Cheap laminate problems?

[Love_London]

I'm in process of choosing new laminate flooring for my house.

Exciting but as usual it's a bit daunting as there are so many to choose from and i don't know what i am doing!

I found one that I really like (width, colour and pattern) and it's cheap! but the problem is it's TOO cheap.

It usually ranges between ?5 - ?25 per square meter but this one is at ?4.50

Has anyone bought very cheap laminate and have regrets?

Too thin?

Gets dirty easily?

I'm quite concerned about the second point as I am leaning towards having white/grey flooring.

Probably a bad idea but it looks so lovely.

[Too Good To Be True]

I found laminate warps easily and looks shabby pretty quickly.

I now only buy engineered wood flooring, but it's much more expensive (?40 per sq m or so).

Sounds a bit pompous perhaps, but at ?4.50 a sq m, it's probably worth the risk? If you don't like it, it's not the end of the world.

[Lowlander]

Great for rental properties or as a quick fix if you're looking to sell. Otherwise it just ends up looking cheap and knackered after a year.

I would spend as much as you can, and go for engineered flooring if possible - avoid laminate altogether.

[Sue]

Laminate also seems to make a horrid crackling noise when you walk on it.

And it never really looks like real wood.

I can see the temptation, but I think it's a false economy unless, as Lowlander says, you need a quick fix but won't be staying to see it in a few year's time.

[uncleglen]

Depends which room- I've had cheapo Ikea stuff down for 15 years now in a room with light-ish use and despite beer and tea being spilled on it there is no warping. And it has had a piano on it- both across the planks and parallel to the planks ( and one of the pianos was an old iron framed Victorian job) for the duration. The beauty is there is hardly any dust!

[mima08]

Agree with the points about quick fix, but no good for longer/ heavy use. If it's for longer, no matter what you chose, invest in good underlay - otherwise even expensive laminate will wear badly. We actually have bamboo flooring in our house - looks lovely like wood and extremely hard wearing. Cost around ?15/m2, but no good for a bathroom. There are many different types - pm me, if you want to know more, happy to share findings of my research (and no, am not on commission ;) )

mx