# Forum Home Renovation Flooring  Vinyl vs Timber Laminate vs Timber

## AJ

We are looking at renovating our flooring as the old glued down vinyl sheeting on the concrete floor is over 20 years old and due to recent kitchen renovations there are areas of bare concrete. Their are two main questions: Do we need to pull up the old vinyl :Cry:  and which is the most practical type of flooring . We have looked at vinyl tiles (which look great) , solid timber floors and timber laminate. We will be doing the kitchen as well as the main rooms and are concerned that any hot oils etc that may hit the floor in front of the stove might damage the finish on the laminate. What is the most durable of these finishes. I am in favour of the vinyl for its looks and ease of laying but SWMBO likes the timber. We need something that is durable, easy to look after and clean and not worry if anything is dropped on it, that might damage it too easily. This includes moving fridges over it etc.

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## Honorary Bloke

Well, I'll put my hand up first.  :Biggrin:    

> We are looking at renovating our flooring as the old glued down vinyl sheeting on the concrete floor is over 20 years old and due to recent kitchen renovations there are areas of bare concrete. Their are two main questions: Do we need to pull up the old vinyl   It depends on which type of floor you choose. If the vinyl is well-stuck, you can lay timber or timber laminate over it. But the vinyl tiles I would say take out the old first, as any of the old that comes unstuck later will immediately pop the tile above it, since the tiles are not locked into one another. 
> and which is the most practical type of flooring .   This comes down to personal preference.  Solid timber is generally durable for traffic, but easily damaged by falling objects. Timber laminate (and by this I mean laminate with real timber veneer on top) offers the same objection and adds the problem of water damage to the underlayer which cannot be repaired once done.  Laminate flooring (not real timber) is very durable to falling objects (and rolling refrigerators) but is also subject to water damage in wet areas.  
> What is the most durable of these finishes. I am in favour of the vinyl for its looks and ease of laying but SWMBO likes the timber. We need something that is durable, easy to look after and clean and not worry if anything is dropped on it, that might damage it too easily. This includes moving fridges over it etc.

  The material that actually best meets your criteria is ceramic tile. Durable, easy to clean, not affected by water or hot oils, etc. etc.  But that is not on your list, so of the materials mentioned, I would favour solid timber, as it can be refinished numerous times and withstands water better than the laminates.    :Smilie:  :Smilie:

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## That Floor Guy

Your best option imo would be a good quality vinyl tile. Check out products from Amtico and Karndean, they've got some nice stuff. If you scratch it etc it is very easy to strip, buff and seal it. This is why you'll find good quality vinyl laid in commercial applications. 
Timber is nice but it will mark a lot easier and is a much bigger ordeal to sand and refinish. 
Laminates are o.k but not as good as Timber or vinyl in the long run.

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## 123

depends on the look you want,
an engineered timber floor (laminate floor) can be resanded and polished and are very stable. Yes the only downside is if something is dropped it may damage it. Plus Anything with real timber always adds value to your home!

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## That Floor Guy

This is Vinyl.

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## Gooner

Hmmm... thats a nifty alternative to having a floorboard look with some extra durability. 
Personally I don't think timber floors are a good idea in kitchen areas, particularly in houses designed such that the kitchen is a high traffic area. (Like mine). 
When I did my floors, I vetoed my wife's request to have polished boards in the kitchen. I'm glad I did. I am sure that if we did polish the boards in the kitchen they would be scuffed, marked, scratched, etc rather badly by now. And it hasn't even been 1 year yet. 
We have vinyl in the kitchen and its great for durability. I will end up replacing it one day with ceramic tile though. The only problem is that our floor seems rather "flexible"  in the kitchen and so I may have to re-inforce the floor by mounting extra stumps before tiling.

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## That Floor Guy

Ceramic tiles are the ultimate when it comes to life long durablity (well good ones anyway). My parents laid a top shelf vitrous porcelain tile in their house, awesome almost as good as when laid 20+ years ago.  
It's a shame fashion has changed since then.

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## AJ

Thank you all for your replies. It has given us some food for thought. Another problem with polished timber floors is that it shows dust and I think requires a lot more maintenance to keep it looking good. Scratch marks can be problem. I'm still thinking of using good quality vinyl tiles which would be a lot easier to maintain and some of them look so much like ceramic tiles but softer and cooler to walk on. If a vinyl tile is damaged it can be replaced without too much trouble. I have seen them in a house down south and the owners are very impressed with them. :Wink 1:

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## That Floor Guy

Replacing tiles is easy mate, just carefully peel one up using some heat and stick a new one in the hole!

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