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Solid or Engineered Hardwood floor?


Sushi
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Were the chicks on the stepford wives real until they were exposed as being fakes? I guess ignorance is bliss.

 

 

once you cut something, it's fake.

 

So by that logic all our floors should be round and still have the bark on them.

 

One floor is 3/4" wood, the other is 1/4" wood.

 

But I didn't take a class in wood, so I don't know what i'm talking about. :D

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I have both "real" and "fake" in my house. My floors in the majority of the house are "real". I added a restroom up stairs last year and put the "fake" stuff down. As many of you know I'm a commercial contractor, so while I may not know as much and Polk and Pat I know a little bit. I prefer "real" wood floors, because they can be refinished an infinite number of times, where as "fake" wood floors you can refinish once, maybe twice if you are lucky and really know what you are doing. The reason I went with the "fake" in the addition, is that it was about 1/2 the cost of the real, and it was in a small area that doesn't have to match the main living area, and gets very little wear. What ever you do stay away from laminate, that stuff sucks, particularly if there is any chance of it getting any moisture on it,

 

One thing I will note, is I have never seen engineered wood floors specified on any larger commercial projects. You might see it in a tenant finish-out in a shopping center or something like that, but that is just barely a notch above residential construction.

Edited by Perchoutofwater
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I have both "real" and "fake" in my house. My floors in the majority of the house are "real". I added a restroom up stairs last year and put the "fake" stuff down. As many of you know I'm a commercial contractor, so while I may not know as much and Polk and Pat I know a little bit. I prefer "real" wood floors, because they can be refinished an infinite number of times, where as "fake" wood floors you can refinish once, maybe twice if you are lucky and really know what you are doing. The reason I went with the "fake" in the addition, is that it was about 1/2 the cost of the real, and it was in a small area that doesn't have to match the main living area, and gets very little wear. What ever you do stay away from laminate, that stuff sucks, particularly if there is any chance of it getting any moisture on it,

 

One thing I will note, is I have never seen engineered wood floors specified on any larger commercial projects. You might see it in a tenant finish-out in a shopping center or something like that, but that is just barely a notch above residential construction.

 

 

 

Wrong. You can re-finish an engineered as many times as you want. Re-finishing just has to so with the wear layer. Solid and engineered have the exact same wear layer, and can be re-finished the exact same number of times.

 

The only thing that is different is sanding. You can sand a solid 2-3 times. After that you get down close to the toungue and groove and the staple head. You can sand an engineered hardwood 1-2 times (depending on brand) because of the same reason, you get down to the t&g. The only reason anyone should ever sand any wood floor, btw, is to change the color or get any gauges out.

 

And I don't know what you were comparing the engineered to, but in many instances it is more expensive than solid due to paying for the added amnufacturing process.

 

And I've specked amny wood floors, both engineered and solid, in light commercial applications; mom and pop stores, beauty salons, etc. I would never put either in a high traffic commercial area.

Edited by Bring Back Pat!!!
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I only install 3/4 tounge n groove Red Oak Select.........$9.00/sqft......Maple & Cherry Costs more

 

$4.00 for flooring material

$3.00 to install

$2.00 Sand & Finish

 

The fake sh!t is for Rosie O'Donnell and queers........once a dishwasher or toilet overflows you can kiss it good-bye

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Wrong. You can re-finish an engineered as many times as you want. Re-finishing just has to so with the wear layer. Solid and engineered have the exact same wear layer, and can be re-finished the exact same number of times.

 

The only thing that is different is sanding. You can sand a solid 2-3 times. After that you get down close to the toungue and groove and the staple head. You can sand an engineered hardwood 1-2 times (depending on brand) because of the same reason, you get down to the t&g. The only reason anyone should ever sand any wood floor, btw, is to change the color or get any gauges out.

 

Excuse me, by refinishing I should have stated sanding, as that is what I meant, though I think that you knew that. Not to piss on your parade, but can you tell me why on high end commercial projects you never find engineered wood floors? Oh and by engineered I'm not talking about trusses, but "fake" floors. Just wanted to make sure I got my semantics correct.

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And I've specked amny wood floors, both engineered and solid, in light commercial applications; mom and pop stores, beauty salons, etc. I would never put either in a high traffic commercial area.

 

In other words areas that are light in traffic, and less likely to be around in 20 years or so. In that case it makes sense to use engineered wood floors. I prefer to use stuff that lasts a little bit longer.

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Excuse me, by refinishing I should have stated sanding, as that is what I meant, though I think that you knew that. Not to piss on your parade, but can you tell me why on high end commercial projects you never find engineered wood floors? Oh and by engineered I'm not talking about trusses, but "fake" floors. Just wanted to make sure I got my semantics correct.

