Wood laminate or carpet?

Question

I'm decorating my bedroom, and I'm still undecided as to lay carpet, or not. Wood flooring is another alternative, but I'm concerned about how cold, and noisy it'll be.

Answer 1

Laminate came into the country years ago as an quality product, ours was almost £50 a pack from Sweden. (I was in the trade)

An awful lot of it around now is cheap and nasty, it chips easily, it has draw backs such as noise, poor resistance to fluids, etc but that's not the biggest problem.

It was originally seen as an upmarket product and now every run down council house owner with his 16 tatoos and 14 kids has it in every room. We live in our fashion driven society and as i predicted years ago, it will soon be as popular as stone cladding.

Currently real wood flooring is the way to go, or even Carndean which is a good product if a little over priced if you buy the real thing.

For me, i would stick to carpet unless your going to throw a rug over the laminate which misses the point of putting it down in the first place and doubles the cost.
If you do go for Laminate, unless you are very good at DIY get a professional to fit it because it may look good to start with but badly fitted boards will move around against each other and you'll have gaps everywhere.

Answer 2

I'm a huge fan of wood floors, but I usually lay carpet in the bedroom for a variety of reasons.

I've never found a good way to secure an area rug by the bed that didn't leave me nervous about slipping.

No matter how good the underlayment is, laminates all makes noise, but I haven't noticed a problem with coldness however. The underlayment is a good insulator.

Answer 3

Wood laminate looks cheap and tacky and will not wear well. Real wood floors are gorgeous, but in a bedroom I'd go with a nice cozy carpet.

Answer 4

I am old fashioned so I would always lay carpet for a number of reasons
1) in winter we do not wake up to central heating so wood would be cold
2) Bedrooms are normally upstairs therefore carpet helps to reduce noise levels as sound travels both ways Carpets help to absorb

Answer 5

carpet in the bedroom with a good qua;ity underlay.
Luxurious underfoot, warmer.

You can have lamianate in other parts of your house. Avoid the really budget nasty ones though. If you have wood flooring you can hire a sander and show them off. But in the bedroom-carpet.

The other alternative is to sand the edges of the bedroom woodfloor and have a large rug ; best of both worlds. Depends on size and layout of room

Answer 6

Always carpet in a bedroom - cosy and warm on your toes in the morning. Laminate is noisy and cold in a bedroom.

Answer 7

Wood laminate!! Ive got it in my bedroom, it aint noisey nor cold! They do tend to show up dust and hair more than carpets but I would never go back to having a carpet in my bedroom!¬!

Answer 8

Dear nicola, I,ve been a decorator for over 40 years and i,ve seen everything come and go and the wood flooring is on it,s way out. It might last for another year but i doubt it. My advice to you is to go carpet

Answer 9

wood flooring is not so cold if u lay it right with expensive underlay. how ever i prepher to feel a thick fluffy carpet under my feet in the morning and its also better for when u cant quite make it to bed. Nothing worse for spoling the mood than the cold hard floor. *)

Answer 10

I have a natural wood floor in my bedroom and it looks fab but I do mis getting out of bed and feeling a lovely thick carpet beneath my feet,especially in winter.