Laminate Flooring Installation Advice Needed

[kevinm55]

Good morning all - I am planning to have carpet removed in the bedrooms in our patio villa and replacing all with a laminate floating floor. I would love to hear from anybody who can recommend a quality installer that you may have recently worked with. In addition, I would welcome any and all other lessons learned, tips, or guidance to help make this project a success. Thank you in advance!!

[villagetinker]

I cannot recommend an installer as I did our own flooring (2 bedrooms, 3 closets, and a hallway about 600 sq ft), however I can highly recommend Mohawk Luxury Vinyl Plank flooring, this is 100% vinyl, 100% water proof. It is flexible and can be cut to size with a box cutter (several passes required). What i really like is that this product is much quieter than tile and almost as quite as carpet. It is easy to install and you do NOT install underlayment (per mfg instructions), this goes directly over the concrete, which saves about $2 per sq ft. I bought this at Lowe's about 1.5 years ago, very nice product.

[dewilson58]

Recommend Great Lakes in Wildwood.
They do a lot of installs for The Villages.
We used them for our expansion.

One-Stop-Shop........they have the materials & installers.

Good Luck!!!

[kevinm55]

I cannot recommend an installer as I did our own flooring (2 bedrooms, 3 closets, and a hallway about 600 sq ft), however I can highly recommend Mohawk Luxury Vinyl Plank flooring, this is 100% vinyl, 100% water proof. It is flexible and can be cut to size with a box cutter (several passes required). What i really like is that this product is much quieter than tile and almost as quite as carpet. It is easy to install and you do NOT install underlayment (per mfg instructions), this goes directly over the concrete, which saves about $2 per sq ft. I bought this at Lowe's about 1.5 years ago, very nice product.

Village Tinker - sincere thanks, this is the exact type of color I was hoping to obtain about the process!

[Two Bills]

Over the years wife and I have had nearly most types of floor covering, carpet, tile, laminate, wood etc.
If you can get Karndean Van Gogh, Gluedown flooring in USA. look no further.
It is way above the rest of the market.
Cheap it is not, but quality it is!
JMTC.

[SIRE1]

I would recommend that you use Luxury Vinyl Plank flooring and NOT regular Laminate Floating flooring as your post indicated. We bought regular Laminate Floating flooring from Great Lakes to replace the carpeting in the living room and hallway. That laminate flooring also went into the kitchen. Big Mistake. Water spills has made the laminate floor swell and bubble up. We are planning on replacing the 8 year old laminate floors this spring with Luxury Vinyl Plank flooring. From what I've read, that is not prone to damage due to water.

[Fredman]

We have lvp installed. However we have a very active dog and he has left scratch marks on the floor.

[MrFlorida]

I have laminate flooring, but if I had to do it again, I would go with vinyl flooring, it holds up much better.

[kevinm55]

Thank you to all for your responses and thoughts on this post. We are excited about this upgrade! If any others read this and have a recommendation for an installer I would really appreciate it.

[jdulej]

Two reason I recommend the Floor Shoppe on 301.

1 - They assumed (and we agreed) that we would want all the baseboards removed and re-installed after the flooring was installed. Many tried to sell us on just adding 1/4 round between the flooring and the existing baseboards.
2 - We did not want the big, ugly transition from tile to hardwood. Most told us to "get over it". These guys suggested very small, subtle metal transition you can barely see. A great solution!

We went with engineering hardwood, but I think the issues are pretty much the same. The difference is in the details!

Good luck!

[n8xwb]

Twice we used Royal Palm Flooring (Todd Durant).

352-205-7650 (Todd)

352-245-6000 (Office)

[raynan]

I agree, Royal Palm Flooring did our whole house where carpeting was and we love our LVP flooring. Good price and they remove all the baseboards where most installers don't.

