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Wood Floor questions (1 Viewer)

The Big Guy

The Big Guy

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Anyone here have decent knowledge about wood floors to share? Tried searching and can't come up with anything relevant to this.

Hardwood vs Laminate --Hardwoods are obviously better quality and better installation method. Seems a no brainer other than cost.

What type of wood holds up better?

What type of wood needs less care and maintenance? (This is critical with my family)

Do the makers of the wood flooring have lower quality runs of the same types for the discount places (lumber liquidators etc) then they might have for higher end stores?

Looking to pull up ugly living room carpeting(nothing but plywood underneath it) and hallway leading to the bedrooms. We would like something decent, but have no clue where to begin. There are so many brands, so many types of wood that make it almost impossible to know what you are doing, let alone make an informed decision. Looking for something middle grade, not cheap and not for Chet's house. Have a 7 yr old, so needs to be able to take a little abuse from kid activity and spills.

Have to admit to failure--was trying to come up with a Christo joke to throw down here about thread title and I got nothing that would fly here.

 
I would stick with solid hard woods- Oak or Cherry.. I don't care for the engineered hardwoods, because while they look great, the wood portion is usually very thin so you really can't refinish them more than one time- whereas the real wood, you can refinish multiple times.. laminates are cheap and you get what you pay for

 
The Big Guy said:
I have a laminate floor in my bedroom and it looks ok, but it sounds hollow when you walk on it and I know it is lower quality. Real wood is going to just be solid planks then? I am guessing that you are talking about something to the level of this http://www.lumberliquidators.com/ll/c/Select-American-Cherry-BELLAWOOD-BWCH5SV/10034381

Is there a difference between glued down and nailed down?
Click to expand...
nailed down are easier to remove-- depends on what you are putting them on - concrete, you need glue. subfloor, nail

 
Oak is pretty durable...cherry is softer. I think bamboo is one of the hardest. How you secure it in place depends on what the subfloor is made of.

 
Oak does score higher on the Janka Hardness scale then Cherry does, so that would be a help. I know my family and they will scratch and dent anything that is possible to do, so making it somewhat tougher is a good thing. I am noticing that the planks are different widths depending on the style and color. Would it make more sense to get the wider planks so install is cheaper and there are less visible seams in the floor?

 
Over the last two years, we have put down wood floors on the main and second floor of our house. Love the way they came out. We used Empire for the installation, and have been very pleased with them. They have a 'pay it off in a year for 0% interest, which makes things easy.

One thing that I have noticed was the increased amount of crap that I see on the floor. When you have carpets, it just gets buried and vacuumed up, NBD. With the wood floors, you see everything. It doesn't help that we have 2 long hair cats that seem to be shedding 24/7, so there are little tufts of fur everywhere! That and 3 pre-teen kids makes for lots to clean up! Not hard to clean, just seem to need to do it more!

 
There are some pretty durable and high quality laminates out there. The "get what you pay for" concept is true for the cheap stuff but there's higher quality out there as well. We had a house with Cherry laminate in it and 95 out of 100 people would have never guessed it was laminate.

Picture

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I totally stay away from laminates...ESPECIALLY if you have kids.

You'll never guess it's a laminate...until it gets a good scratch in it.


Yeah...there are some that are better than others but nothing beats a real wood floor...except maybe a real brick floor.

I had a 600 sq ft den and installed a real wood floor on a concrete slab

It was gorgeous but i just cannot remember what I paid for the wood and installation.

For some reason....$1800 comes to mind but I could be wrong.

It was a long time ago.

It's your house...don't cut corners.

Get the real wood and don't look back.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Parrothead said:
I would stick with solid hard woods- Oak or Cherry.. I don't care for the engineered hardwoods, because while they look great, the wood portion is usually very thin so you really can't refinish them more than one time- whereas the real wood, you can refinish multiple times.. laminates are cheap and you get what you pay for
Click to expand...
I love our engineered Amendoim by BR111. It doesn't expand and contract. And engineered is 100% surely the way to go below grade IMO.

 
I am thinking that I am going with hickory after a trip to lumbar liquidators. Seems like my wife likes the look and it is not too expensive for the hardness.

They started talking about underlayment and this felt like the overpriced printer cable moment. I do have a basement under, so there should be something beneath I suppose.

 
The Big Guy said:
I am thinking that I am going with hickory after a trip to lumbar liquidators. Seems like my wife likes the look and it is not too expensive for the hardness.

They started talking about underlayment and this felt like the overpriced printer cable moment. I do have a basement under, so there should be something beneath I suppose.
Click to expand...
You'd be foolish not to put underlayment under hardwood floor in the basement. I'm assuming it's concrete right? Your floor will be #### in 5 years if you don't have some sort of barrier down.

