If you MUST do this, then look for thinner laminate (8mm or so). I like cork as a layer of separation between hardwood and laminate. I would use 3mm cork underlay OR a plank with cork underlay attached. Do NOT use anything with a foam. Ever! It will cause MORE damage to the hardwood than you ever thought possible.

And remember to purchase EVERYTHING at the same time. Purchase enough laminate to cover the flooring + 10% waste to KEEP.

Now...before you get excited. Go ahead and check the clearance you have at all doorways. And check the floor-height variation between different surfaces (wood to tile). And make sure your front door will open/close if you put in an 11mm product (8mm + 3mm).

And now factor in the cost of trim...all of it. The baseboards will have to be REMOVED and reinstalled OR you have to add shoe/quarter round molding. And then there are all the reducers you have to use. Any time the floor enters a bedroom, you need a T-molding. Every time the laminate runs up against the tile, you need a reducer (could be as much as 1/2" drop).

Think about how much you REALLY WANT those speed bumps everywhere in your home.

JuneKnow, I know how to care for my dog and the assumption that I don't is offensive. We have a five year old 65 pound boxer mix - a very athletic and energetic dog that likes to run and play. I dremel his nails regularly, run with him daily, and he's very well trained, but we have so little floor space in our home that what is exposed get a lot of wear and tear. We have entry/exit mats to trap dirt, don't make a habit of wearing shoes in the house, and I vacuum several times a week.

If you want to give helpful advise, please don't start by assuming that people don't care for what they have.

SJ McCarthy, thanks for the tips about cork vs foam.

We're not house project newbies - we've done drywall, built-ins, moulding, baseboard, window framing/trim, etc - and actually installed nearly all the baseboard in our house so removing and reinstalling is a non-issue. Our house has just five rooms. The hardwood goes from the living area straight into the bedrooms (continuous) so no transitions there. Where it transitions to tile in the bathroom and kitchen/dining area already have drops (the hardwood is lower than the tile) so adding laminate on top would make the floors more even or just reverse the drop slightly if anything. Edit: We measured and there is currently a 15mm drop from our kitchen to hardwoods already, so adding laminate on top would help there.

The interior doors are ones we already replaced and trimmed to fit (so nothing new there), but it would be ideal to not have to shave them further. I would love to find a floating floor that can go over what we have without requiring us to shave the doors more so that when removed the doors wouldn't have a weird gap over the hardwood. Update: Hubby informed me that the four doors we have that open over the hardwood each cost about $30, so shaving them further is a non-issue and replacing them in the future is also a non-issue. The door frames trim is already higher cut (we cut little spacers to put under them to make them flush with the floor) because carpet had previously been installed over the hardwood.

I'm not opposed to using a different material other than laminate either, I just don't want to have to move myself and everything out of the house only to pay a lot to have our floors redone and then have them look worn in another few years. With a floating floor we can do the install ourselves and do it piecemeal, one room at a time, which is logistically a bit more manageable. We also wouldn't mind changing the up the color of our floors a bit, so laminate would allow us to do that while maintaining the integrity of the existing floor.