hardwood, engineered hardwood and pergo.

[Cruiser]

We put engineered floors into our old house. They were down for about 4 years before we sold the place. With 2 dogs and 3 kids running around on them they held up pretty well although they were starting to show their age a bit in high traffic areas like the door to the back deck. I'll echo what others have said about choosing a lighter color. The dark wood we chose (Brazilian Cherry) really had a tendency to show the scratches. I did a good bit of research and found that engineered would be a good compromise for us since it was less expensive than a similar quality hardwood but more attractive than a laminate. Make sure you get a product with a good thick wear layer. That way it can be refinished a couple of times. Installation is easy compared to hardwood and finished product looks very good.

Our old hound Otis enjoying the floors:


We have oak floors in our house now and the misses really wants to extend them out of the den/kitchen into the dining room and possibly the master bedroom. I can't wait to see how much it's going to cost to extend them and then to refinish the existing floors so that everything matches.

[NmbrdDays]

VT-Free knows his shit and does solid work. The man gives good advice. My parents have all three in their house. The unfinished hardwood floor they put down has held up the best. They finished it once and it's been that way for about ten years. You get what you pay for and down the road they are easier to re-finish.

[jamesp]

someone mentioned bamboo floors earlier. I've been told they cannot be refinished ever, something about sanding fknig them because the bamboo is too soft.

[char]

I had a "commercial" Armstrong grade laminate in my old house. It worked out well with a dog after 3 years. I saved thousands over the quotes I received to refinish the hardwood floor underneath it (it was some fir species that my dog would have chewed up in a few years according to everyone who looked at it. It also needed a significant amount of boards replaced. I left it for someone else to marvel over one day.), it was easy to install myself and looked good in the application.

I think "Pergo" looks like shit. And the reason is because it is cheap. You can spend a little more and get a better product, with more pictures and better quality for not very much more money, if you can live with the idea of it not being hardwood.

If you go the laminate route my observations are to get a product that is as smooth as possible. Any sort of raised edge or bevel grabs dirt and is then a pain the ass to clean.

All that said, if I could have afforded it at the time I would have installed or refurbed the hardwood.

[OSECS]

im not seeing much difference in price on the 3. Im putting floors in and was hardwood all the way until i got a look at the other 2 products. The pergo/laminate seems the way to go. Unless you take a kniife to the stuff, it doesnt scratch. I know we have some flippers on here, what do you guys put in. It seems the new home buyer wants "hardwood". But im not looking to sell the house probably ever. The laminate or engineered hardwood seems like less work and is going to last longer. School me on floors please. Making a decision this week. I know, TECH TALK...fuck off.

Pergo ??!! Have you no soul man ?! Natural materials and fibers whenever possible. Yes to hard wood, sometimes yes to engineered floors and never to plastic floors........... Ya know if ya go the pergo route yopu could put up some of that lovely vinyl wood grained wallpaper. Give that shack some real log cabin am - bee -ance !

Seriously though try to not go that route.

[Hugh Conway]

I guess all the good woods end up as floors now to be beat to shit?

[OSECS]

I guess all the good woods end up as floors now to be beat to shit?

Hardwood is just that, hard wood. It is the choice of floors for how many centuries ? I think a floor looks better with some aged patina and wear anyway. Plastic floors ? great for a dorm room or that first apt.

[Hugh Conway]

hey, I love patina, just don't get installing the hardwood/uber durable floor that'll be ripped out in 5 years because we beat floors to shit/the wife wants new floors/the next owner hates them... it's a waste

[gatorboy]

Wise beyond his years this <cough>14-year-old<cough>.

Yup...he just out-ed himself.

[OSECS]

hey, I love patina, just don't get installing the hardwood/uber durable floor that'll be ripped out in 5 years because we beat floors to shit/the wife wants new floors/the next owner hates them... it's a waste

why are they gonna be beat to shit ? Am I missing something in the OP's requirements for performance ?

[iceman]

Hugh I read somewhere that I think 60% of all the hardwood harvested in this country is used to make pallets, so flooring is actually a pretty decent use of the material compared to that, no?

edit: another source says 40-50%, regardless, it's a shitload.