 
We put in engineered hardwood. Mahogany shade finish. Honestly I like this stuff better than what we would have gotten with solid hardwoods. Installation is a whole lot easier. We have kids and dogs so got the distressed look - looks great and any dents are completely invisible. The tops have an alumina wear layer, which makes it pretty much impervious to moving furniture, pet claws, etc. And it is stable - no shrinking issues.

Overall this stuff looks as good as a pure hardwood and will hold up better. It certainly wasn't the cheapest stuff in the world (way higher on the scale than a laminate). Not sure why the initial dismissal of this product. Stuff is pretty darn good.

 
I recently renovated a rental house and switched from carpet to wood.

I went to the flooring store (Wood Floors Plus) and asked them if they recommended real wood or laminate for a rental.

I was told if I wanted to add value to the house, go with real wood. If I wanted it to last longer, be more durable and resistant to dents/scratches, I should go with laminate. ( seems weird )

I ended up going with a Pergo snap and lock with attached underlayment that was on clearance for $1.39sqft. Materials including molding cost me $1450. Install was $750. It was a little over 900sqft.

Carpet was estimated at $2800 for the same area.

 
The Commish said:
The Big Guy said:
I am thinking that I am going with hickory after a trip to lumbar liquidators. Seems like my wife likes the look and it is not too expensive for the hardness.

They started talking about underlayment and this felt like the overpriced printer cable moment. I do have a basement under, so there should be something beneath I suppose.
Click to expand...
You'd be foolish not to put underlayment under hardwood floor in the basement. I'm assuming it's concrete right? Your floor will be #### in 5 years if you don't have some sort of barrier down.
Click to expand...
Sorry, what I was trying to say is that the living room that I am installing this in is above a basement and not on a slab. I know that there is a difference in the type of underlayment based on the sub floor.

 
The Big Guy said:
The Commish said:
The Big Guy said:
I am thinking that I am going with hickory after a trip to lumbar liquidators. Seems like my wife likes the look and it is not too expensive for the hardness.

They started talking about underlayment and this felt like the overpriced printer cable moment. I do have a basement under, so there should be something beneath I suppose.
Click to expand...
You'd be foolish not to put underlayment under hardwood floor in the basement. I'm assuming it's concrete right? Your floor will be #### in 5 years if you don't have some sort of barrier down.
Click to expand...
Sorry, what I was trying to say is that the living room that I am installing this in is above a basement and not on a slab. I know that there is a difference in the type of underlayment based on the sub floor.
Click to expand...
definitely get the underlay paper.It's cheap and is in a big roll

 
avoiding injuries said:
I recently renovated a rental house and switched from carpet to wood.

I went to the flooring store (Wood Floors Plus) and asked them if they recommended real wood or laminate for a rental.

I was told if I wanted to add value to the house, go with real wood. If I wanted it to last longer, be more durable and resistant to dents/scratches, I should go with laminate. ( seems weird )

I ended up going with a Pergo snap and lock with attached underlayment that was on clearance for $1.39sqft. Materials including molding cost me $1450. Install was $750. It was a little over 900sqft.

Carpet was estimated at $2800 for the same area.
Click to expand...
i have a pretty hard wood. I forget what we have but you'd be surprised by things that fall that puts dents or small scratches that show up out of now where.it is wood, the laminate is built a little better in it takes a little more to dent or scratch it but harder to repair

 
The Big Guy said:
The Commish said:
The Big Guy said:
I am thinking that I am going with hickory after a trip to lumbar liquidators. Seems like my wife likes the look and it is not too expensive for the hardness.

They started talking about underlayment and this felt like the overpriced printer cable moment. I do have a basement under, so there should be something beneath I suppose.
Click to expand...
You'd be foolish not to put underlayment under hardwood floor in the basement. I'm assuming it's concrete right? Your floor will be #### in 5 years if you don't have some sort of barrier down.
Click to expand...
Sorry, what I was trying to say is that the living room that I am installing this in is above a basement and not on a slab. I know that there is a difference in the type of underlayment based on the sub floor.
Click to expand...
Ah....my mistake. I'd still have the underlayment. It's not very expensive.

 
The Commish said:
The Big Guy said:
The Commish said:
The Big Guy said:
I am thinking that I am going with hickory after a trip to lumbar liquidators. Seems like my wife likes the look and it is not too expensive for the hardness.

