Laminate - from 5 to 30 euros - experience exchange

Good evening everyone,

in my daughter's condominium, laminate flooring is to be installed in the children's room, bedroom, and hallway. I will be doing this together with my son-in-law.

After some research on the internet, advice at the specialist retailer, and of course also at Obi, we are not really any further.

The laminate should come with a 4V groove and will be installed floating on underfloor heating with a low flow temperature.

Before the advice starts, it should be said that vinyl, cork, parquet, and other bio floors are not wanted.

Now let's get started. As mentioned in the title, laminate ranges from €6/m2 up to €25/m2 without integrated impact sound insulation.

What is to be thought of integrated insulation like e.g. Haro Tritty Silent Pro?

Does anyone have experience with the brands Parador, Haro, Meister? They have higher-priced laminates, but in this case does higher price = better?

To everyone who has recently installed laminate, I look forward to exchanging experiences and your opinions. What have you installed and how satisfied are you with it?

Thank you very much

Installed 40 sqm in the basement over the weekend. Almost the cheapest quality from Obi. Including a vapor barrier. Cost per sqm about €20 (including baseboard, small items, etc).

Quality is relatively alright. Two pieces had damaged surfaces - however, installation took longer than with premium brands. The surface seems relatively thin. We'll see how it holds up in the long-term test.

What is your opinion on integrated insulation like Haro Tritty Silent Pro, for example?

It saves time and indirectly money during installation if the insulation is already integrated. I personally don’t know of any particular advantages or disadvantages, although I don’t really trust the usually very thin integrated insulation. I feel more confident in "additional products," meaning separate insulation.

Does anyone have experience with the brands Parador, Haro, Meister? These have higher-priced laminates, but in this case is higher price = better?

Personally, I have only had good experiences with Meister so far, but also recently laid Parador for relatives about a month ago. The big brands "aren’t very different." There are various quality levels, different climate technologies, etc., so you have to decide individually. However, a higher price is definitely justified, although you shouldn’t necessarily use the RRP as the only reference here. It’s worth comparing, especially with brand products where you can save a lot of money. Higher-quality products are usually both more pleasant/cleaner to install and simply more stable in terms of the substrate and the decorative layer. There are laminates that feel very comfortable barefoot, almost like a natural product (parquet) and/or are unbreakable even with a hammer. Others can be much more sensitive; every touch causes a dent or the decor peels off after a few years...

My personal recommendation based on good experiences in the past: check the big online retailers and/or the big auction house for "clearance stock" from brand products. There are often high-quality products bundled as clearance packages, like 34 sqm XY Haro from 1 EUR, or 64 sqm Meister for 460 EUR.... Also, you can look for Meister laminate B-stock, which I would personally prefer over any cheap "no-name laminate."

Good luck!

Great, thank you very much! That's exactly the kind of experience I was hoping for :)

I would also like to mention Kronotex. They also have great laminate. We only had cheaper ones before. That was no comparison. Our current laminate has also been repurchased by us many times.