

I have looked in a few shops and asked some salesman but never really get much of a clear answer.

antoinolachtnai

One AC4 will wear as well as another. The difference in thickness doesn't change the wear, because the thickness of the actual surface layer is the same. The benefit of thicker is that it should have a more solid 'feel' underfoot.

I don't think there is much point in getting AC5 over AC4 unless you live in a department store. The one thing to consider is whether there is going to be much water close to the laminate. There are laminates that might suit this better, and some manufacturers recommend gluing as a barrier against water.

I would say that kronoswiss (from my limited experience) is also a fine brand, though certainly not as famous as the other two.

tenbob1

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

One AC4 will wear as well as another. The difference in thickness doesn't change the wear, because the thickness of the actual surface layer is the same. The benefit of thicker is that it should have a more solid 'feel' underfoot.

I don't think there is much point in getting AC5 over AC4 unless you live in a department store. The one thing to consider is whether there is going to be much water close to the laminate. There are laminates that might suit this better, and some manufacturers recommend gluing as a barrier against water.

I would say that kronoswiss (from my limited experience) is also a fine brand, though certainly not as famous as the other two.

Good post, I would say though, that the quality is being pushed upwards all the time, to almost the stage where we have AC3 floors almost completely removed from our store. 12mm AC4 floors and 12mm AC5 floors (depending on brand etc etc) are very similarly priced now, we would always recommend going for an AC5 floor if the cost is not that much more.

All three brands mentioned in the OP would be recommended.

Sir Scruff

Thanks for the replies,

Currently considering quickstep impressive (ac4 8mm) which I found online for roughly €24 or quickstep impressive ultra (ac5 12mm) which seems to be roughly €36.

I have also been looking at the kronoswiss grand selection range (ac5 14mm) which is a longer board and seems to go for roughly €30.

At this stage I think we will just be going for the one that looks the nicest!

antoinolachtnai

It is really all cosmetic. They are all fine products.

I bought some really cheap laminate around 1999. I didn't lay it particularly well, but it lasted pretty ok until I replaced it last year. The replacement laminate, which is AC4 and cost around 10 or 15 euros a meter is far better quality.