You should polish the concrete instead of using more laminate. It's a gorgeous look that contrasts amazingly well with wood shades. It's also super durable.

Why not put in hardwood? Its not that expensive, I did it a year ago in my dining room and it matches the rest of the house almost perfectly. I had a flooring company put in wood from scratch, not the prefinished kind. They were craftsmen from Romania and knew their stuff. Price was right.

If the concrete is in good condition, I agree with michelle81. If not, I would consider engineered hardwood rather than laminate. As someone who used it in a bedroom when the rest of the flooring was wood, it was so obvious that it was laminate. It has a hollow sound when walked on and it drove us crazy. There are some great engineered hardwoods that don't cost much more than lam. Before I would use laminate, I would use "wood-look" vinyl planks. I've seen some that are very beautiful and extremely durable, and don't have that annoying laminate sound.

Putting laminate down in a house that already has hardwood is like wearing a Jimmy Choo shoe on the right foot and a pleather knockoff from Payless on the left.

Fix up the existing concrete floor by using leveling concrete if it's in bad condition and stain/wax it - or put down ceramic tile - but don't put down fake wood.

Laminate? I would rather walk on broken glass.

Great post. An advantage of leaving it concrete is that it could stand punishment better than anything that could be put over it. Hurricane season began June 1, so water damage resistance is on my mind. Reflooring is something I want to do, but only once!

I'd also suggest staining the concrete. We did just that and it's gorgeous. I love it. And there's no maintenance at all.

This is not my house, but this is just what our floor looks like now...

http://bit.ly/lDiRu8

Laminate has come a LONG way from the early stuff. We have some very heavy pieces of furniture that dented the hardwood in our first house. When we moved we installed laminate. It's gorgeous and most people don't believe us when we tell them it's laminate.
As for the noise-any type of hard floor is noisy if you don't put a foam underlay down.

tbgboodler - nice floor!

I agree with bepsf's fantastic comment - I'd go with treated concrete, ceramic tile or matching hardwood. No laminate (especially a darker laminate - my eyes!!)

If you're still torn - take a photo and find someone who can do a quick Photoshop job for you. It won't be pretty.

I'm not sure this is all laminate hate... it's more "mixing real and fake" hate.

I have no problem with laminate flooring, as long as it's not butting up against the thing it's trying to imitate (i.e. real hard wood).

I would go with what others have suggested, either treating the concrete, acid washes are beautiful, or going with some other kind of flooring. Trying to match wood with a laminate would be difficult and the fact that one is laminate and the other is real wood would be obvious. If you do go with laminate I would go darker, perhaps trying to find something in the range of the knots in the natural floor, so it looks intentionally coordinated but not matched. We were faced with a similar problem, the upstairs being hickory, the stairs being unfinished oak and the first floor a gray tile. We're going to pickle the stairs a dark blue.

I think a contrasting floor (concrete/tile) would be better than a faux version of what its connecting too. Sometimes things don't "go" because you were trying to hard to "match".

Nothing against laminate but I wouldn't do a laminate up against a the hard wood.

Having another hard wood might be fine. You can probably bring some samples back to your house and see how it looks.

What are your plans for the space? If your basement gets cold, you may end up covering your newly refinished concrete with carpets.

Concrete and ceramic tile can also be hard on your back.

If you do decide to go with a laminate, I would go with a contrasting color.

How about cork?

For a basement concrete floor, I definitely recommend laminate or wood floor with a soft underlay. Walking on concrete is tough on the joints (at least for someone with some mileage like me).

Not all laminates are made equal. I had laminate in my kitchen for a year before I laid down tile and NO-ONE amongst my many guests realized it wasn't wood. I actually miss the laminate flooring. For a basement, I would recommend a moisture resistant laminate like the TrafficMaster Allure line. This is what I had installed in my kitchen.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/hard-flooring/trafficmaster-allure-vinyl-flooring-019078

I completely understand what it means to have a concrete slab for a DIY'er. When I first bought my house my main concern was budget. I soon realized, an extra $1,000 on something as important as floors is worth the investment.

I have laminate upstairs but wish I had gone with a vertical bamboo. I paid around $1.70 for the laminates when real bamboo is only around $2. I was afraid of nailing at the time of install but later found out on a different project that its not hard at all. My cheapie laminates were actually quite difficult since they were not made too greatly(involded more than just tapping to get the pieces to "lock" together)

Downstairs I wanted to splurge a little more since guest would be spending most of the time there. Only downside was i'm on a concrete slab. Gluing scared me even more than the nailing. The thought of having to do something right your first try worried me. I ended up buying a click lock strang woven bamboo which I love. Spent extra so that I could float it but think it was worth the investment since the glue/moisture barrier is rather expensive anyway. I do have to say the greatest investment was the cork underlayment though. Home Depot carries a 200 square feet roll for $100 which is very comparable to other foam underlayments out there.

If the install is a concern, perhaps elastilon would work out for you? Its a foam padding made to replace glue-down setups. kind of pricey but white oak is fairly cheap(unfinished at least). Total would probably cost about $4 a square foot. I polyurethened my stairs and found it to be pretty easy.

