I have put down both in my house; laminate in hall, livingroom, two bedrooms
and hardwood (ash) in the kitchen

Laminate: it floats on top of the subfloor, set on top of a foam sheet. You
can get the "glue together" kind and can find it on sale regularly for .99
cents a sq/ft. I got mine at the Borg boxing day sale .49 cents. Available
in different thicknesses: I have seen 6mm, 7mm & 8mm
Yes, you can find click together laminate, which is easier to join (no glue)
which costs more, but the joints are not sealed. So what happens when my
daughter spills her grape juice and it seeps between the joints. Yuk!
It looks cheap. Not bad, just cheap. No one will ever mistake it for real
wood. Every piece is exactly the same as the next one in the box. It is
durable. The dog's claws don't scratch it. Once it does get scratched
badly, scuffed etc. you can't refinish it. But if you got it on sale, tear
it up, throw it away and put it down again.

Hardwood: angle nailed through the tongue to the subfloor. It won't buckle
if you put it down right by leaving an expansion gap around the edges which
is hidden by the baseboard/quarter round. More expensive. I think the
cheapest I have seen it is about $3.00 sq/ft. Looks like real wood,
because it IS real wood. The dogs claws do scratch it. At 3/4 inch thick,
it can be sanded and refinished a couple times. Many different levels of
grain pattern. For a more rustic look (which I prefer) look for "tavern"
grade which is cheaper. In tavern grade you will get knots, sap lines and
different grain patterns. The ash I bought was a "tavern grade, shorts"
Shorts meant that the box had different lengths of boards from 1 ft up to 4
ft. It was even less $$ because of the shorter boards, but required a
little more work. Not harder to do, just more attention to fitting and
making sure the seams weren't too close together.

As far as installation was concerned, I thought the hardwood was easier. I
am not an expert. Both of the installations I did were my first time laying
either hardwood or laminate. For hardwood you will need to rent the nailer.
There is a learning curve with the manual nailer. The air nailer is easier
to get going.

Hope some of this helps.

"Keep your stick on the ice."
Tony



"Phil J" wrote in message
om...
We are considering laying wood floor in our lounge and have heard
differing opinions regarding solid wood floor and engineered wood.
Today, someone told us that solid wood can gape and buckle, as it
already contains water and can be very costly to treat and will need
sever treatment ever few years.

Please could someone give us relative advantages/disadvantages
regarding these two types of floor. We will be laying on timber
floorboards, rather than concrete.

Hope someone can help )

Thanks,

Phil J