Can I Install Laminate Over An Existing Floor?

Q: This summer we decided to take up the rugs in our dining room and living room, along with the adjacent tiles(peel and press) to expose the oak flooring underneath. We had hoped to just sand down the wood floor, possibly stain it, and polyurethane it like we’ve seen in so many other homes which looked beautiful. Unfortunately, the wood flooring that we have had taken it’s toll after 30 years and three dogs leaving stains all over the place. Sanding didn’t offer much relief, and we opted to try to just poly it without any stain. It looked awful, and now we are thinking of covering the existing stained wood floor with a laminate.
Question:
Is it all right to just put laminate over the existing wood floor?
Appreciate your advice
Carol & Joe Dunn
A: Since laminate is a floating floor, it can be installed over a pre-existing floor as long as a few pre-cautions are taken. The critical part here is to make sure that the current wood floor is flat. Now considering it was sanded and finished, you should be ok here, but to be safe, get out a level and make sure. The next thing to make sure is that the floor underneath is intact, which again most likely is because it is suitable enough for a floor structurally.
Past that, you should be all set here. I would suggest getting a good underlayment to prevent getting the “clicky” or hollow sound laminate tends to have when it is walked over.
Some advice here on what to do when considering your dogs. First of all, I would look into a dense underlayment, 3mm cork should work well here. My reason for this would be to remove a bit of the additional spring or movement from your floating floor under the traffic of you and your pets. Also, get a AC4 or AC5 rated laminate. These are the top tier of laminate and are built for abuse. Typically AC4-5 rated laminates are meant for light commercial applications or more, the benefit here is that these laminates are so tough, that it is highly unlikely you will see scratches from your dog’s nails. Also, these laminates are usually far better rated against moisture, so should the unfortunate mess happen, your less likely to have some damage from it.
Good laminates to look at here would be Pergo Select, Quick Step Perspective, Westhollow South Pacific, and Wilsonart Red Label.