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Solid or Engineered Hardwood floor?


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I'm getting ready to put in some new hardwood floors - ground level foyer, hall, kitchen, and dining room. I've looked at a few things at a couple of different places and heard some different opinions on whether I should feel free to go with a solid floor, or if I should select an engineered floor. Some say I should go engineered since it's going into dining room and kitchen and could be exposed to water. Also because we live in Virginia, where summers can be very humid and we like to keep the windows and doors open if it's not too hot out. But others have said we'll be fine with a solid floor.

 

Any thoughts or opinions one way or the other? Any bad experiences with engineered floors?

 

 

Thanks!

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I am a builder and it is mainly personal opinion. I personally do not like engineer floors b/c I do not like the ridges between boards....dirt catchers/... I like it smooth, but other then that I would use engineer. All engineer floors though are not the same. Just like anything else you get what you pay for

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I'm getting ready to put in some new hardwood floors - ground level foyer, hall, kitchen, and dining room. I've looked at a few things at a couple of different places and heard some different opinions on whether I should feel free to go with a solid floor, or if I should select an engineered floor. Some say I should go engineered since it's going into dining room and kitchen and could be exposed to water. Also because we live in Virginia, where summers can be very humid and we like to keep the windows and doors open if it's not too hot out. But others have said we'll be fine with a solid floor.

 

Any thoughts or opinions one way or the other? Any bad experiences with engineered floors?

Thanks!

 

I sell all types of flooring for a living. Given your situation (kitchen and humid weather) I would NEVER recommend a solid floor if you were my customer. Engineered flooring is a more stable hardwood floor. Period. It's condtructed like a piece of plywood. Why is the sub-floor of your house built using plywood aand not solid planks? Because plywood is more stable.

 

And like Grimm said, you do get what you pay for. Most companies products will come with a 25 year wear warranty today, and usually a structural warranty of the same. Look for those that do. If there's no structural warranty, move on. As far as what to buy, Mannington engineered has been voted the #1 hardwood manufacturer three consecutive years by Floor Covering News (Industry magazine, so it's voted on by dealers and installers). Also, Anderson makes a very good product. Both of these are American made as well, if that matters to you.

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This site was much better when they weren't trying to sell product but there is still some good information to be had.

Hardwood Installer

 

We were sort of forced to go with engineered since it was going on top of concrete but I think it turned out great and we wouldn't change a thing. I think solids are risky on ground floors and in kitchens but I know people do it and are quite satisfied.

 

You do get what you pay for and a good engineered can cost more than a good solid. As for price to install, BBP or Grimm would know better but it probably depends on nailing vs. glueing, prep time, the quality of the product, and several other factors.

 

I'd also say that if you go with an engineered, make sure the wear layer (top layer) is thick enough so that you can go back and refinish it once or twice as it gets beat up a little over time. This is a given for solids.

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Thanks guys. We'll probably go for the engineered, just to be on the safe side.

 

BBP, thanks for the mention of Mannington. The engineered product we are looking at is actually by Mannington, so I'm glad to hear you say that they make good stuff. Do you have any experience with Mannington's hand-scraped flooring? That's what we're looking to put in.

 

 

Thanks again to you all.

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Thanks guys. We'll probably go for the engineered, just to be on the safe side.

 

BBP, thanks for the mention of Mannington. The engineered product we are looking at is actually by Mannington, so I'm glad to hear you say that they make good stuff. Do you have any experience with Mannington's hand-scraped flooring? That's what we're looking to put in.

Thanks again to you all.

 

Yeah, I do. I sell the full line of their products, and the hand-scrapes are HUGHLY popular right now. I like some of them more than others, but that's more personal preference than anything.

 

The hand-scraped fall into a little more of a 'specialty' flooring category, and as such they're not cheap. My guess is you'll be looking at somewhere between $8-$10 SF. At least that's what they are here in the NorthEast.

 

We sell more Mannington engineered than any other brand we carry, (and probably combined). We don't have problems with it. The installers love it because the milling is great, it all fits together without trouble. The finish is as good as it gets. I've put Mannnington into light commercial areas, even though they technically don't carry a comm warranty, and it holds up very well. You should be able to re-finish these 1-2 times if necessary. The only time you should be sanding a wood floor, however, is to change the color or to get hugh gouges out. You can screen an engineered floor as many times as needed, that's just re-doing the urethane layer if needed.