[DaleDivine]

I cannot recommend an installer as I did our own flooring (2 bedrooms, 3 closets, and a hallway about 600 sq ft), however I can highly recommend Mohawk Luxury Vinyl Plank flooring, this is 100% vinyl, 100% water proof. It is flexible and can be cut to size with a box cutter (several passes required). What i really like is that this product is much quieter than tile and almost as quite as carpet. It is easy to install and you do NOT install underlayment (per mfg instructions), this goes directly over the concrete, which saves about $2 per sq ft. I bought this at Lowe's about 1.5 years ago, very nice product.
Did you have to glue the LVP down? Remove your baseboards?
Thanks.
:shocked:

[kettlecove]

Learn from my mistake. Fresh from the north, we chose darker toned laminate with a satin finish when we replaced the carpeting. Every drip and bit of dust showed on those floors. Then every streak from cleaning also showed. Choose a light color flooring and you are going to spend far less time maintaining whatever product you install. Second house I chose a wide plank, light driftwood. Much friendlier to Florida gray sand that gets dragged in and dust doesn’t show. Easy maintenance. We definitely learned our lesson!
For what it’s worth- baseboards removed, underlay between concrete and flooring product. I was advised not to glue anything due to the movement between summer and winter seasons. All is well 5 years later and I notice the slight, very slight, expansion in the summer and contraction in the winter but it makes me happy we listened to the advice.

[eeroger]

Good morning all - I am planning to have carpet removed in the bedrooms in our patio villa and replacing all with a laminate floating floor. I would love to hear from anybody who can recommend a quality installer that you may have recently worked with. In addition, I would welcome any and all other lessons learned, tips, or guidance to help make this project a success. Thank you in advance!!

We used Robertos a few years ago. Good price and installation. No complaints. Would use this company again.

[bowlingal]

Good morning all - I am planning to have carpet removed in the bedrooms in our patio villa and replacing all with a laminate floating floor. I would love to hear from anybody who can recommend a quality installer that you may have recently worked with. In addition, I would welcome any and all other lessons learned, tips, or guidance to help make this project a success. Thank you in advance!!

definitely go to LA Flooring in Wildwood. Excellent company to work with, family owned. No deposit required. They remove all the baseboard and paint, reinstalling it. Do not go with a company that installs quarter round instead of removing baseboard. So cheap looking. Good luck!

[jimdecastro]

Good morning all - I am planning to have carpet removed in the bedrooms in our patio villa and replacing all with a laminate floating floor. I would love to hear from anybody who can recommend a quality installer that you may have recently worked with. In addition, I would welcome any and all other lessons learned, tips, or guidance to help make this project a success. Thank you in advance!!

If it is the standard gray can I have some? My painter caused a stain and I need several yards. :-(

[Mzjaz]

We have moved to using light colored LVP flooring in our home and absolutely love it. It is durable, easier to maintain, and softer to walk on than tile or laminate. Many good LVP floors have a cushioned backing already attached such as cork or rubber that makes the floors feel warmer when you walk on them and if you fall, a little less harsh and forgiving. We installed ourselves but if you aren’t that construction savvy, you probably should have it installed by someone.

I don’t know why the baseboards would need to be removed unless it is a low height baseboard. We.just take off any quarter round or shoe mold and run the flooring to the baseboard leaving a 1/4 inch gap for expansion. We put new shoe molding back on as it looks better than the big, fat quarter round.

[Miekies]

Thank you to all for your responses and thoughts on this post. We are excited about this upgrade! If any others read this and have a recommendation for an installer I would really appreciate it.

We just had our entire house done with luxury vinyl plank and we removed the old base boards and added 5" base boards. Absolutely stunning gorgeous and the 5" bb transformed the homes look.

Adam owns the company (the name escapes me, (our contractor uses him for all of her remodels, it's a family business and Adam, son, runs it now)

Adam 3526156658

[lpkruege1]

Good morning all - I am planning to have carpet removed in the bedrooms in our patio villa and replacing all with a laminate floating floor. I would love to hear from anybody who can recommend a quality installer that you may have recently worked with. In addition, I would welcome any and all other lessons learned, tips, or guidance to help make this project a success. Thank you in advance!!

I had Carpet One Floor & Home - The Villages do an LVP install for me and they were great to work with. They removed the carpet from the living room/dining room area. They then removed the hidious tile from the kitchen. They installed LVP throughout the area and I couldn't be happier. They moved all the furniture that was in the area, put up new shoe and painted it to finish the look. Great job by them.