 

I don't deal a great deal in high end commercial projects, but I wouldn't put either wood in, and as I edited above, I have put both in lighter traffic commercial.

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In other words areas that are light in traffic, and less likely to be around in 20 years or so. In that case it makes sense to use engineered wood floors. I prefer to use stuff that lasts a little bit longer.

 

No, in high traffic areas, I wouldn't use either wood, because neither one will hold up to the traffic. They'll both be scratched to all hell. They make commercial products for a reason. And there isn't a solid hardwood on the market that carries a commercial warranty.

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I only install 3/4 tounge n groove Red Oak Select.........$9.00/sqft......Maple & Cherry Costs more

 

$4.00 for flooring material

$3.00 to install

$2.00 Sand & Finish

 

The fake sh!t is for Rosie O'Donnell and queers........once a dishwasher or toilet overflows you can kiss it good-bye

 

 

engineered will hold up 100 times better to a dw overflow than solid will.

 

And i sell pre-fiinished solids, with a finish you can't ever touch with job site finishing

Edited by Bring Back Pat!!!
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No, in high traffic areas, I wouldn't use either wood, because neither one will hold up to the traffic. They'll both be scratched to all hell. They make commercial products for a reason. And there isn't a solid hardwood on the market that carries a commercial warranty.

 

Robbins Inc. which I believe is a subsidiary of Armstrong carries a commercial warranty. We used some of their 25/32 hard maple on a project we completed last fall.

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Robbins Inc. which I believe is a subsidiary of Armstrong carries a commercial warranty. We used some of their 25/32 hard maple on a project we completed last fall.

 

 

Doesn't Robbins Inc make sports floors? I know i had a contractor wanting to redo a college hoop court and that's what he was looking for.

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engineered will hold up 100 times better to a dw overflow than solid will.

 

And i sell pre-fiinished solids, with a finish you can't ever touch with job site finishing

 

Typically you are correct, the pre-finished laminates usually look better at the time of installation than does a site finish. This is generally due to the dust int he air on site. If you can limit the dust you can get some real good site finishes. That being said, the laminates are crap. Like NTTG said, the toilet over flows, an ice maker gets clogged, or if you have a minor leak, your looking at replacing the floor.

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Typically you are correct, the pre-finished laminates usually look better at the time of installation than does a site finish. This is generally due to the dust int he air on site. If you can limit the dust you can get some real good site finishes. That being said, the laminates are crap. Like NTTG said, the toilet over flows, an ice maker gets clogged, or if you have a minor leak, your looking at replacing the floor.

 

I'm not talking about laminates. Laminates and engineered are not the same thing. Laminates are crap.

 

I'm talking about engineered hardwood.

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Doesn't Robbins Inc make sports floors? I know i had a contractor wanting to redo a college hoop court and that's what he was looking for.

 

They have a division that does sports flooring if I recall correctly. I don't know if we've used them for sports flooring or not. There are two different companies that are semi-local with in about 80 to 100 miles that manufacture and install most of our sports floors. I think we did put some of Robbins Bio-Cushion in a PT area for a hospital a while back though.

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BBP, et.all,

 

Is there any chance that what one of you is calling a "laminate" is what the other would call "low end engineered flooring".

 

Just curious,

 

Your friendly pot stirrer,

 

Muck :D

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BBP, et.all,

 

Is there any chance that what one of you is calling a "laminate" is what the other would call "low end engineered flooring".

 

Just curious,

 

Your friendly pot stirrer,

 

Muck :D

:D

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Who knows at this point. :D

 

This is my final post in this thread. It's not worth it to keep arguing over.

 

I do this for a living. I'm exposed to all products on a daily basis. I go to trainings on each and every product I sell. I sell good stuff and I sell crap. Laminate floors are crap. Engineered floors are excellent. I've seen the products being made. I don't have a bias or ulerior motive in redommending one over another. I sell more solid hardwoods than I do engineered. But given Sushi's initial question, what to put in his kitchen, and his concerns with the humidity living in Virginia, engineered hardwood is the correct product to use. It has a warranty for these areas and will hold up to the potential water better than solid. (We haven't even touched on the fact that it is ground level and potentially could be on concrete). The rest of this thread has been devoted to some people's personal opinions and not the facts.

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I believe what you are saying, Pat. I have seen Engineered floors in a lot of new construction and I have never felt like there was anything wrong and would not hesitate to use it.

 

Now just because you said no more posts in this thread I have to ask you a quick question.

 

What sort of wood should I use on an outdoor pourch? This pourch is tounge and grove and is not nailed down to any sort of sub floor. It is just nailed to some joists. Any opinion on this?

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