Laminate for now, real wood in the future when your babies fly the coop.

I have had laminate in this house and my last house neither one of which has buckled, warped or sounds hollow . IMO good quality laminate is pretty easy to care for ,. We have big dogs and wood floor IMO is a bad choice with them.I think budget is a factor good quality laminate is not really cheap either .

I don't care how good it looks from afar, I can always see and feel the difference between laminate and wood as soon as I take two steps on it.

I would never use it but plenty of people here like it. As Patricia mentioned, if you are going to use laminate you should get decent quality and it is not inexpensive.

I've had wood floors for years with kids and dogs and a messy husband. If you look closely at the floors you can see some wear. But has long as you are careful choosing your finish and put rugs in high traffic areas, a real wood finish should easily last until your kids are grown.

Hello!

You may find this article interesting -- https://www.woodco.com/news/laminate-vs-engineered-flooring/ It outlines the differences between laminate flooring and engineered wood flooring.

With both laminate flooring and engineered wood flooring you can expect some wear from standard use. With a good quality engineered wood floor you could refinish the surface multiple times as opposed to a laminate (plastic) where you will have to replace it.

Feel free to reach out to WoodCo (www.woodco.com) if you have any questions.

I'd do engineered in your situation. Hardwood isn't an option with the heat. You need a floating floor and something not too thick or the heat will be less effective. Also checkout the underlayment options; the better ones reduce the hollow sound.

We have done laminate in our houses in the past. We just got done putting it downstairs in our basement and also upstairs in our family room. Two different styles and we have never had problems with it warping or buckling. They are making laminate floors much more durable then before. Kids spill on it and it wipes up easily, easy to sweep and clean. Here are 2 pics of both our floors. My husband and I did this ourselves and it wasn’t that difficult. Just the measuring and cutting was the hard part.

A couple of questions need to be answered first.

#1. What type of "down stairs" are we talking about? Is this a basement?

#2. What type of in-floor radiant heat? Is this electric (like the mats) or is this the "good stuff" like hydronic tubing (water/oil/gel)? The answer you give to this is going to make a HUGE difference as to what you are allowed to do.

Hi and thanks for the input - great feedback and certainly food for thought.

Re the questions, Downstairs would always mean (in Ireland), the ground floor as basements are not commonplace.

And re the heating system underfloor, it would be Water that will be pushed through the underfloor heating system.

thanks

john

Recently had to make the decision. I was team laminate and my husband was team wood. I got samples of both and wood won. The price was double, but the laminate had a weird glare and just didn’t compare. I have a little kid and a dog, the floor is scratched in some places but it gives it character. No regrets in picking the wood. It warms up the whole house and feels nice underfoot.

Ok...so engineered hardwood is an option because this is "ground level" and not below grade. If you do not want to heavily invest in the home's flooring (and after a big renovation you feel the pinch at every turn...I get that), then an excellent water resistant laminate (I hardly need to add "out of Europe"...) will give you an amazing floor for 15-20 years without much effort.

Work with something out of Switzerland or Germany and you will be ASTOUNDED by the toughness and the handsomeness of the product. Quick....do it be Brexit! While all the tariffs are still "Zero"!

I like water proof/water resistant laminates because you are in IRELAND...it rains there from time to time. Sometimes water comes in on your Wellies...and that just isn't good for regular laminate or wood. As water resistant as you can please. It will pay itself back 10 fold by the time you finish your second winter with your flooring.

Biggest issue (been there with tubing heated by gas furnace)…make sure which ever product you choose the warranty isn’t canceled because of the heat under it. Read the fine print.