[GaryKoca]

Another recommendation for Great Lakes in Wildwood.

[Travelhunter123]

[QUOTE=kevinm55;2041201]Good morning all - I am planning to have carpet removed in the bedrooms in our patio villa and replacing all with a laminate floating floor. I would love to hear from anybody who can recommend a quality installer that you may have recently worked with. In addition, I would welcome any and all other lessons learned, tips, or guidance to help make this project a success. Thank you in advance!!
Do not use Nickel Tile, they installed my luxuary vinyl, improperly, not leaving manufacturers recommended spaces around perimeters, and not interlocking the planks properly. Terrible workmanship and worse customer service

[Travelhunter123]

Good morning all - I am planning to have carpet removed in the bedrooms in our patio villa and replacing all with a laminate floating floor. I would love to hear from anybody who can recommend a quality installer that you may have recently worked with. In addition, I would welcome any and all other lessons learned, tips, or guidance to help make this project a success. Thank you in advance!!

Do not use Nickel Tile, they installed my luxuary vinyl, improperly, not leaving manufacturers recommended spaces around perimeters, and not interlocking the planks properly. Terrible workmanship and worse customer service

[alncon2]

Good morning all - I am planning to have carpet removed in the bedrooms in our patio villa and replacing all with a laminate floating floor. I would love to hear from anybody who can recommend a quality installer that you may have recently worked with. In addition, I would welcome any and all other lessons learned, tips, or guidance to help make this project a success. Thank you in advance!!

We have used Royal Palm Flooring for both purchase and installation of our LVP and engineered hardwood floors. They are excellent! They come in with a crew of 3 - 5 people, move all the furniture, remove, paint and calk your base board and when replacing your furniture put pads on the bottom of the furniture legs. Their price on product and installation is very competitive and Todd the owner is present, works and supervises the entire installation. Depending on how many rooms are being done, they are generally in and out in one day. Todd is also a resident in TV.

[Frame44]

I have a ton of flooring experience. Lots of projects. I used vinyl plank in a few rental units. Buy quality because that directly relates to the durability. For me that means scratch resistance and waterproof. Don’t be afraid to use a key or a coin edge to test how that product will stand up to pet, grandkids and fancy shoes in the showroom before you buy. We are starting a big job on my in-laws place in January. We have the best installer. 😊

[Lil GTO]

Good morning all - I am planning to have carpet removed in the bedrooms in our patio villa and replacing all with a laminate floating floor. I would love to hear from anybody who can recommend a quality installer that you may have recently worked with. In addition, I would welcome any and all other lessons learned, tips, or guidance to help make this project a success. Thank you in advance!!

We did our whole patio Villa last June and used Brian Benkowski. He’s done many floors here in TV has very good references and does quality work.

We did water proof vinyl plank and he removed the base board and touched up and cleaned up after the job.

He lives in Oxford and you can reach him at 262-409-0931.

Took them about 3 days and they moved everything and put back as it was befor the job.

Removed water closets as well. Very professional job and saved us about 4-5k over Home Depot or lowes estimates.

[Pres1939]

Recommend Great Lakes in Wildwood.
They do a lot of installs for The Villages.
We used them for our expansion.

One-Stop-Shop........they have the materials & installers.

Good Luck!!!
I agree. They did a wonderful carpeting job at my home.

[Ace Pet Sitters]

My only message is NOT to use Home Depot. They hire contractors who, in my opinion (and unfortunate experience with them), are not vetted properly.

[34gunner]

LVP from Stick and Stone.

[MSGirl]

Good morning all - I am planning to have carpet removed in the bedrooms in our patio villa and replacing all with a laminate floating floor. I would love to hear from anybody who can recommend a quality installer that you may have recently worked with. In addition, I would welcome any and all other lessons learned, tips, or guidance to help make this project a success. Thank you in advance!!

