Has anybody tried to lay Homebase wood effect laminate flooring, the one that costs around five or six pounds a metre? I've bought this stuff and even with the laying kit, the short joins won't go together. The lenthways tongue and grooves are very tight, too, so you can't really slide the things into the correct position very easily. I'm finding I have to bang so hard to connect these things that the edge of the laminate is splitting. The floor underneath is new-ish build concrete and I've put down the right underlay. Is it me or the product? Thanks.
Homebase wood effect laminate flooring
- Thread starter NickStone
- Start date
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Sorry to sound rude: but what you buy cheap is what you get: cheap, not fitting, rubbish.
What'd you expect for 5 - 6 pounds?
and no, it's not you, it's the product (but you for buying it and expecting proper quality?)
What'd you expect for 5 - 6 pounds?
and no, it's not you, it's the product (but you for buying it and expecting proper quality?)
Yep yep yep. I am a retailer and my cheapest product i buy in is more double that a sq meter. End of the day you get what you pay for. like if you go to a skoda dealer with say 8 grand you will walk away with a new car. You go to a porsche dealer you will come away with maybe a spare wheel and some wheel nuts if your lucky to put on your skoda! Take it all back, get a refund and go to a small retailer near yourself. Look after the small guys and they will look after you.WoodYouLike said:
I second, third and fourth all matty says 
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I fifth, sixth and seventh it!! Unfortunately, because people choose to buy from the sheds such as B&Q, etc, on the basis that they are cheap, they will inevitably, eventually put the small, independents out of business.
In 50 or so years time, the only place available to buy paint, wallpaper, tiles, wood flooring and the like will be B&Q. If you want to buy beer, bread, washing powder the only place to buy it will be Tesco. Once they've got the complete monopoly, their prices will become extortionate with little if any improvement in quality!
Rant over!!
In 50 or so years time, the only place available to buy paint, wallpaper, tiles, wood flooring and the like will be B&Q. If you want to buy beer, bread, washing powder the only place to buy it will be Tesco. Once they've got the complete monopoly, their prices will become extortionate with little if any improvement in quality!
Rant over!!
Oh, feel free to rant, but I (as retailer, small and independent) do not totally agree with you (nor would any marketing - business expert)nellyb said:
What's price? What do you expect of a product/service? If you get that combination right (as wholesaler, DIY-shed and independent retailer) there's a market for every one. There is for us now, and there will be on for is in 50 years time (retired then, I'm sure
)Not everybody wants cheap stuff (and besides, the cheap stuff offerers are the ones competing each other to 'death'), a large number of people want value for money, honesty and a company they can trust.
Get that message out to your customers and you'll be alright: word-of-mouth marketing works still best, even - no, especially - online.
As long as you keep your promise and don't let your customer down.
'little rant' over
BTW, there's an excellent book about new, small markets for everyone: The Long TailThanks, folks. I do know that you get what you pay for in terms of quality. I don't ask it to last very long - this is a flat I'm doing up to sell. (In fact, the stuff I bought offered a 15-year guarantee.) However - again legally - products do have to be fit for their purpose and even the very cheapest product should be lay-able. Fortunately, I'm a shareholder in the company who sold it to me so I got my money back, but not everybody has that sort of pull.
be fit for their purpose: it is fit to lay on the floor, so, yes right. Legally they will blame your 'skill'
WoodYouLike said:be fit for their purpose: it is fit to lay on the floor, so, yes right. Legally they will blame your 'skill'
Luckily, I don't really care what shopkeepers think of 'my skill'. The product claimed it was 'easy to lay' and it wasn't. But thanks for all your advice.
NickStone said:
See, that's what I mean there is and always will be room for everything, from cheap wholesalers to small independent free advice giving retailers (and yes we do get them in also, but we see that as long term planning: once the online bought floor is laid - and if they have problems they already come to us for help - they come to us for maintenance products etc - and perhaps a year or two years later for their next but then proper quality floor).
Cheap wholesalers don't do Junker type of products, proper independent retailers don't do cheap stuff = balance.
Rub the tongues with candlewax
trazor said:
That is an excellent tip! I was trying to think of something that would grease the joints but without causing them to swell at the same time. Everything oil-based seemed to carry that risk. Candlewax - so obvious now you've pointed it out.
I bought Laminate flooring from a major diy chain, the one with two letters and I am having a hell of a job putting it down. I even bought a video in the store showing how 'easy' it was to lay, but it only shows the easy bits like the first row.
I managed to almost do the second row and was trying to install the end board and all the others popped out. The demonstration video showed you how to clip them together, but with just a couple when it's easy. After seeing all the stuff about it on the internet it looked simple.
some years back I worked as a floor layer and laid litterally millions of wooden blocks, doing herringbone designs etc. Although I was laying individual blocks one at a time, it was a hundred times easier to lay. I have given up with my present project because too many were getting damaged with chipping along the edges, the top that shows, and the tongue and grooves( or whatever it's called) getting damaged. I will try the candle wax, see if it makes any difference. But apart from that, I will get a chap in to assist me. (more expence).
I managed to almost do the second row and was trying to install the end board and all the others popped out. The demonstration video showed you how to clip them together, but with just a couple when it's easy. After seeing all the stuff about it on the internet it looked simple.
some years back I worked as a floor layer and laid litterally millions of wooden blocks, doing herringbone designs etc. Although I was laying individual blocks one at a time, it was a hundred times easier to lay. I have given up with my present project because too many were getting damaged with chipping along the edges, the top that shows, and the tongue and grooves( or whatever it's called) getting damaged. I will try the candle wax, see if it makes any difference. But apart from that, I will get a chap in to assist me. (more expence).
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