Laminate Flooring In Rental Unit??
I am thinking about putting down laminate (fake hardwood) flooring in my first rental unit. I can get it for $.89/sf plus cost of padding. I am told its pretty easy to install. Has anyone had any experience with this type of flooring? how well does it stand up to tenants. The unit I have is in the "low rent" district if this matters. I can't decide betwen builder grade berber and laminate. I can both for the same price, but I'm not able to install the carpet. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. [ Edited by JasonCowan on Date 05/22/2004 ]
Jason,
Some of the laminate floors are pretty darn tough. I have heard that some of them can be damaged if water gets underneath them. Apparantly the water goes to work on the composite backing.
This seems like a very low price for laminate flooring. What type is this and where are you getting it?
A friend of mine put prego all through his rental house except the www.bathroom.it is working great. the padding is just thin styrafoam. he made a tool to drive the last piece in out of angle iron. it gaps about 1/8 inch from wall and just floats he used baseboard to hold it down .but he paid 1.00 per sg. ft at salvage place
Go for the laminate. The laminate will still be spot free long after the carpet. I have found that berber only lasts thru about 3 tenants. After each of my tenants move, laminate replaces the carpet. I wouldn't put it in my own home, to me, it doesn't look as good as true hardwood.
Curt,
I am getting it from www.lumberliquidators.com They have an showroom near where I live. You can also go to http://www.laminatewoodfloor.com/ but shipping is expensive. Thanks for all of the replies.
Jason Cowan
My girlfriend put down laminate in her salon about 5 years ago. The salon has 20 stylist, 10 nail tech, 4 receptionist, etc. The floor looks the same as when it was layed.
I have one rental house with the real dark (walnut) laminate and it looks very good. Just wonder about the water, dog urine, etc in the cracks wonder if it is worth it or possible to put on a lacqueur top coat.
Brenda
My one concern would be whether it has a positive or negative impact on how well the unit rents. I haven't used any yet, but it seems that my tenants have a strong preference for carpet in the bedrooms and to a lesser degree in the living room and halls. I have one house that had nice hardwood floors throughout, and the tenant wanted to know if I was going to put down carpet. I guess from their perspective, they don't want to have to buy area rugs. I know that some landlords in my area have tried linoleum throughout the house to lower maintenance costs, but they have had difficulty renting the units.