Laminate flooring types

[ryanbp01]

Two weeks ago my wife said the kitchen floor (laminate) was feeling soft underneath. After investigation, I discovered the dishwasher coupling had broken and had leaked onto the OSB subfloor. Insurance is covering all of the damages, less the deductible. Since we are looking at new flooring, I was wondering if there were any viewpoints here on the forum concerning 1) vinyl laminate versus the type which was popular 13 years ago and 2) have there been any improvements in laminate materials since they had come onto the market,and 3) Are there any types you woud recommend? I figure that among all of the forum members we have there has to be someone familiar with these products from an installation and maintenance standpoint.

BPR

[wa2crk]

FWIW I like tile in kitchens and baths. You mentioned a sub floor so I imagine that you have a basement. If so and you can double up on the floor joists to stiffen the floor and carry the weight of tile that is the route I would take. There is a product that looks like wood but is actually a ceramic tile that I like the look of.
A better underlayment for floors in wet areas would be cement board if that is not too thick for the transition between rooms. (thickness of the cement board and tile should not be higher than adjacent room floors)
I have seen some contractors use engineered flooring in kitchens but I don't know how they would stand up in a very high traffic such as a kitchen.
Vinyl will flex a bit so that if the floor is uneven it follows the dips. I don't care for the vinyl because the stuff they try to make look like wood has so many pattern repeats that any woodworker would pick out in a heartbeat.
Just food for thought.
Bill V

[bffulgham]

I've done 3 different "floating floor" projects in the last 5 years. By "floating floor" I mean flooring that is not nailed/glued/fastened to the sub flooring.
The first two projects were with a 7mm wood-look laminate and a vinyl tile laminate. I did about 1400 square feet of the 7mm stuff before I finished and about 200 sq/ft of the vinyl. I believe I have a description of who made what in the above link.
The wood-look stuff was not difficult to put down and has held up VERY well. The surface layer is extremely tough stuff. There are a couple of pieces of scrap that have been outside for several years, and they are still intact.
The vinyl has done well too. It was a little harder for me to install, but only because of the way the glue strip along the edge would grab before I was ready for it to grab....mostly because of my lack of experience with it.
The third project was this year using another 7mm wood-look laminate. This was another Swift-Lock product we picked out at bLowes. I think it is going to hold up well too. It is not as water resistant (the base layer) as the first type from above, but it should hold up in the living room nicely. The surface layer is, again, very tough stuff.

[algale]

We had some engineered hardwood in a finished basement that got destroyed in the flood we had last winter when a pipe froze. We replace it with a vinyl "luxury plank" from Mannington called "Adura". It is a click floor. It is less than two months old but we like it so far. Here's a link to the product page:

http://www.mannington.com/Residential/Adura/DistinctivePlank/Acacia/ALP070.aspx

And here's a photo of part of my basement with the product installed.
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