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Laminate Flooring/high gloss vs. other and more

14 years ago

We are looking to install Dream Home St. James Collection laminate flooring in our kitchen, living room, and dining room. We have narrowed it down to 3. A lighter color high gloss, a darker low gloss, and the last one is a handscraped. We like the lighter color the best (Blacksburg Barn Board) but aren't sure how the high gloss holds up to scratching. It is one of the higher end laminates but we can't find any reviews on it. We found reviews for the others we are looking at on the Lumber Liquidator site but not this one. Any advice you have will be greatly appreciated.

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Comments (5)

echoflooring
14 years ago
We have had issues with our High Shine Laminates...They definitely will show surface abrasions quicker.
boxers
14 years ago
While I like the new laminates in the individual board lengths the high shine will always show any scratch and remember that no laminate product can ever be refinished or recoated. If you have light shining across the floor like in front of a row of windows its going to show everything.
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We have about a 25% claim rate with High Gloss floors. The claims are always turned down. They do show the finish abrasions much more because of the gloss level. think about High Gloss Paint compared to Flat. High Gloss shows every little imperfection. Laminate is no different.
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SPC is not LVP. LVP can be brittle, especially the thinner click locking mechanisms. SPC is a solid vinyl product that should perform well and having sold it for roughly 2-3 years, am unaware of any consistent problems with them. As far as finish wear on vinyl, again some of the more cost effective products are likely only finished out with a few coats of polyurethane but many of the better quality materials are finished out with polyurethane PLUS either a ceramic-bead or aluminum oxide finish which make the finish more resistant to scratches. Newer vinyl products are being referred to as "RVP" which stands for Rigid Vinyl Plank and are also well-performing products. I do not think you'll have issues with furniture denting SPC or RVP-core products - LVP, yes if it's heavy enough. Laminates are also solid materials. They are similar to vinyl in that they are not real wood (rather they are digital prints - pictures of wood) but quality products will hold up to wear-and-tear nicely. They can scratch but not easily but most laminate products do not perform as well with respect to moisture. The core underneath a laminate is fiberboard which is essentially sawdust (wood) and a few other things - wood swells with moisture and most laminates will do the same. The newer water-resistant categories will perform better with respect to moisture however they are not waterproof so if they are exposed to moisture for a prolonged period of time some swelling will occur (though most say it is marginal). Engineered is "real" wood - it is not a digital print. Big win is you get more return on your investment come resell time as you can advertise real wood when you sell the home but they will likely scratch easier and wood does not hold up to moisture quiet as nicely. Let me know if I can help in any other way.
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nik211
14 years ago
We have Dream Home St James 12mm in Rosewood. Funny you posted this because I just noticed scratches on quite a few of the boards (I notice them only when the light hits them at a certain angle - that is about 1 hour before the sun sets)...

At first I thought they were from our dog - but I realized that they are actually from my Dyson vaccuum. Needless to say I was pissed b/c the floor has only been down for 7 months.

The floor still looks gorgeous and you can only see the scratches for about 30 mins when the light comes in through the window at a certain angle - still upsetting though.

The scratches are on the surface - it doesn't look or feel like the board has a scratch or gouge, I think it's just the glossy surface that has been damaged.

Part of me wants to complain to either Dream Home, Lumber Liquidators or Dyson - a vaccuum sould NOT scratch the floor :( but I doubt I will get anywhere...

Anyway, I am going to try a product called "Scratch Away". I read online that it is supposed to help make surface scratches less noticeable - I figure it's worth a try.

In hindsight I think I would have went with one of the Dream Home handscraped laminates, maybe something with less shine. But I do like the way the floors look - just wish they were easier to maintain (no scratches and easier to clean).

Hope that helps!
nik211
14 years ago
Echo - since you said you also had issues, do you know of anything I can do that will reduce the visibility of surface scratches (besides getting an area rug lol)?
echoflooring
14 years ago
I do not....with a high shine...it just kind off comes with the territory..Remember..your laminate is about 20 times tougher to mark up than a real hard wood.. I am sure 99.999% of the world will never notice and say that your floor is absolutely beautiful. Good luck.

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