I live in New Mexico where it is extremely dry (unless it is
flash-flooding).

I was thinking of replacing carpet with hardwood, but a guy at the local
Lowes said it's not suitable for arid environments. So he's just a
Lowes lackey, right? Except he started pointing out that all the
hardwood planks on display were cracked. And the more I looked, the
more cracking I found! According to him the cracking (I think he he
called it checking?) is an absolute certainty in this environment,
except maybe the thick solid planks (that aren't suitable for my
concrete slab foundation - no subfloor).

On top of the cracking problem, people I talk to consistently say wood
is not good for high-traffic areas, which is most everywhere in my
relatively small home with 4 kids. There are almost constant wet
spills, dragging around chairs and tables, gritty sand tracked into the
house, etc.

I'm almost convinced that laminate flooring (Pergo) is the better
choice, but the style I like is almost $3.50/sq ft., similar to a fairly
wide variety of engineered hardwoods. I may be moving soon so resale
value counts. And some say wet spills destroy Pergo, too.

I seem to have talked myself out of every option.

On Apr 23, 10:43 pm, timeOday wrote:
I live in New Mexico where it is extremely dry (unless it is
flash-flooding).

I was thinking of replacing carpet with hardwood, but a guy at the local
Lowes said it's not suitable for arid environments. So he's just a
Lowes lackey, right? Except he started pointing out that all the
hardwood planks on display were cracked. And the more I looked, the
more cracking I found! According to him the cracking (I think he he
called it checking?) is an absolute certainty in this environment,
except maybe the thick solid planks (that aren't suitable for my
concrete slab foundation - no subfloor).

On top of the cracking problem, people I talk to consistently say wood
is not good for high-traffic areas, which is most everywhere in my
relatively small home with 4 kids. There are almost constant wet
spills, dragging around chairs and tables, gritty sand tracked into the
house, etc.

I'm almost convinced that laminate flooring (Pergo) is the better
choice, but the style I like is almost $3.50/sq ft., similar to a fairly
wide variety of engineered hardwoods. I may be moving soon so resale
value counts. And some say wet spills destroy Pergo, too.

I seem to have talked myself out of every option.

Couple of questions first...where in NM? What flooring materials/
types were you looking at that were checked?

First question--it's not _that_ much drier in much of NM than here in
SW KS and wood floors are no problem here. I suspect if you look
around at houses in the area where you live there are wood floors
there that aren't severely checked.

Solid wood flooring in oak will survive the kids and can be refinished
multiple times for longevity whereas the laminates are pretty much
done once the surface layer is damaged. If it's only a short time
before intending to sell, then anything will probably hold up long
enough and most buyers aren't discerning enough to see past the
present appearance. If you're really talking of selling soon, I'd
consult the real estate ads and see visit some properties for sale and
see what seems to be the hot-ticket item(s) now.

I'm not convinced (yet) of the long-term nature of the engineereds and
laminates -- they just haven't been around long enough yet. Solid
wood, otoh, has been installed and continues to be used continuously
w/ a refinishing or two (or theree) for over a hundred years in older
houses.

Of course, in NM there's a lot of tile, too...

On Apr 23, 10:43 pm, timeOday wrote:
I live in New Mexico where it is extremely dry (unless it is
flash-flooding).

I was thinking of replacing carpet with hardwood, but a guy at the local
Lowes said it's not suitable for arid environments. So he's just a
Lowes lackey, right? Except he started pointing out that all the
hardwood planks on display were cracked. And the more I looked, the
more cracking I found! According to him the cracking (I think he he
called it checking?) is an absolute certainty in this environment,
except maybe the thick solid planks (that aren't suitable for my
concrete slab foundation - no subfloor).

On top of the cracking problem, people I talk to consistently say wood
is not good for high-traffic areas, which is most everywhere in my
relatively small home with 4 kids. There are almost constant wet
spills, dragging around chairs and tables, gritty sand tracked into the
house, etc.

