Sometimes you will read about the idea or concept of a family owned business.
Back as a kid, I always heard all about my great-grandfather (who by the way lived to be 103 years old and grew up actually knowing very much alive).
See my great-grandfather had started up and ran successfully his own hardwood flooring company. When he retired, my great-uncle (my grandmother’s brother) took over the business. Hardwood was in our blood line it would have seemed.
Even as far back as when I was about 6 or 7 years old, I remember my parents deciding that they wanted to put hardwood floors in our then house.
So my uncle and his crew came to install it and then each year as needed they would come back to maintain the hardwood floors. Eventually my parents sold this house and decided they didn’t want to deal with the maintenance of wood floors, so they stuck with wall-to-wall carpeting.
Because apparently maintenance is indeed necessary as good as the wood flooring was.
I also still remember having to not wear heels or shoes without rubber soles on this floor or do anything on it that could cause irrepairable damage to it as a kid, like spill a glass of water on it!
Also, from my understanding, these types of floors can be quite costly. We were lucky that it was a family owned and operated business.
Now all grown up and looking at purchasing a home, Kevin and I have debated having hardwood floors. In reality, we would love to just buy a home with hardwood already installed, but if we can’t then what?
Well one thing is for sure, we definitely couldn’t use my uncle to do this job as he has since retired and the business was actually sold. So, we most likely wouldn’t be able to get these types of floors for a responsible price anymore.
Then, I came across another option and that is in the form of laminate flooring, which essentially have hardwood looks, for lower prices. See below for all the benefits of laminate flooring.
- Laminate flooring is manufactured in a way so that it looks like normal hardwood flooring. However, laminate flooring is actually designed from a synthetic mixture, but still has the durability of hardwood and the timeless beauty as well.
- Laminate flooring is extremely popular for rooms where real hardwood flooring isn’t recommended, such as rooms that receive a lot of moisture. Many colors and styles of laminate flooring exist, which makes coordinating laminate flooring into your existing décor quite easy.
- Laminate flooring comes in many options such as strip, plant or parquet.
- Perhaps the best quality of laminate flooring besides its affordability is its resistance to water. Hardwood flooring is a universal favorite style of flooring, but it is highly discouraged to install hardwood floors in bathrooms or other rooms where water is commonly present. Laminate flooring solves this problem and allows any homeowner the ability to obtain the beauty of hardwood flooring in any room without having to worry about permanent water damage.
If you’re considering a room remodel, I highly recommend considering installing laminate flooring! The benefits of this popular flooring choice are endless, and the price tag is doable for virtually any budget. If you want the beauty and classic elegance of hardwood flooring in your home, but don’t want to break the bank, say hello to laminate flooring today!
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dishofdailylife says
When we added on to our house 13 years ago, we ripped out all the carpeting downstairs and installed hardwood, which I love! There is one room that needs to be refinished but overall it has held up nicely. However when we started thinking about hardwood upstairs years later, the price was daunting. We ended up installing a laminate floor in our daughter's room, which is absolutely gorgeous, for a fraction of the cost. And the best part is, you'd never know! Our boys will be getting laminate in their room at some point soon!
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Janine Huldie says
See that is so the thing, the cost and the fact that these floors are hard to distinguish from hardwood is a huge plus to me and gives me new hope that I will be able to afford nice floors at a much better price. thanks for sharing that with me, Michelle!! 🙂
dianeroark says
Janine,
I agree Laminate floor are beautiful! Unless you are in the flooring business, you may not ever know they are laminate floors because they look so good.
We need to replace some carpet in our home soon. I am going to look into Laminate floors.
Thanks for sharing,
Diane Roark
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Janine Huldie says
Diane, I know seriously unless you are indeed in the flooring business you most likely would never be able to tell. Hope you are able to do laminate and keep me posted 🙂
massholemommy says
We bought our house from people who bought it to fix it up and re-sell it, so when we moved in, the entire first floor was covered in brand hew hardwood. I was so excited.
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Janine Huldie says
Omg, I would have totally been excited, too!! 🙂
Billybuc says
I have laid a couple in my time. Very time consuming but so worth the effort.
