IKEA flooring. what says the lounge?

[quakerboy]

looking at hard flooring. ikea snaptogether flooring seems to be the cheapest. has anyone here tried it. what are your thoughts on ikea flooring?

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

1. If you don't have a floor, any is better than none.

But I haven't tried it so I don't know. :)

[theNotoriousP.I.G.]

2. It is pretty much crap

there is a hollow like echo sound when you walk on it with shoes. Half my house is furnished with Ikea crap. It's cheap but functional but still of shitty quality, manufactured in places like Vietnam and Bangladesh, and you have to put it all together yourself.

[quakerboy]

4. I dislike what I have met of ikea quality

I think that hollow sound has a lot to do with the underfloor, though I am no expert. I am more concerned with the durability of Ikea flooring.

[JCMach1]

12. I agree about IKEA quality

[kentauros]

3. I like IKEA products and never had any problems with them.

I've found them durable and long-lasting :D

I have no experience with their flooring, however, just things like shelves, cutting boards and so on. So, I did a search at TreeHugger.com and found some interesting options:

Recycled Rubber Flooring by ECOsurfaces
"Track That Mud In!" Earthen Floors Are Hot
Globus Cork Flooring (kind of expensive by the looks of it)
Marmoleum Flooring
Bamboo Wood Flooring from Smith & Fong Earns FSC Certification

There's quite a lot to search on that site, so here are my search pages or do your own :)

searching on "flooring"
searching on "flooring" "affordable"

[Blue_Tires]

10. +1

I filled out my first apartment with ikea stuff and I was VERY impressed with the quality, look and durability (and half the stuff I bought was in the 'scratch-and-dent' section)...not sure why they get a bad rap...

sadly, i lost my job and had to sell it all in the move...I *really* miss my lounge chair, desk chair, computer table and bed...

[Gold Metal Flake]

5. We have some.

It went in OK, but you gotta be firm with it. There is no "hollow sound" but it is installed on a concrete slab with undelay. It is durable. Easy to clean. Looks good.





Edit: fixpix

[quakerboy]

6. How long have you had it?

I have to admit, I am hard on floors. I have a tendancy to destroy the carpet where my desk chair sits.

Was it as easy to install as they make it out to be? Where did you get the underlayment?

[Gold Metal Flake]

16. I put it in in 2006.

It is NOT as easy to install as they say. You gotta be firm with the mallet. Some pieces are easier to nest than others.

The underlayment came from Ikea as well.

[Auggie]

14. Love the carpet...

Is that Ikea too?

[Gold Metal Flake]

17. No, that came from FLOR.

http://www.flor.com/

[pokerfan]

7. IKEA nesting instinct?

[quakerboy]

8. I rather dislike Ikea

The store was a bit like a nightmare the one time I went, and everything my MIL and SIL bring back is shoddy.

On the flip side, their flooring seems to be about 20 cents cheaper a foot than even the cheapest crap at Home Depot or Lowes.

[jobycom]

9. I put it in my daughter's room. Works fine.

I installed it over the backing they sell, and even bought their little installation kit. It went in easy enough, looks good, and we've had no problems with it. It hasn't scratched or flaked or anything you'd think could happen. Doesn't sound any different than any other fake wood floor I've seen. The only hard use it gets, though, is from my daughter's IKEA desk chair rolling over it between her IKEA desk and IKEA bed. That, and the cats sliding and clawing their way across it.

Before we bought it we got some of the swatches they had in the store, brought them home, laid them against the wall to get a feel for the color, and then took keys and other hard objects to them, scraping and scratching to get an idea of durability. I imagine I could have gouged or sliced it with a sharp object, but just normal scraping didn't hurt it.

Anyway, that's my experience.

[quakerboy]

11. Sounds like it might be an alternative for us

How long have you had it in? We are looking at being at this place 5-10 years. I am assuming by the end of that, most of the low end flooring products will have started to show their wear, but I am a pessimist who thinks that most of the high end ones probably would too, and I would have found some way in the interim to inadvertently disqualify the warranty. I just want to feel somewhat secure that I am not going to have to replace in just a couple years.

[jobycom]

13. About three years. It looks like it will last as long as a carpet.

It's not showing any signs of wear now, so I figure 5-10 years is more than likely. But it's a teenager's bedroom, so the most abuse it gets aside from the rolling chair (and it gets rolled around a lot) are spills and wet clothing and stuff--all the stuff that would destroy a carpet, which is why we went with a hard flooring. It might be different in a living room or hallway. I think they make different grades for heavy use areas, though.

I checked out a few options before going with it. The much more expensive stuff seemed better, but even then I saw some that was more expensive that didn't look as good. The wood was thin, the veneer seemed too thin, stuff like that. I saw some brands that were more expensive at discount stores that looked and felt like garbage. IKEA in general seems to be great for the price, but with the prices they have, it's not designed to become a family heirloom.

[snooper2]

15. junk...

you would be better off going to lumber liquidators