Anyone a laminate flooring expert?

[jaymanek]

We are having the bedrooms done and today I cam home to the main bedroom and Im not really that happy with it.

Im not happy with the way in which the grains of wood match up? Im sure he could have planned it better when fitting. Or is this normal?

I have fitted a cheap laminate floor before and I cant remember having this issue... this is not cheap!

before I have it out with the fitter in the morning, just thought id check to make sure im being reasonable!??

 

[T7RY B]

It is virtually impossible to match up perfectly but that looks like it has been pieced up.
The end grain and then a plain one looks bad. I personally would'nt be happy.
Does it look like that laid out in the shop? If not then don't settle for it.

Terry

 

[Deleted member 37751]

You aren't happy with the way the grain matches up? It is a natural product, so how long do you think it would take to even attempt to match up grains?
I'm a time served carpenter and what you are asking for is nigh on impossible.
In fact if a customer asked me the question that you are asking now, I would reply-'are you being serious?'

 

[renault12ts]

As above...its a nice floor, end of.

 

[moonloops]

Looks OK to me, joint staggering is a bit off that's all.


If you get some brown paint maybe you can paint matching grain on the plainer boards ?

 

[Piff]

It looks like a "real" veneer rather than a cheap "plastic" laminate.
As it looks like natural wood - I'm with sweetpea - very difficult to achieve end grain matching.
I have solid oak floors, the planks were supplied t&G on all 4 edges and in random lengths from about 0.5m up to 2.20m.
I worked with about 6 packs open at a time, setting aside boards I didn't think blended in, and used them where I knew would be covered by furniture/rugs.
However, for all the extra effort, at the end of the day it doesn't look much different to your photo's.

 

[kwakdonut]

Yes, I would have said that some of the staggering was off too, but apart from that, very nice wood! Good choice...

 

[jaymanek]

Ok thanks guys, this is why I asked on here before speaking to the fitter as I wasnt sure what was normal.

We have dark wood floors in the main living room and the grain seems to blend a lot better.. but i think its just because its darker and so less obvious.

Its not just the grain but also colour/shade differences... My first reaction was that I could easily pick out a few panels and move them around to make it blend a lot better ... but like you say, without taking them all out and laying them down side by side it would be quite difficult i guess.

 

[greggster]

I would be moaning at the supplier of the floor, not the fitter. As others said, fitter could have set the joints to match although he would have wasted a lot more of it doing so. Looks good though anyway.

 

[NOMONEYBUTAMERC]

I had a solid oak floor laid last year , variation in graining is very apparent.My 84 year old mother commented " what lovely lino "

 

[LTD]

Now, you are hyper critical.

You won't notice it in a few weeks.

 

[sl300 ireland]

I would be interested in sweet peas opinion as a carpenter ,on the fitting. I know the grain wont match ,but the joints, could it have been a better finish,as it looks as if hes not used the off cut on the width to do his start piece (which gives an even joint accross the floor), ??
its hard to explain,unless you have done it!! Anyone else get what i Mean

 

[T7RY B]

I would be interested in sweet peas opinion as a carpenter ,on the fitting. I know the grain wont match ,but the joints, could it have been a better finish,as it looks as if hes not used the off cut on the width to do his start piece (which gives an even joint accross the floor), ??
its hard to explain,unless you have done it!! Anyone else get what i Mean

Yes the joints could be even like brickwork Unless it was supposed to be random.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Do you mean use the off-cut from row 1 to start row 2, and so on and so forth?
Yes, the staggering of the joints would annoy me but I'm always loath to pick faults with another persons work, that's why I didn't mention it in my earlier post....

 

[tagnut]

I'm no carpenter but have laid a few wood floors myself (bamboo actually). And have always created a bonded finish with the joints. This creates a bit more waste but not a huge amount and is worth doing in my view.

I don't really think that you can do much with the grain here because it is so different. Some of the planks have hardly any at all and some are really pronounced. I had the same issue when laying marble tiles in my kitchen. There is quite a difference in colour in some of them and it was nigh on impossible to match them up. I think this is something you always get with natural products and you'll get used to it pretty quickly

 

[manalishi]

I'm with Jay - I would be disappointed, and it would continue to bug me (even if a bed/rug/etc hid the worst bits. It's not quite random enough to look right.

I suppose a pro-active fitter would have looked at the variations in the veneer and highlighted the issue so you could decide how to continue. Do pro-active fitters exist?

At tagnut - any photos of your laid bamboo floors. Am tempted by that myself. I have been sent some samples blocks in two types. One is conventional and the other is treated somehow to make it harder wearing and in doing so it loses the characteristic bamboo patterns.

 

[tagnut]

At tagnut - any photos of your laid bamboo floors. Am tempted by that myself. I have been sent some samples blocks in two types. One is conventional and the other is treated somehow to make it harder wearing and in doing so it loses the characteristic bamboo patterns.

Here you go. This is about 6 years old now so is wearing pretty well but has darkened slightly. This is the uncooked paler type which I prefer to the darker cooked version.

 

[jaymanek]

That looks lovely.

 

[tagnut]

That looks lovely.

Yeah it's well priced as well, not quite as cheap as most laminates but much cheaper than hardwood. It comes in proper planks too like a real wood floor.

I only discovered it by accident when I visited someone's house. Never heard of it before then. It's easy to fit and is hard wearing.

 

[Ade B]

Hi Jay

FWIW its not helped by the concentric grain on the planks and the narrow space which is intolerant to variations. I think you'll struggle to 'improve' it significantly however you lay it.

Was there a spec which was agreed with the supplier/fitter beforehand? When we specifiy timber floors its quite detailed to avoid this kind of issue. The 'its a natural material guv' line works to an extent but the selection and positioning of the timbers is down to the fitter.

Ade