sorry, I've been needing to rant. I'm currently combing the MLS for Puna. Listing after listing, the house sounds good until I hit the proud mention of laminate floors.
I HATE laminate floors. I loathe them. They feel fake to my feet. They aim at some relationship to hardwood floors, and the MLS tolerates it that realtors input "hardwood floors" for laminate.
I got spoiled in the first home we owned; it was a fixer, in Oakland, built 1931, with real oak floors. I've redone my pine floors in my plantation house, and my Doug fir floors in my Hilo house. In Waikoloa we had new Brazilian cherry floors put in (the days of my affording that are gone). I want my next house to have wood floors and there's so little choice. (Not parquet squares either)
The reason for my rant is for you builders and people who advise builders. Every time I see laminate I skip the listing. I'm looking at one right now, but I have to factor in tearing out the laminate and replacing it. Just as with the Berber carpet that has no value to me whatsoever.
I read somewhere that hardwood can't stand up to the moisture. I haven't had an issue with my old floors in Papaikou or Hilo.
by the way, I don't mean to insult anyone's taste who likes them. To each their own. I'm just bummed that laminate is like the new vinyl and carpet -- becoming a default choice.
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Kathy,
Its seems like wood floors tend to be in listings that are usually in newer homes (usually bamboo or a tropical wood) or older homes 70's, 60's, etc....its not easy for someone to invest in expensive wood floors when the average price range in puna is 250-350K range.....look for the listings of homes under 5 years and you should be able to target the builders that are putting in nicer finish materials including floors....i'm seeing that there are also builders that are starting to offer rent to own as an incentive.
good luck
noel
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Kathy,
Wood floors here on the Hilo side will be few and far between because they buckle in the wet weather. it is possible to lay real wood floors but you have to buy the wood flooring, let it age 3 or more years, then lay it. That is why people don't do it. Carpet tends to mildew frun underneath, also from the water in the air. Dehumidifiers help but the laminate floor is the golden answer. I have it in my bedrooms and solid sstone in the rest of the house. The stone tends to get cold. I have area rugs on the laminate. Frankly, it's just easier to clean.
So, don't be frustrated. they are bragging that they chose flooring that will hold up over time and be easy to care for.
Pam
Just another day in P A R A D I S E !!
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Laminate flooring is just as, if not more, succeptable to the moisture. We have laminate flooring in our kitchen and bathrooms that is just over a year old and is already turning to crap. It's the cheap kind with mdf backing, which I believe is the problem. Materials such as mdf(medium density fiberboard), and partical board are just not cut out for this climate. There are better grades of laminate flooring that are made with plywood backing, which I think would hold up much better than the other types. Same goes for counter tops, and cabinets. The p-lam partical board counter tops, and partical board cabinets are short lived in this climate. Am I straying from the topic now? Sorry...
Aloha,
Mark
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Have to agree with Mark, MDF is worse than useless here, I don't have the flooring, but have some of that cheap "Sauder" furniture; TV stand, computer base. Totally cheap crap, swollen, delaminating, sagging, smelly, fungus infested soggy junk. Other than that, it's OK. ( Oh,I think it might have termites too).
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Kathy, maybe what you mean is "IMHO"... personally in some of the newer houses I have seen some really bad looking wood floors. (I like "old" wood floors the best mind you). The snap lock laminates are easier for owner builders to put in themselves than installing a wood plank or T&G floor. Also easier and cheaper to find. They are also lower maintenance.
Years ago laminate counters were the rage - now its granite... it's all trends!
Catherine Dumond
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My answer to wood floors is to skip the "sub-floor" entirely and put in tongue and groove wood plank floors as the structural floor AND as the finish floor. It can come out cheaper than putting in a plywood subfloor and then paying to cover it with something prettier than plywood however a lot of contractors don't like to build it that way since they have to be careful of the flooring while building.
Since most folks take their shoes off when they walk in the door, we don't need the really hard woods like oak. My floor is one by six T & G pine almost 100 years old and it is a fine floor. Very comfortable on the feet and it has a sheer honesty that I really like. It is merely a painted wood floor, easy maintenance and very unpretentious, but that matches the rest of the house. If I was building a new house, I'd probably stain, shellac and then wax the floor, but that is just my own preferences.
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Kurt Wilson
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I agree with you Kathy, theres nothing like a beautiful wood floor....I have indonesian cherry wood in my home and it looks incredible...but I don't have pets and children and ask friends to take of their shoes when they come into the home so it will stay in good condition.
Why not take a listing you like that has crappy floors and ask for a credit on those so you can put in what you like....its up to you to find the jems in all the junk out there.
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If you love wood floors stay away from all the newly built homes that are on "SLAB"(which most of them are).I would think you'd have a hard time putting a wood floor on cement(moisture and all that)hence the popularity for lams.I have tile on my slab and I do not like the echo sound it gives off but there are not many choices(I do not consider lams or carpet an option either).But I have my beautiful mango/robusta wood floors upstairs that I got at Hal's local mill.I wish I had them everywhere but the slab issue....
So forget disqualifying homes for laminate floors you'll have a hard enough time finding one on post and pier.
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Actually you can put hardwood on top of a slab. You just have to go through the trouble of glueing and pinning sleepers to the slab. I just had this conversation with a local wood floor guy, he's says he's been doing alot of hardwood on slabs on high end homes. I asked him about the moisture that concrete gradually releases over time, and he seemed to think that it's not enough moisture to cause any problems. I'm not sure if it would be a problem or not, I'm sure there's ways of dealing with that.
Aloha,
Mark
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