Hardwood vs engineered

**simply1** · 08-22-2010, 09:45 PM

Which did you or would you choose for flooring and why?

**Covenant Clone** · 08-22-2010, 09:48 PM

Depends on the application? Above or below grade? Installing for your to enjoy it long term or getting ready to sell your house? Lots of things to consider.

**CONEClone** · 08-22-2010, 09:56 PM

Hardwood Floor looks the best, but is also the most expensive. You can get a lot of different species of wood as well as different finishes.

Engineered Flooring has a thin strip of real wood on the top, then various other materials are sandwiched underneath. It's not quite as expensive, and looks nice.

Without a little more information though its hard to say which one would be most beneficial.

**simply1** · 08-22-2010, 09:56 PM

Will be in living area and upstairs hallway and bedroom, plan on staying a couple of more years and selling at that point

**simply1** · 08-22-2010, 10:03 PM

Really like this but would love it at a bit less per sf haha

Lumber Liquidators: 1/2" x 5" Tobacco Road Handscraped

**JP4CY** · 08-22-2010, 10:07 PM

My parents have had Pergo for about 15 years and its a quality product, still looks and wears well. I think there are certain areas where engineered floor isn't as noticeable as other spots. The bathroom and hallway isn't as noticeable as the living room.

**Covenant Clone** · 08-22-2010, 10:11 PM

Originally Posted by simply1

Really like this but would love it at a bit less per sf haha

Lumber Liquidators: 1/2" x 5" Tobacco Road Handscraped

Cool looking floor but a few things to consider is this species isn't all that hard (in comparison to others) and it doesn't come in very long lengths so lots of short pieces.

**Covenant Clone** · 08-22-2010, 10:19 PM

Originally Posted by simply1

Will be in living area and upstairs hallway and bedroom, plan on staying a couple of more years and selling at that point

I generally prefer real hardwood because it will last a lifetime meaning it can be sanded and refinished in the future if need be whereas engineered just has a thin veneer of wood on top of some type of core. Prefinished hardwood is very durable (if you pick a hard species) because the finish they can apply in the factory is extremely hard. The downside to prefinished flooring is the micro-bevel they put on each side of the plank to help hide any irregularities in the sub-floor.

Application type is another thing to consider...if you want a floating floor you will have to go with some type of engineered floor. If you plan on installing yourself solid wood flooring requires quite a few tools that if you don't have you will have to rent or buy.

Just a few things to consider...I am sure it will look nice either way.

**Cyclonepride** · 08-22-2010, 10:25 PM

Solid wood will have better resale value, and you can sand it down to raw and refinish it before you sell as well. Of course, if you're going hand scraped, you won't get the same look back. If you're looking at a wider plank, then engineered might be the way to go to avoid larger linear cracks between the boards in the winter.

You'll usually pay more for a good engineered floor versus a solid.

**alaskaguy** · 08-22-2010, 10:54 PM

Is engineered another term for a laminate hardwood floor?

**simply1** · 08-23-2010, 06:53 AM

Originally Posted by Covenant Clone

Cool looking floor but a few things to consider is this species isn't all that hard (in comparison to others) and it doesn't come in very long lengths so lots of short pieces.

Hadn't thought of that, I need to pay more attention to the species.

**simply1** · 08-23-2010, 06:56 AM

Originally Posted by alaskaguy

Is engineered another term for a laminate hardwood floor?

Engineered has real wood as the top layer, and other components as the backing, so not quite the same. You can still sand and re-finish it, just not as many times as a true all wood floor.

**cyclonefan59** · 08-23-2010, 08:54 AM

Floating floor (Pergo) is not the same as engineered wood. In my opinion, floating floors come off as cheap, you can usually feel the floor "give" when you walk on it.

If you buy engineered wood that is at lest 1/2 inches thick and itis properly installed (important), you can't tell the difference between that and hardwood.

My son-in-law is a wood floor installer and he put engineered wood floors in his new home and my new home...both look great and you cannot tell the difference.

As was noted above, you need to buy quality flooring and there is a difference in hardness of wood. Simplefloors is a great website to buy wood floors; that is where mine came from. Good luck!

**isubeatle** · 08-23-2010, 09:16 AM

i have no idea how durable it is, but i've heard of people getting cork floors these days. Cork doesn't sound like it'd be durable, but i don't know. looks pretty cool though.

**GeronimusClone** · 08-23-2010, 09:17 AM

Originally Posted by cyclonefan59

Floating floor (Pergo) is not the same as engineered wood. In my opinion, floating floors come off as cheap, you can usually feel the floor "give" when you walk on it.

If you buy engineered wood that is at lest 1/2 inches thick and itis properly installed (important), you can't tell the difference between that and hardwood.

My son-in-law is a wood floor installer and he put engineered wood floors in his new home and my new home...both look great and you cannot tell the difference.

As was noted above, you need to buy quality flooring and there is a difference in hardness of wood. Simplefloors is a great website to buy wood floors; that is where mine came from. Good luck!

What's the cost difference between engineered and hardwood?