[Hugh Conway]

we ain't harvesting rain forest exotics (or anything really "hard" cept maybe osage) in the us; more a commentary on how what's trendy now is durable and designed. then that shit'll get ripped out. oh well, c'est la vie

[Nomad79]

wife and i are building a house, so i've done a lot of research on this. We've decided on concrete on the first floor and engineered wood on the second. advantages of engineered are stability, which also means you can have wider planks (7.5 - 8 inches is not uncommon). If you want that in solid wood, if its even possible, its going to be $$$.

as others have said, engineered wood has a real wood on the top of osb/plywood type planks, so it can be virtually indistinguishable from solid wood. additionally, engineered wood can be refinished. however, how many times depends on the wear layer (or the top layer) and to some extent the coating on the planks. if you go engineered, find out how thick the wear layer is. it can range from 2mm - 8mm. obviously, thicker means that you can refinish more times, but also is more $$$.

The coating used also makes a difference. A lot of engineered wood is coated with aluminium oxide. This is a hard layer that protects wood from getting scratched. if this is the coating on your wood, it will have to be refinished by a professional. in my opinion, it can make the wood seem more artificial or "perego-like", but that totally depends on how well it is finished and your own taste. the advantage of aluminium oxide is virtually no maintenance. however, any scratches to the aluminium oxide layer cannot be touched up/repaired easily...you pretty much have to live with it till the entire floor is refinished. however, this happens very rarely. alternatively, you can find a wood that is finished using an oil based finish. in my opinion, this is a more natural look/feel, but it does require more maintenance i.e. it needs to be re-oiled. however, re-oiling is very easy, and repairs for scratches are also very easy...essentially you just need to take some oil on a cloth and rub into the wood where scratched. the scratch will "disappear", particularly if the wood is distressed. i would recommend you go to a store and see which finish you prefer.

additionally, i highly recommend a matte finish (whether aluminium oxide or oil), instead of a glossy finish, particular if you have pets/kids. a glossy finish will show every imperfection and is a PITA to keep clean. having a distressed wood also helps in this respect, because any scratches/dents just become part of the distressed look.

We're in austin, so we were able to visit this store in person - http://www.hardwoodbargains.com/ (no affiliation). Found they have good prices and selection...their own in house brand is called skyline, but they also sell other brands of flooring, including high end ones like duchateau, castle comb, etc. their website is helpful as it will tell you the wear layer, finish, etc for each wood they stock. we spoke to a guy named "Guy" who was very helpful. If you tell him Prateek Shah referred you to him, he should know us. they just had a presidents day sale with an additional 10% off...i think they may extend it to you if you ask for it.

finally, if you are not sure of what you want, i would recommend going to www.houzz.com. lots of pictures to see what is possible. often architects/builders/designers and other community members will respond to questions like what wood is this?

in terms of concrete, we were thinking of something like this...http://www.houzz.com/photos/184481/B...ng-room-austin.

if you have any more questions feel free to send me a PM.

[OSECS]

Oak is hard ass wood, ash and maple are even harder (species dependent). Unless you have a constant flow of chicks in 5" heels, golf shoes or ski boots running across it day in and day out it performs very well and in 5 years you shouldn't see any significant wear.

[Flyoverland Captive]

We did bamboo laminate from Lumber Liquidators in our last house. Easy to install, looked great, and held up to dogs pretty well. Be careful not to let any water sit on it, though; we overfilled a potted plant and didn't notice right away. The wood underneath the pot warped pretty bad.

[OSECS]

We did bamboo laminate from Lumber Liquidators in our last house. Easy to install, looked great, and held up to dogs pretty well. Be careful not to let any water sit on it, though; we overfilled a potted plant and didn't notice right away. The wood underneath the pot warped pretty bad.

Bamboo is cool, depending ion the species. Some hold up better than others. Water on any floor will warp/cup it unless its a tropical species with unidirectional grain structure.

[Beaver]

I put in oak on my main floor and 10 years later put laminate in my basement. After 14 years the oak needs refinishing in a couple high traffic areas but still looks good with the finish worn off (in front of the fridge/sink and top tread of the stairs). The laminate looks and feels like plastic. Contrary to reports, laminate does scratch and looks even shittier when it happens. Hardwood can be refinished over and over and over (assuming you're talking 3/4" material) and can last as long as your house. You only really have to worry about sanding it so many times that you wear it down to the grooves.