They started talking about underlayment and this felt like the overpriced printer cable moment. I do have a basement under, so there should be something beneath I suppose.
Click to expand...
You'd be foolish not to put underlayment under hardwood floor in the basement. I'm assuming it's concrete right? Your floor will be #### in 5 years if you don't have some sort of barrier down.
Click to expand...
Sorry, what I was trying to say is that the living room that I am installing this in is above a basement and not on a slab. I know that there is a difference in the type of underlayment based on the sub floor.
Click to expand...
Ah....my mistake. I'd still have the underlayment. It's not very expensive.
Click to expand...
I used roofing paper as an underlayment. a lot cheaper.

 
Annyong said:
The Commish said:
The Big Guy said:
The Commish said:
The Big Guy said:
I am thinking that I am going with hickory after a trip to lumbar liquidators. Seems like my wife likes the look and it is not too expensive for the hardness.

They started talking about underlayment and this felt like the overpriced printer cable moment. I do have a basement under, so there should be something beneath I suppose.
Click to expand...
You'd be foolish not to put underlayment under hardwood floor in the basement. I'm assuming it's concrete right? Your floor will be #### in 5 years if you don't have some sort of barrier down.
Click to expand...
Sorry, what I was trying to say is that the living room that I am installing this in is above a basement and not on a slab. I know that there is a difference in the type of underlayment based on the sub floor.
Click to expand...
Ah....my mistake. I'd still have the underlayment. It's not very expensive.
Click to expand...
I used roofing paper as an underlayment. a lot cheaper.
Click to expand...
No idea what roofing paper costs, but 15# paper costs around $20 for a roll covering about 400 square feet.

 
The Big Guy said:
Anyone here have decent knowledge about wood floors to share? Tried searching and can't come up with anything relevant to this.

Hardwood vs Laminate --Hardwoods are obviously better quality and better installation method. Seems a no brainer other than cost.

What type of wood holds up better?

What type of wood needs less care and maintenance? (This is critical with my family)

Do the makers of the wood flooring have lower quality runs of the same types for the discount places (lumber liquidators etc) then they might have for higher end stores?

Looking to pull up ugly living room carpeting(nothing but plywood underneath it) and hallway leading to the bedrooms. We would like something decent, but have no clue where to begin. There are so many brands, so many types of wood that make it almost impossible to know what you are doing, let alone make an informed decision. Looking for something middle grade, not cheap and not for Chet's house. Have a 7 yr old, so needs to be able to take a little abuse from kid activity and spills.

Have to admit to failure--was trying to come up with a Christo joke to throw down here about thread title and I got nothing that would fly here.
Click to expand...
Answers in order:

Ya me. I'm a flooring guy.

Incorrect. You're comparing apples and oranges. Hardwood is real wood whether it be solid or wngoneered(multiple layers of different woods put together to make your floor. The top or wear layer is whatever wood you wanted and the under layers are different species to lessen or eliminate expansion and contraction). Laminate is a man made product consisting of a picture with coatings on it with an mdf or hdf core and bottom layer of whatever.

So long as you buy an actual hardwood from the store they will all wear about the same. It's the coatings and manufacturing process that make durability. Although maple is harder than oak if you use the same process on both they will both wear the same.

Wood and laminate floors generally require the same maintenance.

Yes there are different quality runs but if you get model #123 from a hardwood store or a liquidator it will be the same stuff unless otherwise stated as in bad batch or defects

With hardwood unless your installing it get what you like an what looks good. If you go laminate get the brand Torlys. For hardwood I recommend lauzon.

 
GTBilly said:
The Big Guy said:
Anyone here have decent knowledge about wood floors to share? Tried searching and can't come up with anything relevant to this.

Hardwood vs Laminate --Hardwoods are obviously better quality and better installation method. Seems a no brainer other than cost.

What type of wood holds up better?

What type of wood needs less care and maintenance? (This is critical with my family)

Do the makers of the wood flooring have lower quality runs of the same types for the discount places (lumber liquidators etc) then they might have for higher end stores?

Looking to pull up ugly living room carpeting(nothing but plywood underneath it) and hallway leading to the bedrooms. We would like something decent, but have no clue where to begin. There are so many brands, so many types of wood that make it almost impossible to know what you are doing, let alone make an informed decision. Looking for something middle grade, not cheap and not for Chet's house. Have a 7 yr old, so needs to be able to take a little abuse from kid activity and spills.

Have to admit to failure--was trying to come up with a Christo joke to throw down here about thread title and I got nothing that would fly here.
Click to expand...
Answers in order:Ya me. I'm a flooring guy.

