If you have ever installed flooring yourself, well, you soooo know that it is not fun. Sure, it’s technically easy. You bring two pieces together, snap, and lay them down. Simple, right? You already installed floors in another house, so doing it again will be a…snap. The truth is, no, it won’t be a snap. It will probably take a zillion years longer than you thought it would take, cost more than you budgeted, and basically drive you to the brink of insanity.
If we had tons of money to blow, we would’ve had the nice Lowes guys come out and do it for us. But we don’t, and we’re the DIY kinda household anyway…even if we know ahead of time that it really will be much harder than we anticipate.
In the beginning: We pull up carpet. We roll carpet. We sneeze. A lot.
A little ways through: The laminate floor looks good. We like it. We’re glad we picked this color. It was worth going to Lowes, Home Depot, Lumber Liquidators a thousand times just to look and pine over fake wood.
Wow, one room down…a week later. I think Roscoe likes it:
1,200 square feet and a few months later, the floors are finally finished. Except for the quarter round in the kitchen. We ran out, geez. This truly is the forever project.
Lucy is sad that she can’t run as fast on the new floor. At least she can’t scratch it like she would hardwood.
Fritz is pleased.
Brand: Armstrong SwiftlockPlus, color Eastport Oak Auburn from LOWES, single plank.
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Really pretty! I’m sure you saved a TON of money doing it yourself and have a great sense of accomplishment now that it is done!
That’s a huge work and you done it. Great & well done…
SO nice and clean.
Cheers for your project done!
I’d say all your hard work was worth it–it is gorgeous!
Your flooring is beautiful!
That is a HUGE project and it looks Amazing! I am so jealous, when we bought this house it had light laminate flooring and I love the dark like yours, it’s Gorgeous!
Your new floor is gorgeous! And kudos to you for doing it yourself. If you don’t mind saying, how much did the entire project cost? And what brand/color is that?
Thanks for the praise ;) Hi Katy!
The total came out to $3,200. I know it sounds like a lot, but it includes 1200 sq ft of laminate, quarter round, paint, a power miter saw (you MUST have this, it will make your project soooo much faster), saw horses, plastic weather proofing and tape, and other random things that popped up.
Brand: Armstrong SwiftlockPlus color Eastport Oak Auburn from LOWES, single plank.
We saved over $1000 by installing it ourselves. Yay.
WOW! That is gorgeous!!!
We installed hardwood throughout our house and it took almost (gulp) two years. We still have no quarter round. But you can just forget I mentioned that. LOL!
Your furry babies are absolutely precious!
OMG! You just reminded me of another project. We have laminate flooring that needs to be installed. We’ve had it stacked out in the garage for 2 years. My hubby wants to make a theater out in the garage but I told him he has to install the floor in our kitchen/family room first. So far it’s zero to zero. But your floor looks fabulous. Does your hubby want to come to my house & install mine? I didn’t think so. But it was worth a try. (I love the color of your floor.)
The floors look great!!
Wow, it looks amazing! I love it…want it…
:)
Looks great…friends had the nice guys from Lowe’s come out….and out and out and out and out…Lowe’s finally just paid for a new floor…you did a better job ;D
Beautiful! I actually love laminate..probably more than hardwood, for it’s ease and durability.
Was the carpet a pain to take out?
Love the pet pix!!
Absolutely gorgeous. We have laminate wood in a good portion of our house and we love it. We are quite entertained by the way the dog slip and slides on it when he is trying to run fast. It washes up great, and always looks good. I love the dark finish on your choice. It is truly warm and beautiful?
We are getting ready to do this in our guest bedroom. Can’t wait!
Hi Ashley !
I love love your new floor ! We just did our kitchen last week (4 days) The commercial shows some chick doing it in an afternoon – right….
When we put in the dishwasher …there was a screw on the bottom and put a huge scratch in two of the planks……we had to tear out all of our work and fix – so now I am freaking out at anything we have on it….I do love yours
and I know I love mine ! Just don’t drag a dishwasher in, LOL !
Hugs ~ Kammy
Ashley, it looks fantastic! We have hardwoods and our dog has destroyed them in less than 2 yrs. We’ll be putting in laminate before long I’m sure :).
Aw, it’s too bad your dogs have messed up your floors. I really really really wanted hardwoods; they are just amazingly beautiful. But I just knew they’d get scratched like crazy. We had laminate in a previous house and it held up great. So far, so good with these.
Can you tell me if you used quarter round that was the color of your floor or if it was the color of your baseboards? It looks great and I am having mine installed tomorrow!
Your home looks wonderful! My husband and I are really considering installing the exact same flooring from Lowes througout our house. We are really concerned that water maybe an issue in the kitchen and or bathroom. Have you had any issues or concerns with this flooring in your kitchen? Thanks!
ugh! You make me want it SOOO badly. I have been wanting this all over my main floor… but $$$$$ is the issue…. maybe 2010 will bring it to my house :0 LOVE IT!