On Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:57:46 +0000, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article . com,
Jules wrote:
Hmm, do you mean hardwood tongue/groove flooring vs. some cheapy thin
plastic-like crap? (I believe* "engineered wood flooring" is also
typically a laminated design, rather than using solid bits of wood)

Think it covers a few designs. Mine is solid strips of oak keyed and glued
into something like traditional sized T&G planks. When assembled
properly there are no gaps anywhere. Looks very good and should be as
hard wearing as a traditional oak floor.

Yep, that's what we have here - 1-1/2" wide strips of about 3/4" deep (I
think the modern stuff's a bit wider, typically). Very hard-wearing,
although some types of spills can damage the finish and of course it's
vital to put pads on the bottom of the furniture so it doesn't scratch (we
used felt ones, but rubber would probably be better).

Our floors aren't particularly slippy - I've never just fallen over on
them (if I run through the house in socks I can just about manage a
3' skid... :-)

We don't tend to trim our dogs' claws so they clatter a bit when they
run, but not too loud - and we don't hear them at all if they're just
walking.

The main downside I think is the lack of insulation offered by a carpet;
we've got a full basement which makes the lower floor a bit cold
underfoot during the winter. On the plus side, it's easy to clean a
hardwood floor (and judging by the amount of crap that gets swept up, it's
scary how much dirt and debris must be trapped in the average carpet!)

I'm not sure how long you're supposed to go between re-finishing such
flooring (the stuff here could use a new coat really, but I don't know
when in the last 60 years it was last done). The guy living next door
installs hardwood floors as his job, so at some point I'll just go ask...

cheers

Jules