I agree with the others, the issue is the comparison between real wood and laminate. I've seen some beautiful laminate, but if I were to visit a home with both I'd think it looked off.

Laminate is extremely easy to maintain, and very hardwearing - Ikea does one that looks like white-painted wood, it makes a space feel clean and spacious. You could put seagrass or a neutral carpet on the stairs so that there is no jarring contrast between the wood and laminate. Concrete is too hard and cold for my liking.

If you're determined to put laminate next to hardwood, do not attempt to match them exactly. It'll look like an effort at a cheap fix.

Go with a laminate that is a distinctly different color so that what the brain tells the eye is "different wood!" not "something is slightly off here!"

I'm actively pro-laminate in some situations, and I'd hesitate to put it side-by-side with hardwood, though.

My in-laws have hardwoods on the main floor and laminate in the basement. They chose to carpet the stairs that connect, simply because carpet is easier to install on stairs than anything else. It's a seamless transition, even though it sounds like it would be too much with now 3 flooring selections instead of just the wood and the laminate.

I have a friend that did a laminate stair/basement off of her hardwood main floor. She just matched the colors as best as she could, and I have to say, it worked great. I've seen many guests remark that they didn't even know they were two different options.

I'd say, go with what pleases you if you're going to be there a while. However, if you're looking for getting something out of it for resale value, I'd go with the best match possible. It will give the home a feeling on continuity, which translates in a buyer's mind to "more square footage." If the floor was a different color, a buyer may think it is less square footage because the house is broken up visually. The reality of the situation is that most buyers are idiots that can't see potential, so you have to do what you can to present the home in a way that translates to a moronic buyer's pea brain. :) We're all too smart to get swayed by this stuff, but the general public isn't. :) So, I'd keep in mind the buyer component, if there is a plan to sell soon enough or if you don't want to have to change it before putting it on the market. Otherwise, I'd get a ton of samples and butt them all up on the stairs at the transition point and see what you think. Sometimes you can buy large plank samples to get a better idea of what it will look like, and that expense can be worth it to get the right look, if you're up for that.

Best of luck! Honestly, I'm sure once it is done, it won't feel like a huge transition, and even though you might notice things, most of your guests won't even think to question it.

Junkers? brand makes a real hardwood that can be installed over concrete. We DIYed and it was fine. It IS prefinished though so your concerns on matching finish remain.

Have you considered laminate that does not imitate wood, but for example slate?

Everything jenn_y said!

I would really consider putting in hardwood rather than laminate. There's no way to "match" the laminate, it will simply look like a fake knock-off next to the hardwood, even if it's a nice one.

For my basement, I was on a laminate budget. I don't like the imitation woods but I chose a slate which looks great. Try some non-wood samples to see what a contemporary look they can bring to a space.

Agree with ya anya...cork would be great in a basement!

Don't know if Mercadier products are available where you are (http://mercadier.fr/Beton-Cire-Mercadier.html), but their concrete flooring comes in a fantastic range of colours. It can be used by anyone with a little experience. -- Pick something that contrasts with the wood floor upstairs but goes with your other colours. In our last house, we had light-ish wood upstairs and a salmon colour concrete floor downstairs.

I work in a flooring store and to me, there is nothing worse than trying to match hardwood, it never looks right. Cork (click together or glue-down), Marmoleum (click-together or glue-down) or painting the the concrete are your best options in my opinion. Cork provides great warmth, marmoleum (linoleum) is natural and comes in many beautiful colours which would provide a beautiful contrast to your hardwood without competing with it... and would be softer + warmer on your feet than concrete on it's on. Marmoleum's click-together floors are actually cork backed as well so if you want the extra warmth of cork without all the issues of cork (fading, punctures, etc.) it might be a nice alternative.

Also, any engineered hardwoods can be put over concrete... if you decide to go this route, make sure there is a decent wear layer so you are able to sand and refinish the wood in the future. Engineered hardwoods actually tend to be pricier than solid for the most part but if you are purchasing the same type of wood, the same width planks and finishing it would look like it belongs.

I understand Eileen's question and am facing the same dilemma! I have gorgeous maple floors throughout my entire house, but we are planning to refinish the basement as soon as possible, and hardwood is out since it is sub-grade. I'm wondering if I try to match the rest of the house or go with something that contrasts. Carpet is out of the question with the amount of animals we have!

I currently live with polished concrete floors and love them. They look great with all of our wood furniture, and are really easy to clean.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions! I love the idea of polishing concrete but that isn't an option for us since we have a 1-year-old who is mastering the fine art of walking. Thanks Rainarana for the suggestion...we went with a cherry wood laminate that coordinates with the knots in the hardwood upstairs! And thanks pearmelon and reddylee...we will do a neutral color carpet on the stairs. The house is a split or high ranch, so I think that will look great!

It seems like each floor reflects the taste of a new generation - go bamboo or cork on the ground floor, which is probably the floor you will be using the most.