[OSECS]

I put in oak on my main floor and 10 years later put laminate in my basement. The oak need refinishing in a couple high traffic areas but still looks good with the finish worn off (in front of the fridge/sink and top tread of the stairs). The laminate looks and feels like plastic. Contrary to reports, laminate does scratch and looks even shittier when it happens. Hardwood can be refinished over and over and over (assuming you're talking 3/4" material) and can last as long as your house. You only really have to worry about sanding it so many times that you wear it down to the grooves.

If you use a Rubio Monocoat finishing system, you can make the scratches in wood far less noticeable. It's an oil type finish instead of a traditional stain and poly seal (which you cannot sand). You can wipe on the finish over a scratch and hide it very well.

[irul&ublo]

.... I can't wait to see how much it's going to cost to extend them and then to refinish the existing floors so that everything matches.

research the re-finisher carefully. matching can be tough.

[::: :::]

if you're going to live in the space for years to come, go with solid wood - mat'l cost: $4/sf and up depending on species and width

if you're going to treat it like a rental or short-term property, put in a durable laminate engineered floor - mat'l cost $1.75/sf and up

note that any prefinished product (solid or engineered) will have micro-bevels where they are joined or some other transitional detail. So, if you want a flush look, you have to go with traditional solid wood floor installation

[RootSkier]

Jesus fucking christ.

Get real hardwood. If you can bear to be outside your house and get it installed when you are on vacation or something, you cannot beat site-finished solid wood. No microbevel or any of that fugly bullshit

Pergo: no.

Engineered: why? It's just as expensive and has NO advantages other than cheaper for wider widths. It theoretically can be refinished, so long as you trust some nutjob with a hudge beltsander not to go too deep after smoking that second bowl of the morning (yeah right).

Prefinished solid wood: the second best option. Can be refinished no problem, but has fugly microbevel.

If it's your forever house, go real hardwood and finish in place. If you use a super-legit finish like Waterlox, you don't need to sand before refinishing high-traffic areas. Just screen and apply another coat. Like fucking magic.

Hugh is full of shit. Nobody in their right mind tears out a house full of classic wood floors like oak or maple. If you install a floor full of hard maple or white oak, and put little or no stain on it, it will never go out of style no matter what.

Finally, concrete? In a remodel? On top of floor joists? No. Just no. Don't go that route, plus having floors that hard sucks anyways.

[Hugh Conway]

Hugh is full of shit. Nobody in their right mind tears out a house full of classic wood floors like oak or maple.

Yes people do (or just fuck'em by recovering with something else) and I was talking about exotics. You know, the ones that were mentioned here because people need that 2500 Janka floor to go with their Ipe deck? Whatever rootdouche.

[OSECS]

Jesus fucking christ.

Get real hardwood. If you can bear to be outside your house and get it installed when you are on vacation or something, you cannot beat site-finished solid wood. No microbevel or any of that fugly bullshit

Pergo: no.

Engineered: why? It's just as expensive and has NO advantages other than cheaper for wider widths. It theoretically can be refinished, so long as you trust some nutjob with a hudge beltsander not to go too deep after smoking that second bowl of the morning (yeah right).

Prefinished solid wood: the second best option. Can be refinished no problem, but has fugly microbevel.

If it's your forever house, go real hardwood and finish in place. If you use a super-legit finish like Waterlox, you don't need to sand before refinishing high-traffic areas. Just screen and apply another coat. Like fucking magic.

Hugh is full of shit. Nobody in their right mind tears out a house full of classic wood floors like oak or maple. If you install a floor full of hard maple or white oak, and put little or no stain on it, it will never go out of style no matter what.

Finally, concrete? In a remodel? On top of floor joists? No. Just no. Don't go that route, plus having floors that hard sucks anyways.

dudes pre law.....listen to him !

[milton]

We covered our concrete finished floor (radiant heated) with bamboo last year. Has held up well with 2 dogs and 1.5 y/o. After a couple of years with concrete we started to feel like we lived in a basement, and it certainly sounded like it even with several area rugs. It's a suspended floor which kind of gives it that squishy pergo feeling underfoot, probably my only complaint. I'm sure the little one appreciates it when she rolls off the couch though.

[pepperdawg]

Jesus fucking christ.

Get real hardwood. If you can bear to be outside your house and get it installed when you are on vacation or something, you cannot beat site-finished solid wood. No microbevel or any of that fugly bullshit
.

Agreed - but Jesus fucking Christ - do it yourself man!!!!