I'm almost convinced that laminate flooring (Pergo) is the better
choice, but the style I like is almost $3.50/sq ft., similar to a fairly
wide variety of engineered hardwoods. I may be moving soon so resale
value counts. And some say wet spills destroy Pergo, too.

I seem to have talked myself out of every option.

At the risk of this being duplicated eventually...

I'd suggest looking at what is popular in new houses of the same or
similar price range if you're talking of selling soon. Virtually
anything will last for a short time and if you're selling, very few
potential buyers are discerning enough to look beyond the current
appearance.

As for wood in NM, I'd ask _where_ in NM? Much of NM isn't that much
drier than here in SW KS and wood flooring is fine here. The key is
in acclimation before installation. As for installation, wood can go
over concrete on grade w/ the proper subflooring. It shouldn't go
below grade. I'm not that sold on the laminated or engineered
products yet as far as the longevity goes, but it is improving. The
problem w/ most (if not all) is that once the surface layer is
damaged, it's toast. Solid wood, otoh, can be refinished several
times. Some of the newer engineered products or thinner wood products
claim at least one refinishing possible. But again, if you're selling
soon, that's hardly a concern, so I'd go back to the "what sells" as
probably the key decision in your case.

On Mon, 23 Apr 2007 21:43:36 -0600, timeOday
wrote:


I live in New Mexico where it is extremely dry (unless it is
flash-flooding).

I was thinking of replacing carpet with hardwood, but a guy at the local
Lowes said it's not suitable for arid environments. So he's just a
Lowes lackey, right? Except he started pointing out that all the
hardwood planks on display were cracked. And the more I looked, the
more cracking I found! According to him the cracking (I think he he
called it checking?) is an absolute certainty in this environment,
except maybe the thick solid planks (that aren't suitable for my
concrete slab foundation - no subfloor).

On top of the cracking problem, people I talk to consistently say wood
is not good for high-traffic areas, which is most everywhere in my
relatively small home with 4 kids. There are almost constant wet
spills, dragging around chairs and tables, gritty sand tracked into the
house, etc.

I'm almost convinced that laminate flooring (Pergo) is the better
choice, but the style I like is almost $3.50/sq ft., similar to a fairly
wide variety of engineered hardwoods. I may be moving soon so resale
value counts. And some say wet spills destroy Pergo, too.

I seem to have talked myself out of every option.

Do you have a real lumber yard around?
they can probably solve the cracked plank problem.
As for wear, that's just a matter of how often you
have to re-apply poly. Although if you've got a live-in
granmother who's only mission in life is to sweep,
that helps, too.

Goedjn wrote:
On Mon, 23 Apr 2007 21:43:36 -0600, timeOday
wrote:

I live in New Mexico where it is extremely dry (unless it is
flash-flooding).

I was thinking of replacing carpet with hardwood, but a guy at the local
Lowes said it's not suitable for arid environments. So he's just a
Lowes lackey, right? Except he started pointing out that all the
hardwood planks on display were cracked. And the more I looked, the
more cracking I found! According to him the cracking (I think he he
called it checking?) is an absolute certainty in this environment,
except maybe the thick solid planks (that aren't suitable for my
concrete slab foundation - no subfloor).

On top of the cracking problem, people I talk to consistently say wood
is not good for high-traffic areas, which is most everywhere in my
relatively small home with 4 kids. There are almost constant wet
spills, dragging around chairs and tables, gritty sand tracked into the
house, etc.

I'm almost convinced that laminate flooring (Pergo) is the better
choice, but the style I like is almost $3.50/sq ft., similar to a fairly
wide variety of engineered hardwoods. I may be moving soon so resale
value counts. And some say wet spills destroy Pergo, too.

I seem to have talked myself out of every option.

Do you have a real lumber yard around?
they can probably solve the cracked plank problem.

Do you mean by replacing planks when they crack?

Thanks