We are looking to redo our floorboards by adding new flooring

[Guest]

I'm confused about all the different types and what's best to use. Currently looking at Hybrid- 6mm only & Laminate 8mm plus underlay. Could you tell me Pro's & Con's & what you have used and why?

[Carley]

Quickstep Laminate 8mm with Acoustic underlay in light brown oak. We love it.

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[Leanne]

We had Hybrid- I would never have it again- it's noisy, we had all our hybrid flooring ripped up and put vinyl planks down- Have never looked back- We had a dog and we haven't had any scratches.

With Vinyl if you need to replace a plank it's one plank not a whole section as you would need to do with Hybrid- Vinyl is super easy to keep clean- my vot is for Vinyl all the way.

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[Brett]

We have floating timber in our current house but our new house has Hybrid. Timber discolouration is evident near outside doors and windows and scratches far too easy.

Hybrid in our new house seems far more resistant.

[Liza]

Hybrid is the best thing since sliced bread very low maintenance almost scratch proof ..water proof ..I have it in the bathrooms ensuites laundrys .. easy to clean and keep clean.. done 2 houses in it ..

[Amanda]

I have been told to stay clear of hybrid, vinyl all the way. This is from people who have worked in the industry for years, to the point some places won’t sell hybrid anymore.

[Angela]

I'm so glad you asked this as I'm in the same boat.

I have dogs so they need to be hardy.

I've seen homes with hybrid and I feel like it shows every little bit of dust in the light....so much more than what previously tiled floors did.

So, what's good for dogs, ie no scratches, doesn't need to be cleaned every single day, doesn't show or attract more dust etc.

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[Tammy]

We have the quickstep impressive ultra waterproof (in the soft oak light you have pictured) throughout. It’s been in for about 4 years and is fantastic. Extremely durable, no scratches, easy to clean.

We have two boys (so lots of cars, ride ons etc )and a dog.

I think it’s a case of you get what you pay for.

[Sotto]

We originally were going to get hybrid, but we wanted our whole house the same flooring (excluding wet areas) so there was a big surface area to cover. As a result, we would’ve had to run joins in some places - this would be to avoid buckling when one side of the house was hot and trying to expand, and the other side of the house was cold and trying to contract - but having joins would’ve looked absolutely putrid. (It’s like the flooring edging you see at the entrance of bedrooms when you go from floorboards to carpet, but it was going in our hallway and would’ve looked really out of place as it would be between two of the same floor).

I also didn’t want to use scotia around my beautiful kitchen island as I didn’t like the look of it against the glorious waterfall edge. After talking to the flooring place they suggested luxury vinyl planks which is what we went with. We still got them to install it under the skirting for a cleaner finish.

We are super happy with the luxury vinyl. It’s stick down with glue so installation is a bit more involved than hybrid floating floor, but a plus is that if one is damaged you can just yank it up and glue a replacement down - with hybrid you have to replace a whole section.

The flooring place we went through also said since hybrid is a relatively new product, nobody really knows how it’s going to look in 50-60 years time. (You’d probably replace your floors regardless by that time anyway.)

Another thing with hybrid is because it’s floating floors, if water gets underneath it will be trapped and cause mould issues. Stick down vinyl does not have this problem.

Don't forget to take a look at: What is the downside to laminate flooring?

[Charlie]

Hi Lara, we recently laid vinyl on concrete after discussing with “floor guy”. Even if you are not getting it professionally laid call out a few places to come explain it to you.

I think every floor is different and has different pros and cons. We had hybrid in our last place and I was not happy with how it felt under foot.

Hybrid is only waterproof on the top, so if water gets under it it will get damaged.

[Fiona]

We used laminate 12mm with underlay over the top of slate.

We could not use hybrid for our floors. Love the laminate so far. We were also told by family that hybrid scratches easier.

[Jordan]

We have a hybrid 8mm. It's fantastic, laid straight on a not perfect slab after taking up old tiles. Constantly get compliments about the feel of it underfoot from guests.

We have an 80kg dog that BOUNDS through the house when she has the zoomies and its never scratched. The only negative is that it's a very textured board which aesthetically looks great but I do find that dirt can get trapped in it and is hard to clean sometimes.

You can check also: Show me your vinyl plank flooring… Wider boards and mid timber tones please

[Amy]

We put in Godfrey Hirst Hybrid metropol 1500 boards and love them.... we have inside chihuahua's and they are a breeze to keep clean and yet to have a scratch.

[Belinda]

I’ve seen hybrids laid and they have this cheap looking scotia trim which I didn’t like?

Something to do with allowing for expansion. Maybe this can be substituted for skirting boards. But vinyl planks do not need the trim. I’ve only had vinyl planks, currently Karndean. I’m very happy with them and will get them again in the next house.

[Nicole]

We used hybrid, 8mm with the backing. We laid it straight over tiles and because we did no floor prep we had to use the exact hybrid they recommended. Mine has a wood look texture to it so it’s very forgiving on marks.

I have it throughout my house and am really happy with it.

[Larz]

I did so much research when we built and we ended up going with luxury vinyl and I have to say it has exceeded my expectations. So easy to clean, not noisy, water and mould resistant.

We were choosing between hybrid and vinyl. Here are the pouts we found;

The top of both products are the same it is just the underneath that is different t

Tap on hybrid and you can hear it. Vinyl there is no sound.

No scotia is needed when installing up to skirtings and kitchen benches. This was huge for me as we had this our old house and it was awful.

To fix a plank is so much easier with no tongue and groove. All they do is heat it and lift it.

Picking flooring is hard and so many different opinions in every shop you go to.

Good luck!!

[Dimity]

I have hybrid and absolutely love it! 100% waterproof and is VERY scratch resistant. The movers dragged my fridge across the house with no blanket under it. Scratched the floor but it wore well and you can’t see it anymore.

If your house floods you just dry them out and relay them. They’re also very quiet and I find them a lot softer underfoot then tiles.

They feel a lot nicer then the vinyl ones we felt and didn’t consider laminate at all.

You can check also: Flooring Question Folks: Is it your experience that lighter colour floors are much harder to keep clean?

[Michelle]

I laid hybrid. It's quite good but if your floor is not exactly level, it makes a noise as you walk on it where there is a slight gap underneath. I'm laying vinyl in the main house as it's a large area and I want the flexibility of repairing a single plank without affecting other boards.

With any laminate, be wary if mdf bases.

The slightest bit of moisture and they swell. Laminate and hybrid survive water.