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We installed Bamboo over our entire house and couldn't be happier. We were concerned about moisture, so our flooring guy took a piece of it anf submerged t in water for 3 weeks. When he got it out and it dried, no swelling, splitting or warping. Amazing stuff.

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engineered= fake. would you rather have a house made of solid wood or particle board. That is what we are talking about here. This also afects the relase value of your crib.

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Engineered is NOT fake. LAMINATE is fake. Engineered and Laminates are two completely different things. There is NO particle board in an engineered wood floor. It is all hardwood all the way through, it is just thinly sliiced layers, usually 5, sometimes 7, that are fused together under heat and pressure. It is stapled down if installed over a plywood subfloor, the same as a solid hardwood. A laminate is floated over a plywood subfloor.

 

Please know what you're talking about if you're going to offer your opinion.

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We installed Bamboo over our entire house and couldn't be happier. We were concerned about moisture, so our flooring guy took a piece of it anf submerged t in water for 3 weeks. When he got it out and it dried, no swelling, splitting or warping. Amazing stuff.

Was hoping someone mentioned bamboo. A terrific choice for anyone considering wood floors.

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Engineered is NOT fake. LAMINATE is fake. Engineered and Laminates are two completely different things. There is NO particle board in an engineered wood floor. It is all hardwood all the way through, it is just thinly sliiced layers, usually 5, sometimes 7, that are fused together under heat and pressure. It is stapled down if installed over a plywood subfloor, the same as a solid hardwood. A laminate is floated over a plywood subfloor.

 

Please know what you're talking about if you're going to offer your opinion.

 

Yeah no joke, I wish I had taken a class in school on engineered wood :D:D Oh that's right I did.

 

Engineered = fake

 

Now fake is sometimes better but not usually. You might like it but when you go to resell your home, it means fake.

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Yeah no joke, I wish I had taken a class in school on engineered wood :D:D Oh that's right I did.

 

Engineered = fake

 

Now fake is sometimes better but not usually. You might like it but when you go to resell your home, it means fake.

 

 

Oooooo. A class in engineered wood. Impressive. I took one in cooking, but it doesn't make me a chef!!

 

I do it for a living. I sell flooring. Everyday. I've been to 5 hardwood manufacturing plants. I've spoken with the owners. I do this for a living. You're wrong. 100% wrong. You couldn't possibly be more wrong. Once an engineered hardwood floor is installed NOBODY can tell the difference. The appearance is 100% the same. Anyone who says differently doesn't know what they're talking about. It absoultely WILL NOT affect resale. It's a hardwood floor. Period. It's not fake.

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Oooooo. A class in engineered wood. Impressive. I took one in cooking, but it doesn't make me a chef!!

 

I do it for a living. I sell flooring. Everyday. I've been to 5 hardwood manufacturing plants. I've spoken with the owners. I do this for a living. You're wrong. 100% wrong. You couldn't possibly be more wrong. Once an engineered hardwood floor is installed NOBODY can tell the difference. The appearance is 100% the same. Anyone who says differently doesn't know what they're talking about. It absoultely WILL NOT affect resale. It's a hardwood floor. Period. It's not fake.

 

 

Can you refinish the engineered flooring? I honestly don't know. I installed hardwood in my house, primarily due to the cost factor and the ability to refinish at somepoint down the road if needed. Never considered the engineered stuff, and laminate was never an option for me.

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If the homeowner is asked if it is fake they have to say yes. It might look good but ultimately it is hardwood plywood.

 

If the homeowner is asked if it is fake, the answer is no, it's real.

 

If the homwowner is asked if it is SOLID hardwood, the answer is no, but it's REAL wood.

 

I put 3000 SF of engineered hardwood in a 10 million dollar house last year. And the house sold three months ago. It does not effect resale.

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We finally tore up our carpet knowing there was oak hardwood floors beneath. We just didn't know what kind of shape they were in. It turns out, they're in freaking great shape!

