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AnnieM
17-02-2011, 09:37 PM
OK, we are totally revamping the playroom while I have no kids, (in the hopes that I get some soon!) and we are having new flooring put down, I don't know whether to go for new carpet or laminate flooring?
Pro's and Con's please as I am that bogged down in plaster and cement dust that it has clogged my little dusty grey cells. :p It is my dining room too, but the only sign that it is will be the dining table and chairs which the older kids use for crafts and eating obvously. :laughing: I will soon be looking after my baby grandson on a daily basis, so am trying to weigh up comfort against practicality, would just like to know what others have and if you would change it if you could. :thumbsup:

bluechair84
17-02-2011, 09:50 PM
Hi there

I'm new to this site so just finding my way round. I'm re-registering soon but did cm yrs ago. We had carpet to start with which ended up being replaced with strip flooring after only a year, the best decision we made. So when we moved house we put the oak strip flooring in again, very practical and looks nice and ages well! Wouldn't have carpets again.

Hope that helps

amo

rickysmiths
17-02-2011, 10:16 PM
I inherited a laminate floor when we bought this house and found it slippery and clod even when the rooms were warm. We have been lucky enough to have has a large extention built last summer and all the rooms on the ground floor have been changed around.

We have had to have new flooring and afetr much research we have gone for Kardean which is a vinyl floor which is laid in planks. Sam as Amtico. The one we have is Van Gogh Burnt Ginger (ref VG5-7) I think it is about £35 per sq meter plus fitting and it does need to be fitted professionally it is not a DYI job.

It is fantastic. Looks like wood, even has a texture to it, unlike laminate. We debated if we should have underfloor heating so the floor felt warm but it would have cost £2000 to do this so we didn't! Frankly it would have been a waste of money becase the floor always feels warm, we were walking round without socks when it was freezing before Christmas. It isn't anything like as slippery as laminate. It is easy to clean, hoover or sweep and then mop.

Can highly recommend it.

Aimi-jo
17-02-2011, 10:20 PM
I have laminate and although it looks nice i notice 'crumbs' alot more!!! and also jus after steam cleaning it become dirty again within hrs so i feel like whats the point of doing it. Im a little clean freak, to get over the crumb issue got myself a hand held hoover!! works a treat.
Even tho i have only listed the bad i couldnt go back to carpet x x

Blemblem
17-02-2011, 10:26 PM
I had carpet first in the dining room but now have laminate which is so much easier to clean after the kids have made a mess. I do have carpet in the lounge which is good for the quiet room.

solly
17-02-2011, 10:26 PM
We have wood topped laminate which looks like wood flooring, we have a through lounge diningroom and when we decorated last year DH wanted carpet and I said i would give up this job if we had carpet, he did come round to my way of thinking.
During my working hours i put the ELC recreational mats down on the floor which gives cushioning for the lo's on the floor and stops any toddlers slipping. At the end of the day i just pull it up and my house is my home in the evenings :)

charleyfarley
17-02-2011, 10:36 PM
Your playroom sounds like ours, as ours also has the dining table and chairs in there too.

We have laminate, it's the same as the living room as the rooms are open plan. We definatley don't find it cold or slippy although ours wasn't a cheap laminate. We have a large road mat down for the children in the playroom.

Yes you can see the crumbs but it takes 2 minutes to get the dustpan and brush out after the children eating.

I much prefer it to carpet, well downstairs anyway :thumbsup:

Carol xx

angeldelight
17-02-2011, 11:06 PM
Your playroom sounds like ours, as ours also has the dining table and chairs in there too.

We have laminate, it's the same as the living room as the rooms are open plan. We definatley don't find it cold or slippy although ours wasn't a cheap laminate. We have a large road mat down for the children in the playroom.

Yes you can see the crumbs but it takes 2 minutes to get the dustpan and brush out after the children eating.

I much prefer it to carpet, well downstairs anyway :thumbsup:

Carol xx

Same here Laminate all the way for us and the best thing with kids

Angel xx

onceinabluemoon
18-02-2011, 07:09 AM
I have carpet and it gets filthy but I've just bought a fantastic carpet washer that gets it spotless in no time. Its warm and homely and I don't have to listen to the dogs claws going click click click all day...

My sister is a clean freak and has laminate. Its cold and slippery (and somewhat 'sterile' looking??) and even though she's a clean freak seems to attract dust bunnies from the cats.

One thing that would bother me with laminate which I'd like to ask those who have it - what id drinks such as blackcurrant are spilt on it? And worse what happens if a child wees (or worse) on it?

mushpea
18-02-2011, 07:26 AM
we have laminate in the kitchen and with 2 cats , dogs and several children it always looks dirty in the wrong light,, I am now looking to have floor tiles down,,, in the play room/conservatory we have lino down which is practical to clean and warmish

sweets
18-02-2011, 07:46 AM
im not keen on laminate!

i do have it in my hallway and kitchen but find it a pain to keep clean, i wouldnt want carpet in those places tho. i dont have a playroom and mind in my through lounge diner which as carpeted, its great for crawling babies and i clean it about twice a year.
if i had a proper playroom tho i dont think i would want carpet but my friend has laminate in hers and the babies hands are always freezing and its not comfortable to sit on (i spend a lot of time on the floor!)
I think i would probably have lino, as you can get some really nice ones now. but i would also have lots of rugs for sitting on

sarah707
18-02-2011, 07:47 AM
I have laminate in my work rooms - it is absolutely perfect!

