Two or three types of flooring downstairs?

[jray]

Hi guys. We're about to have a 3x4m kitchen extension built, and are planning to knock through the rooms downstairs, ie. internal doors btw front and rear rooms, and internal doors btw rear room and dining/kitchen extension. The front and rear rooms will definitely be carpeted, and I was hoping to have kitchen-suitable click laminate (eg. B&Q Aquabloc) in the kitchen/diner and hallway. Hubby wants the 'practical' solution, ie. carpet in reception rooms (approx 6x3m total), laminate in hallway (approx 2x1.5m) and ceramic tiles in kitchen/diner(3x4.5m) . I'm aware about water ingress concerns (even with 'suitable' laminate), but could this be overcome if we glued the planks near the washing machine & sink areas together (instead of just clicking them) and/or applied a coat of matt varnish? (Hey, don't laugh, I'm clutching at straws, here!)
Seriously though, should I just put my wannabee designer eye to one side, and go with the 'practical' solution of three different types of flooring downstairs? Or stick with the more (I think) aesthetically pleasing two?
What would (did) you do?
Thanks in advance
JRay

 

[carpetpaul]

Personally, I'm not a believer in wood laminate for wet areas, at the end of the day, it's wood, and it uses a compressed backing which will swell terrible if it gets wet, and it's irreversible once it's happened.
There's a few treatments that I believe manufacturers have put on some so called 'aqua' boards, this may help avoid the problem, but it isn't any guarantee. Peronally rather than take a chance with a product that manufacturers have 'tried' to make suitable, I'd go for a quality wood effect vinyl.
If you have a sound level floor, there are some superb vinyl that once down, are hard to tell apart from laminate, and they are a lot more suitable than laminate. Try looking at a material called 'Woodstar' (that is if you are in the UK)

Paul

 

[flooringman]

You can use a product like Click guard which is applied to the joints before you click the boards together. This oozes out on joining and is then peeled off after a few minutes. This should stop water ingress from the top but as Paul says any water will damage the laminate. As I say to my customers if this happens then its what you pay your insurance for!
No you can not varnish laminate flooring it will just peel off eventually.
Some outlets do sell water resistant laminate but how good they are......?

 

[jray]

Thanks for your replies guys. Looks like I'll go with hubby's practical solution as it seems to be the overwhelming expert opinion judging by the various posts I've read here and elsewhere. Perhaps I'll try to keep the different flooring the same or similar shade so that it doesn't jar on the eye.

Thanks again