Have a great day Janine! 🙂
Janine Huldie says
I know both my father and father-in-law have, too. They both seem to think he same as you on this. Have a wonderful day, too Bill 🙂
rosey says
How awesome that you had a hardwood floor business in the family! I bet that was nice.
We put laminate in the library, and I like it! You can tell it's not real, but I don't care, it's SUPER easy to maintain and it looks nice!
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Janine Huldie says
I always loved that my great-grandfather owned this company and that he passed it down to the next generation. Very proud of him for building the company itself from the ground up 🙂
day-with-kt.com says
Great post – I love that now you can get laminate that looks just like hardwood without all the maintenance required and at a lower price!!!
So cool about your great-grandfather's business – I love small family businesses!!
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Janine Huldie says
I orally do too Kim and I was so proud and happy to share about my great-grandfather’s business here today, too 🙂
ginnymarie says
We have a laminate floor in our kitchen that looks like hardwood, and we love it!
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Janine Huldie says
Oh I love that look in the kitchen and sure it looks gorgeous in yours 🙂
henatayeb says
we just installed laminate flooring in our kicthen/family room area.
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Janine Huldie says
That is awesome and thanks for sharing.
Amanda Love says
When we lived in NY I had hardwood floors but to be honest I prefer the wall to wall carpeting. My brother's house in Canada has hardwood floors on the ground floor and while it looks beautiful it can be a pain to maintain. The laminate flooring is something new I've never heard of before but does sound like a great option.
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Janine Huldie says
We totally did too in Queens, NY and loved those floors, but you are so right the maintenance and upkeep is crazy. From what I hear this is not the case with laminate, so huge plus to me and many even look so similar to hardwood that to me another huge benefit, too!! 🙂
gigigirl says
How nice to see Pop and Mom! He and Nanny would be so proud of you. Aunt Anne and I have wood laminate floors in every room in FL. And so does Uncle Sonny! He advocates for them. I have wall-to-wall in my apt. on LI and I am unhappy. I have to have 80% covered with carpet because I'm on the third floor….but my preference would be the laminate and an area rug. The maintenance on the laminate is easy……dust mop and done! Hardwood floors are beautiful and we did grow up with them in the house…..also easy to dust mop. Love to you and the family…..xxxxoooo
Janine Huldie says
It is funny, because after I wrote this, my mom told me how Uncle Sonny does totally advocate laminate now and had a whole conversation about it. I will say, we have carpets and I hate them. I really just can’t wait to get either hardwood that pre-existing or do laminate if necessary someday. The maintenance definitely is a huge bonus to me. And I must say I was so happy to share about pop and Nannie here. Seriously so proud of Pop for this is so much more and thankful he was my great-grandfather 🙂 xoxo!!
gigigirl says
You make us all proud Janine. Love you…..xxoo
Janine Huldie says
Love you too and thank you a ton Aunt Gloria 🙂 xoxo!!
MelChi says
When we buy our own house – ONE of these days, I would love to have this type of flooring! It just warms the place up and makes it more inviting. And you're right, they're soooo much cheaper than hardwood flooring. I remember writing an article last year about the differences … don't know why anyone would choose anything other than laminate. Hope you're having a great week Janine! 🙂
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Janine Huldie says
Thanks Melanie and I know if the house does have carpet when we buy, we also are definitely going to look into doing laminate floors and was happy to share here a bit more in depth about them 🙂
Brittnei Washington says
I know about this from watching HGTV! Woohoo! I love that channel. I don't watch everything on it but I like the shows that incorporate the renovation and design changes because me and hubby have learned so much about things like this from watching those. 🙂
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Janine Huldie says
I love HGTV and can tell you how much I watch of this channel and actually got quite addicted back when i was first pregnant with Emma. So, totally agree you learn so much from that channel as far as home renovations go 🙂
catherine gacad says
i've never heard of laminate flooring. plus it looks like real wood. thanks for informing us, janine!
Janine Huldie says
Totally my pleasure and does look so much like real wood!! 🙂
Michael Harris says
I agree, its affordable and practical as well. Kalia Floors