Engineered hardwood flooring

[luispeter]

We have an accepted offer on a house that is being built that will be completed in early/mid-June. It's a spec home on 1.7 acres in a "development" of four houses. Great builder, property, and location.

Anyway, one of the upgrades we're debating is laying engineered wood flooring on the 650 ft of living/dining/kitchen/hall. I have worked around engineered hardwood, but never seen it after a couple years of wear.

How durable is this stuff? Are we crazy for wanting a nice new floor with first baby on the way? Part of me says the smart move is to go with the specced out carpet/vinyl and possibly upgrade the padding. After the kids destroy the stuff we can replace it with what we really want.

Learn me, oh sage brains of ATOT!

(Yes, I know. Solid wood floors are for manly-men. I work for a high-end cabinet shop and understand real wood floors. I still don't want to pay for them, website).

View more: San go tu nhien – thi công sàn gỗ tphcm

 

[Captante]

 

[ultimatebob]

Are you talking about Pergo flooring by any chance? If you are, it's not really that durable. I had it in my condo, and it started to warp in spots where it got wet. I'm not talking a lot of water, either, just the average misting you would get from a door entryway onto a porch when you walk in after it rains.

 

[vi edit]

I think you'll find that non-crap engineered wood is as expensive, if not more expensive than non-exotic traditional hardwoods. They are more resilient to moisture and seasonal humidity at the cost of being more vulnerable to dings/dents/scratches and often cannot be refinished easily. It's basically a thin hardwood veneer glued to another couple layers of underlayment.

Have you looked at doing tile planking? You can get that hardwood effect to some extent, but material cost is much lower and they are far more resilient to spills and scrapes than hardwood.

 

[Captante]

So we're buying the new member making 1st post here to ask about flooring?

I mean anythings possible but.....

 

[ultimatebob]

So we're buying the new member making 1st post here to ask about flooring?

I mean anythings possible but.....

Hey, it's an interesting topic. Might as well play along until the OP starts spamming all the forums with "Herbal V1agra" ads

 

[vi edit]

Hey, it's an interesting topic. Might as well play along until the OP starts spamming all the forums with "Herbal V1agra" ads

Yeah, it wasn't a thread necro or posting a spam link. So...whatevs.

 

[Captante]

Yeah, it wasn't a thread necro or posting a spam link. So...whatevs.

So the 'bots are branching out?

 

[spacejamz]

Are you talking about Pergo flooring by any chance? If you are, it's not really that durable. I had it in my condo, and it started to warp in spots where it got wet. I'm not talking a lot of water, either, just the average misting you would get from a door entryway onto a porch when you walk in after it rains.

i installed Pergo Duralast flooring (that can be wet for up to 24 hours) 3 years ago and they have held up very well, even with a 60 lb puppy who tracks in mud every time it rains....no warping at all....

 

[vi edit]

Laminate != Engineered flooring.

Laminate is a picture glued to MDF and is usually installed a click together floating floor. Engineered flooring is a real wood veneer that is glued to a variety of subflooring materials (MDF/plywood/ect) and is still often nailed down.

 

[Greenman]

We have an accepted offer on a house that is being built that will be completed in early/mid-June. It's a spec home on 1.7 acres in a "development" of four houses. Great builder, property, and location.

Anyway, one of the upgrades we're debating is laying engineered wood flooring on the 650 ft of living/dining/kitchen/hall. I have worked around engineered hardwood, but never seen it after a couple years of wear.

How durable is this stuff? Are we crazy for wanting a nice new floor with first baby on the way? Part of me says the smart move is to go with the specced out carpet/vinyl and possibly upgrade the padding. After the kids destroy the stuff we can replace it with what we really want.

Learn me, oh sage brains of ATOT!

(Yes, I know. Solid wood floors are for manly-men. I work for a high-end cabinet shop and understand real wood floors. I still don't want to pay for them.)

The actual finish on engineered flooring is generally just as good as what's used on finish in place flooring. Depending on the product and how it's installed, it can sometimes be refinished if necessary. I used bamboo in my house, it's harder than Oak and I liked the light color.
All of this is assuming you're not using bottom end junk.

Btw, WRONG FORUM!

 

[ViviTheMage]

We had cali bamboo, it was pretty cheap, and stood up pretty well so far. Just make sure it's installed with expansion gaps, and acclimates to the house for a week or two (minimum 2 days)

 

[deadlyapp]

Our new house has the tile planks that look like wood. It's really nice and seems more durable than the engineered wood I've used or seen, but it still has accumulated scratches from chairs and such over the span of only a year.