It cleans easily and I have washable rugs and a big floor cushion to keep it warmer.

I have carpet in my family room. :D

gegele
18-02-2011, 07:55 AM
I have wood flooring downstairs and i'm getting rid of the carpet room by room upstairs if we can LOL

i hate carpet!!!! i can't think of anything more unhygienic than carpet!!!
how can Ofsted brake our baubles with having different hand towel for kids, have kitchen tip top clean and yet authorised carpet!!!
especially with food, peas squashed in, mash rubbed in, gravy.....hair, snot playdough.....uuurrrkkkkkk

at least with hard flooring hair and dust do nice fluff ball and hide under furniture and in corner of room ah ah ah ah ah :laughing: :laughing:

i'm french and at home we only have hard flooring : usually wood, lino or tiles in dining room.

the thing mentioned earlier sounds great, the laminated plnch thiny.:thumbsup:
good luck

clio0602
18-02-2011, 08:42 AM
I have laminate flooring but have those jigsaw type foam squares over the whole floor they are alot warmer and bright and colourful but the yellow ones need scrubbing every day! Actually can't wait to take them up when I finish in 3wks and put my cream rug back down :-D x

AnnieM
18-02-2011, 09:53 AM
Thanks everyone. I will definitely investigate the Kardean flooring rickysmiths thanks, :thumbsup: I am another one who doesn't really like carpet, I have dogs and although they are not in the house when I'm minding and are not allowed in the playroom anyway, they do come in evenings and weekends, they walk through allsorts and it makes me cringe even sitting on it myself let alone kiddies playing on it. :panic: DH doesn't really like laminate, but he knows where I am coming from so is reluctantly giving in, :D I will still have the carpet in the lounge but I don't really use that for minding, only for sleeping and the older ones watch telly and play wii in there. You guys have made my mind up for me that I definitely don't want carpet in there though, now to investigate the alternatives. :thumbsup:

Pauline
18-02-2011, 12:34 PM
Carpet tiles in the playroom.

If they get anything spilt on them you can take them up an individual tile, wash it and then pop it back :thumbsup:

Monkey26
18-02-2011, 01:17 PM
Oak effect laminate!
So much easier for cleaning up spilt drinks, weewee accidents and more... we often do free art (basically kids wear a nappy and vesy and get very very messy with paint!) but theres no way i could do that indoors if i didnt have laminate flooring - a quick wipe over the worst bits with a babywipe then a full mop once they've all gone home :D xx

Alibali
18-02-2011, 01:21 PM
Laminate flooring and washable rugs:thumbsup: I have carpet in my lounge though, but no littlies allowed:D (especially not toilet training ones)

Mrs Pootle
18-02-2011, 01:37 PM
I detest laminate with a passion, however it is in my playroom (inherited from previous owner). I still hate it, find it cold and hard, and so have a huge rug which takes up the majority of the central floor space, with a few smaller rugs dotted about.
If I were to decorate the room I would rip up the laminate and replace with carpet. :) Having said that, the children never eat in the playroom so I don't have to worry about splills & crumbs. Eating and crafts take place at my dining room table, and this in the dining room which has polished floorboards so I suppose that is similar to laminate when it comes to keeping it clean.

rickysmiths
18-02-2011, 01:49 PM
I detest laminate with a passion, however it is in my playroom (inherited from previous owner). I still hate it, find it cold and hard, and so have a huge rug which takes up the majority of the central floor space, with a few smaller rugs dotted about.
If I were to decorate the room I would rip up the laminate and replace with carpet. :) Having said that, the children never eat in the playroom so I don't have to worry about splills & crumbs. Eating and crafts take place at my dining room table, and this in the dining room which has polished floorboards so I suppose that is similar to laminate when it comes to keeping it clean.

I was beginning to think I was the only one!

Leanne59
18-02-2011, 03:18 PM
[QUOTE=Mrs Pootle;874479]I detest laminate with a passion, however it is in my playroom (inherited from previous owner). I still hate it, find it cold and hard, and so have a huge rug which takes up the majority of the central floor space, with a few smaller rugs dotted about.

I totaly agree!
we are replacing the living room/dining room floor in hopefully two weeks, just glossing at wkends hate it!. we have an open plan living room dining room with laminate and two large rugs. we are have carpet in the living room and vinyl put in the dining room. I so hope it warms the room up.

Jacko81
18-02-2011, 07:33 PM
We did our playroom about 6 mths ago and eventually chose Lino which has a wood effect to it. Its safety flooring which is non-slip and ask it is watertight, can be mopped etc with now worries of wood for under-flooring going damp. ideal for us!!!

Chimps Childminding
18-02-2011, 08:56 PM
I have that tile effect laminate!! Loved it when we put it down - ages ago, but getting fed up of it now!! I would love carpet, but know what state it will get in with drinks, food, paint and worse :eek: so will probably have lino as it seems warmer, or like June (and Pauline I think it was) carpet tiles because they would be warmer, but also if anything gets spilt on one it can be taken up and scrubbed!!! trouble is laminate goes all through hall, kitchen and dining room (used as playroom) so not a small job by any means :panic: