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Engineered wood flooring vs hardwood
#7657377
11/10/19 06:36 AM
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Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 1,300
clarkfork
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Have some carpet areas in our house (built on slab) that we want to replace with either hardwood or engineered wood. The engineered wood option looks simple as far as not needing a subfloor layer, probably no baseboard/moulding height issues, and minimal transitions to adjacent tile areas. Seems like we'd have issues to work out with hardwood due to thicknesses of the subfloor and hardwood at all the transition areas and what to do about baseboard/moulding (remove it, raise it up, funky transitions back down). We don't plan on being in this home too much longer but since we are replacing carpet anyways, we want to upgrade to some sort of wood and make the house more "saleable" for when that time comes. We've been in model homes that have engineered wood floors glued to the slab and they sure look and feel good....., anyone have any experience with this type of flooring (good or bad)? Suprisingly not much of a cost difference between hardwood and good quality engineered wood, just looking for opinions on one vs the other for a little remodeling.
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Re: Engineered wood flooring vs hardwood
[Re: clarkfork]
#7657400
11/10/19 12:11 PM
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Joined: Sep 2012
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Jimbo1
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My BIL install engineered wood floors directly on the slab in the living room and dining room of our house almost 10 years ago now. Can sand and refinish if needed in the future. Got it at Lumber Liquidators. Great looking after all this time. It’s not even the high end stuff.
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Re: Engineered wood flooring vs hardwood
[Re: clarkfork]
#7657570
11/10/19 04:17 PM
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Joined: May 2013
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CharlieCTx
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We glued wood flooring down in a home and it was fine. If you're moving, engineered will definitely be less expensive.
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Re: Engineered wood flooring vs hardwood
[Re: clarkfork]
#7657617
11/10/19 05:14 PM
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 41,173
J.G.
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Maybe the square foot price of hardwood and engineered is the same up front. But did you factor in materials and labor of installing a sub floor prior to finished floor?
These days the engineered wood looks much better than it did 20 years ago.
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Re: Engineered wood flooring vs hardwood
[Re: clarkfork]
#7657689
11/10/19 06:29 PM
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 16,793
68rustbucket
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Have had engineered wood floors for 19 years. Just make sure the installers do a good job of floating the low spots in the slab first.
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Re: Engineered wood flooring vs hardwood
[Re: clarkfork]
#7657704
11/10/19 06:47 PM
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Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 65,526
SnakeWrangler
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We ripped out every stitch of carpet in our house six years ago when we remodeled it. Went with tile and laminate....wouldn't do anything different if I was doing it again today....
I believe in science and I’m an insufferable [censored] Actually, BBC is pretty damn good "You Cannot Simultaneously Be Politically Correct And Intellectually Honest!"
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Re: Engineered wood flooring vs hardwood
[Re: clarkfork]
#7657918
11/10/19 11:16 PM
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 5,192
LonestarCobra
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I put some engineered wood floor down in our old house replacing some carpet, as we knew we were soon leaving. We had it for two years and it was still as good as it was when it was installed. It was a mid-grade level product. Our current house has hand scraped Oak floors, and there is no comparison between the two.
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Re: Engineered wood flooring vs hardwood
[Re: clarkfork]
#7658006
11/11/19 12:25 AM
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Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 3,809
Cleric
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Float the floor on the slab.
Level your slab, put the padding layer down, install the floor on top, add quarter round or replace modeling (make sure to leave some expansion space around walls) easy to do. Just spend some time around doors or remove and replace door frames
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Re: Engineered wood flooring vs hardwood
[Re: Cleric]
#7658102
11/11/19 01:48 AM
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 22,716
BigPig
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Float the floor on the slab.
Level your slab, put the padding layer down, install the floor on top, add quarter round or replace modeling (make sure to leave some expansion space around walls) easy to do. Just spend some time around doors or remove and replace door frames Absolutely can’t stand this. Can’t stand walking on a floating floor like this. Glue it down, nail it down, or go with tile. I was showing a $389,000 home on Friday. We walked in, the floor was a floating “luxury vinyl wood” and the buyer said absolutely NOT. Went 3 doors down and got real hardwood flooring in same size house for considerably less
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Re: Engineered wood flooring vs hardwood
[Re: clarkfork]
#7658127
11/11/19 02:04 AM
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 16,793
68rustbucket
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Mines glued down. Only a few hollow sounding pockets where it wasn’t floated.
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Re: Engineered wood flooring vs hardwood
[Re: clarkfork]
#7658144
11/11/19 02:15 AM
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Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,015
Furb
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I would suggest the engineered option for two main reasons. First, cost, a decent engineered will look and feel good for a fraction of the price of true wood. Second, a true wood floor requires a 3/4" base of C/D plywood, then the actual thickness of the wood, this will play Hades on transitions, doors, trim, and pray you are not trying to abut it to an exterior door.
Another option that a couple friends have done that looks and feels great is a wood ceramic tile, small grout joint and scratch resistant.
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Re: Engineered wood flooring vs hardwood
[Re: Furb]
#7658178
11/11/19 02:49 AM
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 22,716
BigPig
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I would suggest the engineered option for two main reasons. First, cost, a decent engineered will look and feel good for a fraction of the price of true wood. Second, a true wood floor requires a 3/4" base of C/D plywood, then the actual thickness of the wood, this will play Hades on transitions, doors, trim, and pray you are not trying to abut it to an exterior door.
Another option that a couple friends have done that looks and feels great is a wood ceramic tile, small grout joint and scratch resistant. The wood look tile is what we went with. Much more durable and don’t have to worry about it in the wet areas. Was about $9 per square foot plus installation.
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Re: Engineered wood flooring vs hardwood
[Re: BigPig]
#7658263
11/11/19 04:39 AM
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Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 3,809
Cleric
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Float the floor on the slab.
Level your slab, put the padding layer down, install the floor on top, add quarter round or replace modeling (make sure to leave some expansion space around walls) easy to do. Just spend some time around doors or remove and replace door frames Absolutely can’t stand this. Can’t stand walking on a floating floor like this. Glue it down, nail it down, or go with tile. I was showing a $389,000 home on Friday. We walked in, the floor was a floating “luxury vinyl wood” and the buyer said absolutely NOT. Went 3 doors down and got real hardwood flooring in same size house for considerably less With the older stuff it can feel hallow. If done right it won’t be an issue. However if you glue it’s a pita to remove/change and I have seen problems if there is foundation shift. Each had pros/cons, but hollow floor is awful
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Re: Engineered wood flooring vs hardwood
[Re: clarkfork]
#7658607
11/11/19 05:12 PM
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 1,440
Shotgun Willie
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I've had engineered wood for about 6 or 7 years now. I went with it because I've got (2) 85ish pound dogs, and I've seen what even moderate sized dogs do to hardwood. After all this time, they still look great. Except I can't get them to look clean. I've used vinegar, several types of floor cleaner, and even plain water mixed with a little alcohol... everything leaves streak marks when it dries. It's not something you see when you look down at it, but looking across the floor at a window or light source, it's there. It's a pretty common problem.
Fortunately with 2 German Shepherds, within a day or two, shed hairs make the streaks less noticeable.
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Re: Engineered wood flooring vs hardwood
[Re: clarkfork]
#7659058
11/12/19 12:37 AM
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Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 2,869
Cow_doc.308
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Bostik makes a vapor barrier and adhesive product for gluing hardwood directly to slab. My brother just used it in a house. I'm not sure on cost/ft. Kicker is you need a rough finished slab. So you'd have to have the slab shot blasted or scored with a saw. In a new construction, you can broom finish the slab instead of trowel finish and be ready to go.
When we build next year, I'm looking at broom finishing the slab. We're putting down solid hardwood. With either glue or plywood, depending on price.
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Re: Engineered wood flooring vs hardwood
[Re: clarkfork]
#7659507
11/12/19 03:03 PM
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Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 12,221
Grizz
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I'm in the process of having a lot of my flooring replaced (currently a combination of tile and carpet) with vinyl planks. We had a water leak and figured this would be the time to do it since we've been wanting to do something different anyway and insurance is replacing it. We ended up going with the vinyl mostly based on the reason we're replacing flooring in the first place. The vinyl is supposed to be waterproof. The samples we looked at look just like real wood but it has advantages wood and laminate apparently don't have. The down side is real wood would improve resale value quite a bit more, but I can live with that.
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Re: Engineered wood flooring vs hardwood
[Re: Grizz]
#7659568
11/12/19 03:48 PM
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Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 6,695
Cochise
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I'm in the process of having a lot of my flooring replaced (currently a combination of tile and carpet) with vinyl planks. We had a water leak and figured this would be the time to do it since we've been wanting to do something different anyway and insurance is replacing it. We ended up going with the vinyl mostly based on the reason we're replacing flooring in the first place. The vinyl is supposed to be waterproof. The samples we looked at look just like real wood but it has advantages wood and laminate apparently don't have. The down side is real wood would improve resale value quite a bit more, but I can live with that. I installed it in our house about a year ago. Only negative so far is that it's slicker than laminate or tile if you have dogs. Even the textured "higher end" (if that's even a thing with wood look vinyl) is slick on our labs paws - way more so than the laminate that was down before.
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Re: Engineered wood flooring vs hardwood
[Re: Cochise]
#7659598
11/12/19 04:16 PM
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Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 12,221
Grizz
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I'm in the process of having a lot of my flooring replaced (currently a combination of tile and carpet) with vinyl planks. We had a water leak and figured this would be the time to do it since we've been wanting to do something different anyway and insurance is replacing it. We ended up going with the vinyl mostly based on the reason we're replacing flooring in the first place. The vinyl is supposed to be waterproof. The samples we looked at look just like real wood but it has advantages wood and laminate apparently don't have. The down side is real wood would improve resale value quite a bit more, but I can live with that. I installed it in our house about a year ago. Only negative so far is that it's slicker than laminate or tile if you have dogs. Even the textured "higher end" (if that's even a thing with wood look vinyl) is slick on our labs paws - way more so than the laminate that was down before. I figured that may be an issue just based on how our tile is slick on our dog's paws. Some of the samples we looked at were really rough, but we didn't like the looks of them as much. I'm pretty sure when she gets fired up the dog won't be running circles around the living room like she does now on the carpet.
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Re: Engineered wood flooring vs hardwood
[Re: clarkfork]
#7659994
11/12/19 10:15 PM
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Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 6,862
hopalong
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go with a floated engineered wood rather than gluing, slabs around north Tx. move and glued can be a nightmare if it gets movement. this also allows it to be "patched" of a pc gets damaged, if buyer wants to replace it is also a ton cheaper than glued to remove/redo.
lay a good waterproof insulation layer under the engineered and go for it, leave 1/2" from all walls. this simplifies install a lot too.
have layed a few floors like this and never a single problem.
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Re: Engineered wood flooring vs hardwood
[Re: BigPig]
#7660000
11/12/19 10:20 PM
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Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 6,862
hopalong
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Float the floor on the slab.
Level your slab, put the padding layer down, install the floor on top, add quarter round or replace modeling (make sure to leave some expansion space around walls) easy to do. Just spend some time around doors or remove and replace door frames Absolutely can’t stand this. Can’t stand walking on a floating floor like this. Glue it down, nail it down, or go with tile. I was showing a $389,000 home on Friday. We walked in, the floor was a floating “luxury vinyl wood” and the buyer said absolutely NOT. Went 3 doors down and got real hardwood flooring in same size house for considerably less I will bet they used the blue foam underlayment, that stuff sucks and will let the floor sag under foot, proper underlayment/prep and you will never know the difference.
lake fork FISHERMANS COVE MARINA - 903 474 7479 reservations
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Re: Engineered wood flooring vs hardwood
[Re: clarkfork]
#7673072
11/26/19 07:07 PM
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Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 60,480
BOBO the Clown
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