We used Easy Coast flooring for our Mohawk waterproof laminate and are EXTREMELY happy with it and the job East Coast did. They removed all the baseboards, repainted and replaced in addition to laying my floor. Quarter rounds were not needed. We had this done less than a year ago. We used a light color 7 1/2” plank. Can’t see any dirt or dust. VERY pleased

[dreamweaver2634]

Good morning all - I am planning to have carpet removed in the bedrooms in our patio villa and replacing all with a laminate floating floor. I would love to hear from anybody who can recommend a quality installer that you may have recently worked with. In addition, I would welcome any and all other lessons learned, tips, or guidance to help make this project a success. Thank you in advance!!

LA Flooring in Wildwood just did our last Thursday. They did an awesome job. If you would like to come and see you are welcome to do so. &16-262-5645

[jrieker68]

We had our carpet removed and LVP put down by LA Flooring. They did a great job and we love it. The LVP butts up against the ceramic tile in numerous places. We didn't want shoe molding but if they removed molding it wouldn't match up with molding in the tiled areas because the LVP isn't as thick as the tile. We did the shoe molding and don't even notice it now.

[nn0wheremann]

Good morning all - I am planning to have carpet removed in the bedrooms in our patio villa and replacing all with a laminate floating floor. I would love to hear from anybody who can recommend a quality installer that you may have recently worked with. In addition, I would welcome any and all other lessons learned, tips, or guidance to help make this project a success. Thank you in advance!!
East Coast Flooring on 441.

[trishaf]

I second this company they do a great job! One stop for every thing Floor Shoppe on 301

[richl]

I had a living room, dining room, and a kitchen done by Steve Blackburn from Steves quality Installation (SQI). He took up the carpet and ceramic tile in those rooms and installed premium Luxury Vinyl Plank flooring. He did everything he said he would. The work was meticulous and it looked great when done, If I need any more floor work, he will be the man. His price was very reasonable. 352. 748. 7444. - tell him Rich recommended him.

[LuvtheVillages]

We put luxury vinyl plank in the entire house 5 years ago and it still looks like new. (We do not have pets.) Now I have a unified look throughout the house.

After hearing advice from many, we had the base molding removed, the new floor installed, then new molding installed. We took this opportunity to replace the builder's 3 inch molding with new 5 inch molding. What a great look! The room looks much more proportional, especially the living areas with high ceilings.

Do not like the look of simply adding quarter rounds or shoe molding to the existing base molding. It's the fast and easy way, not the best way.

[NVguyLV]

Good morning all - I am planning to have carpet removed in the bedrooms in our patio villa and replacing all with a laminate floating floor. I would love to hear from anybody who can recommend a quality installer that you may have recently worked with. In addition, I would welcome any and all other lessons learned, tips, or guidance to help make this project a success. Thank you in advance!!

Kevin,

We are a "Villager" owned flooring company, please fee free to contact us for your flooring needs. We are a no pressure, informative service team who strive to educate and inform the customer so you can make the best decision for your needs. We have a full showroom with friendly staff to serve you, please contact us at 352-478-6700 Ted's Distinctive Flooring, 4521 Monaco Way, Wildwood, FL across from Brownwood, behind Sparr Lumber.

Ted

[Remembergoldenrule]

The new luxury vynal plank is better than laminate. First I looks more like wood. Most importantly it is water proof so you don’t have to worry about spots from wet shoes or spills. Also, it is very scratch resistant if you have pets or grandkids with tonka trucks. I recommend Vcm for installation. Did fabulous job both times we used him. +1 (352) 391-3855

[kevinm55]

Sincere thanks again to everybody for their helpful suggestions and responses! This thread is a shining example of why I continue to enjoy TOTV as it is such a valuable and friendly resource!

I hope you all have a great week!

[bp243]

Love LA Flooring! Price and workmanship were superb!

[villagetinker]

Did you have to glue the LVP down? Remove your baseboards?
Thanks.
:shocked:

This product is a floating floor, it does not get glued down. Also, there was enough room that I was able to slide the new flooring under the existing molding along all the walls. We decided not to put in the typical silicone sealer at this time.

[boatorgolf]

We used Robertos a few years ago. Good price and installation. No complaints. Would use this company again.