Incorrect. You're comparing apples and oranges. Hardwood is real wood whether it be solid or wngoneered(multiple layers of different woods put together to make your floor. The top or wear layer is whatever wood you wanted and the under layers are different species to lessen or eliminate expansion and contraction). Laminate is a man made product consisting of a picture with coatings on it with an mdf or hdf core and bottom layer of whatever.

So long as you buy an actual hardwood from the store they will all wear about the same. It's the coatings and manufacturing process that make durability. Although maple is harder than oak if you use the same process on both they will both wear the same.

Wood and laminate floors generally require the same maintenance.

Yes there are different quality runs but if you get model #123 from a hardwood store or a liquidator it will be the same stuff unless otherwise stated as in bad batch or defects

With hardwood unless your installing it get what you like an what looks good. If you go laminate get the brand Torlys. For hardwood I recommend lauzon.
Click to expand...
The current plan is to go hickory and I am unsure if the insulated underlayment is worth the extra expense over the paper. I am doing this in my living room that is over an unfinished basement, so there is a slight possibility of winter chill, however not an issue in bedroom which has laminate down and just paper style blue roll underneath it.

Appreciate the brand recommendation. From a flooring guy it carries weight.

 
This thread, as with all fbg threads is full of great ideas and horrible misinformation.

Do not repeat do not put any sort of "underlay" under any nail down floor except paper. Wax or dry sheathing which is what that 15lb paper someone posted about. Nothing else. Absolutely nothing else. Catch my drift? On the flip side if it's a floating floor(not nailed down) spend some decent money on a high quality underlay.

 
GTBilly said:
This thread, as with all fbg threads is full of great ideas and horrible misinformation.

Do not repeat do not put any sort of "underlay" under any nail down floor except paper. Wax or dry sheathing which is what that 15lb paper someone posted about. Nothing else. Absolutely nothing else. Catch my drift? On the flip side if it's a floating floor(not nailed down) spend some decent money on a high quality underlay.
Click to expand...
That is exactly why I am asking. It sounded like a big up sell moment at the store and I had that feeling of the guy trying to sell me the "super amazing newest thing" and not what might best serve me.

 
Another GTBilly question - how stupid am i for buying a house with nice hardwood floors while having two small boys. Early signs point to very stupid.

 
bentley said:
Another GTBilly question - how stupid am i for buying a house with nice hardwood floors while having two small boys. Early signs point to very stupid.
Click to expand...
It's better than carpet. 3 kids here, and my hardwood floors wear great with them and a dog. Easy to clean and look a heck of a lot nicer than carpet.

 
Bamboo is a great product. A huge pain in the ### to work with. It's so hard that some of it laughs at some staples.

Bentley yer uckfayed but you knew that. My brother is in the same boat but just one kid. Scratches are character(at least that's what you'll tell yourself)

 
Put about 750 sq.ft. of engineered, locking hardwood down this past spring. We went Lumber Liquidators and did Virginia Mill Works Heritage Hickory - handscraped. It looks phenomenal and is a durable wood. Highly recommend it.

 
GTBilly said:
The Big Guy said:
Anyone here have decent knowledge about wood floors to share? Tried searching and can't come up with anything relevant to this.

Hardwood vs Laminate --Hardwoods are obviously better quality and better installation method. Seems a no brainer other than cost.

What type of wood holds up better?

What type of wood needs less care and maintenance? (This is critical with my family)

Do the makers of the wood flooring have lower quality runs of the same types for the discount places (lumber liquidators etc) then they might have for higher end stores?

Looking to pull up ugly living room carpeting(nothing but plywood underneath it) and hallway leading to the bedrooms. We would like something decent, but have no clue where to begin. There are so many brands, so many types of wood that make it almost impossible to know what you are doing, let alone make an informed decision. Looking for something middle grade, not cheap and not for Chet's house. Have a 7 yr old, so needs to be able to take a little abuse from kid activity and spills.

Have to admit to failure--was trying to come up with a Christo joke to throw down here about thread title and I got nothing that would fly here.
Click to expand...
Answers in order:

Ya me. I'm a flooring guy.

Incorrect. You're comparing apples and oranges. Hardwood is real wood whether it be solid or wngoneered(multiple layers of different woods put together to make your floor. The top or wear layer is whatever wood you wanted and the under layers are different species to lessen or eliminate expansion and contraction). Laminate is a man made product consisting of a picture with coatings on it with an mdf or hdf core and bottom layer of whatever.

So long as you buy an actual hardwood from the store they will all wear about the same. It's the coatings and manufacturing process that make durability. Although maple is harder than oak if you use the same process on both they will both wear the same.

Wood and laminate floors generally require the same maintenance.