 

Any ideas out there as to what the most common way of finishing them was back in 1970 when the house was built? We're trying to figure out so we know how to care for them.

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If the homeowner is asked if it is fake, the answer is no, it's real.

 

If the homwowner is asked if it is SOLID hardwood, the answer is no, but it's REAL wood.

 

I put 3000 SF of engineered hardwood in a 10 million dollar house last year. And the house sold three months ago. It does not effect resale.

 

You are biased and lying to yourself to sell a product, it happens to most salesman. Don't take it personally.

 

Here is my background, 40 hrs of forestry, toured countless wood manufacturing plants. My cousin might be the most knowledgeable wood chemist in the country. I am also a land surveyor and have applied for my forester's license. I work for many realtos and went to re school myself. Trust me when I say I know about this kind of stuff.

 

BTW, particle board has real wood in it as well.

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Polk ... what is it about an "engineered" floor that makes it fake?

 

I've seen cross sections of a few samples Muckette brought home from the showroom.

 

There were a few that looked like plywood from the side. There was one that looked like it was one solid piece of oak (it may have been with some fancy pre-installed surface on it). I wasn't a fan of the ones that looked like plywood, but can understand why someone would like the 25yr guarantee.

 

If someone wanted a "hardwood floor", it would seem to me that the hardest floor are some sort of engineered floor.

 

And, related to this, if I was going to buy a house, and I saw an engineered floor, I probably wouldn't think twice about whether it was "engineered" or "traditional hardwood planks" ... so, I'm not sure how you say it would negatively impact prices.

 

I'm probably not understanding something as it's not my field...

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Polk ... what is it about an "engineered" floor that makes it fake?

 

I've seen cross sections of a few samples Muckette brought home from the showroom.

 

There were a few that looked like plywood from the side. There was one that looked like it was one solid piece of oak (it may have been with some fancy pre-installed surface on it). I wasn't a fan of the ones that looked like plywood, but can understand why someone would like the 25yr guarantee.

 

If someone wanted a "hardwood floor", it would seem to me that the hardest floor are some sort of engineered floor.

 

And, related to this, if I was going to buy a house, and I saw an engineered floor, I probably wouldn't think twice about whether it was "engineered" or "traditional hardwood planks" ... so, I'm not sure how you say it would negatively impact prices.

 

I'm probably not understanding something as it's not my field...

 

Truthfully I do not know how much having fake wood impacts value for most people. I can tell you that I would pay less but then again I am ahead of the curve on the knowledge of wood durability. Engineered is a term used by salesman to make something sound better than what it is. Doesn't engineered meal sound better than tv dinner? Doesn't sanitation engineer sound better than garbage man? Now we have al had some kind of uber tv dinner which was better than some home cooked meals we have had but ultimately it is still a tv dinner. With engineered wood you are ultimately getting plywood made to look like solid wood so it is indeed fake wood. Now I am not going to say that all particle and plywood products are all trash but they are all indeed fake. Maybe you can get as much money for a fake floor as a real one but ultimately you floor is covered in wood fragments and glue.

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You are biased and lying to yourself to sell a product, it happens to most salesman. Don't take it personally.

 

Here is my background, 40 hrs of forestry, toured countless wood manufacturing plants. My cousin might be the most knowledgeable wood chemist in the country. I am also a land surveyor and have applied for my forester's license. I work for many realtos and went to re school myself. Trust me when I say I know about this kind of stuff.

 

BTW, particle board has real wood in it as well.

 

Interesting. forester? your life is solid wood. And i'm the one with bias? Happens to most loggers I know. Just because you know the logs, doesn't mean you know what's good for flooring. In your mind if it isn't solid it isn't real.

 

I sell all types of flooring, and don't have a bias toward any of them. I speak of the facts. I sell solid pre-finished solid hardwoods by the best manufacturers in North America. I sell laminate floors as well (which I know has real wood in it, that's what MDF and HDF are). I sell vinyl, carpet and tile as well. I have no bias toward any of them. I sell what's best for my customers. if I thought it didn't matter what product was used, I tell them to pick based on color and style. But when it comes to function, and specific needs (like a kitchen and a humid area) I recommend the best product for the job. In this case, it's engineered hardwood.

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