They installed carpet in my home in October. Price was good and very pleased with installation

[lawgolfer]

Good morning all - I am planning to have carpet removed in the bedrooms in our patio villa and replacing all with a laminate floating floor. I would love to hear from anybody who can recommend a quality installer that you may have recently worked with. In addition, I would welcome any and all other lessons learned, tips, or guidance to help make this project a success. Thank you in advance!!

I join in recommending The Floor Shoppe on 301. We had an excellent experience with them in selecting floor tile and stone for a fireplace surround.

Use Great Lakes in Wildwood at your peril. We have remodeled four houses in four cities over our 56 years of marriage. Great Lakes was the worst experience we have had in dealing with dozens of subcontractors and suppliers. I would not refer my worst enemy to GL.

Last year, we undertook a wall to wall remodel of the house we bought in TV. Our deal with the general contractor was somewhat unusual. As prices of materials and appliances were going through the roof and there were long wait times for delivery, the contractor would only bid for the labor, and the materials for which his regular subcontractors would provide a fixed bid. We had to source and provide the materials and appliances for which he could not get fixed bids. One of those items was laminate flooring.

We found the flooring we wanted at Great Lakes. GL sent a salesman to our house to take measurements. However, when the salesman wrote up our order, he included installation. I had previously told him that we were purchasing material only as our general contractor would do the installation. In response, he told my wife that there would be "no warranty" if GL did not do the installation. This was an outright lie as I had read the manufacturer's sales documents. He next "backed out" the supposed installation cost from the price and refused to simply write up a sale for the square feet of material so I could see what he was actually charging for the material. He next insisted that if I let GL install the flooring, there would be no sales tax but there would be tax if I only purchased the material. This is technically correct, but misleading. For installed material, GL would have had to pay the state the sales tax and then factor it into the contract price, but not as a separate line item.

The final insult was that the salesman grossly over-estimated the sq ft of material by 7 or 8 boxes or, almost, a full room. Over the years, many suppliers have been known to do this, with the excess material ending up in their inventory although paid for by the homeowner. I don't know if this was the plan of the salesman or if he was simply incompetent to take the measurements of our house. I ended up returning many unopened boxes of flooring to GL. That was over 6 months ago and I have still not received a refund.

As I said in the beginning, I wouldn't refer my worst enemy to Great Lakes and anyone who deals with them does so at their risk.

[Teena Q]

I just had LVT installed by Roberto's Flooring. Would highly recommend them. I purchased my product from Home Depot and they installed it. Very professional. Much attention to detail. Cleaned up promptly. I even received a complimentary housecleaning after the install.

One thing I would recommend is being sure to buy phthalate-free vinyl.

[cathy34787]

We just had Luxury Vinyl Plank purchased and installed by L A Flooring. The brand is Mohawk and it is 100% waterproof and guaranteed. They removed our baseboards and replaced them after install. We had a couple of small issues and those were addressed immediately. They have a large selection and are great to work with.

[ithos]

LVP is more popular than laminate but both have their pros and cons.

If you go with LVP sure you get a 20mil or greater wear layer. Preferably 28 mil.

I have heard reports that some the new homes are having to replace their floor within a couple of years.

The SVP layer should be 7mm or greater IMO. The thicker it is the less it feels like walking on concrete.

Before you buy, become on expert on flooring or you will risk being ripped off or being stuck with a floor that is incompatible with your home environment.

[HJBeck]

We got all of ours removed and had new flooring installed in the entire house. Several suggestions:

Install engineered flooring through out the house except for potentially wet areas (Kitchen, Baths, Laundry areas). Make sure they level your floors carefully, and I mean carefully. Wet areas need water proof vinyl flooring. These options provide a much softer floor to protect your feet. We had great experience with Eastern Flooring, not cheap but did a really good job.

[newgirl]

It does rip though, my son dropped a plate and it put a huge gash in it.

[Robert Zugnoni]

We used Roberto's twice for laminate and tile. Great job and reasonable. They have fixed a few tile and no charge. They send a cleaning person.

[MEbner2805]

Robertos is the best here!!! On 301! … I used them recently.

[talleyjm]

Who is your installer ?