Yes there are different quality runs but if you get model #123 from a hardwood store or a liquidator it will be the same stuff unless otherwise stated as in bad batch or defects

With hardwood unless your installing it get what you like an what looks good. If you go laminate get the brand Torlys. For hardwood I recommend lauzon.
Click to expand...
That Lauzon is good looking stuff. Do you have a price sheet you could PM?

 
I wouldn't knock laminate. The product has come a long way since it first came out. It has its pros and con's.

Pros- price, scratch resistance, durability, easy to change out.

Cons- sound, cheaper ones don't hold up

I did laminate and it looks great. I got the large planks, and the thicker ones. I kept a bunch of extra boxes in case I ever need to change out planks.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Nick Vermeil said:
GTBilly said:
The Big Guy said:
Anyone here have decent knowledge about wood floors to share? Tried searching and can't come up with anything relevant to this.

Hardwood vs Laminate --Hardwoods are obviously better quality and better installation method. Seems a no brainer other than cost.

What type of wood holds up better?

What type of wood needs less care and maintenance? (This is critical with my family)

Do the makers of the wood flooring have lower quality runs of the same types for the discount places (lumber liquidators etc) then they might have for higher end stores?

Looking to pull up ugly living room carpeting(nothing but plywood underneath it) and hallway leading to the bedrooms. We would like something decent, but have no clue where to begin. There are so many brands, so many types of wood that make it almost impossible to know what you are doing, let alone make an informed decision. Looking for something middle grade, not cheap and not for Chet's house. Have a 7 yr old, so needs to be able to take a little abuse from kid activity and spills.

Have to admit to failure--was trying to come up with a Christo joke to throw down here about thread title and I got nothing that would fly here.
Click to expand...
Answers in order:Ya me. I'm a flooring guy.

Incorrect. You're comparing apples and oranges. Hardwood is real wood whether it be solid or wngoneered(multiple layers of different woods put together to make your floor. The top or wear layer is whatever wood you wanted and the under layers are different species to lessen or eliminate expansion and contraction). Laminate is a man made product consisting of a picture with coatings on it with an mdf or hdf core and bottom layer of whatever.

So long as you buy an actual hardwood from the store they will all wear about the same. It's the coatings and manufacturing process that make durability. Although maple is harder than oak if you use the same process on both they will both wear the same.

Wood and laminate floors generally require the same maintenance.

Yes there are different quality runs but if you get model #123 from a hardwood store or a liquidator it will be the same stuff unless otherwise stated as in bad batch or defects

With hardwood unless your installing it get what you like an what looks good. If you go laminate get the brand Torlys. For hardwood I recommend lauzon.
Click to expand...
That Lauzon is good looking stuff. Do you have a price sheet you could PM?
Click to expand...
I'm Canadian so my prices are useless to you but it's 8.50/sqft retail up here.

 
johnnyrock62000 said:
Parrothead said:
I would stick with solid hard woods- Oak or Cherry.. I don't care for the engineered hardwoods, because while they look great, the wood portion is usually very thin so you really can't refinish them more than one time- whereas the real wood, you can refinish multiple times.. laminates are cheap and you get what you pay for
Click to expand...
I love our engineered Amendoim by BR111. It doesn't expand and contract.And engineered is 100% surely the way to go below grade IMO.
Click to expand...
We're having this debate right now to put down engineered oak flooring vs solid oak flooring. We're planning on putting it into one kids room and into a third floor playroom. We've spoken with a couple of flooring guys who have pushed one or the other, but obviously (or maybe not) the solid oak flooring will run us more money.

What's the average lifespan of engineering flooring and would we be crazy to just go with that for the types of rooms we're looking to have it installed in?

 
Witz said:
johnnyrock62000 said:
Parrothead said:
I would stick with solid hard woods- Oak or Cherry.. I don't care for the engineered hardwoods, because while they look great, the wood portion is usually very thin so you really can't refinish them more than one time- whereas the real wood, you can refinish multiple times.. laminates are cheap and you get what you pay for
Click to expand...
I love our engineered Amendoim by BR111. It doesn't expand and contract.And engineered is 100% surely the way to go below grade IMO.
Click to expand...
We're having this debate right now to put down engineered oak flooring vs solid oak flooring. We're planning on putting it into one kids room and into a third floor playroom. We've spoken with a couple of flooring guys who have pushed one or the other, but obviously (or maybe not) the solid oak flooring will run us more money.

What's the average lifespan of engineering flooring and would we be crazy to just go with that for the types of rooms we're looking to have it installed in?
Click to expand...
I believe the engineered wood floor I put down last year has a 20yr warranty. Not sure exactly what that means, so take it for what it's worth.
 
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