Engineered Flooring or Solid HW?
 

Sorry for the somewhat offtopic post (still has to do with wood though
:) ).

Anyway, considering putting down wood flooring in a few rooms at mi casa.
Substrate is concrete and there is really no motivation to add a 1 1/2"
subfloor as that will
cause uneveness to other flooring already installed. I see there are
really two alternatives
for me (well more but these are the two I'm considering). Engineered
flooring or Solid flooring.

The engineered flooring can either be installed with glue down or in a
floating configuration, comes
with a roughly 25-30 year warranty, and has a 2mm thick top veneer. The
solid is 3/8" or 1/2" (depending
on species) and is glued down (warranty is up to 50 depending on manuf.).
Any recommendations?
I worry a bit about a 2mm veneer (5/64") being too thin yet the engineered
flooring is also cheaper. The
solid wood would be fine but as expected, is more expensive.

Anyone with some experience in this decision? Advice? Thanks very much,

jlc

"James "Cubby" Culbertson" wrote in message
for me (well more but these are the two I'm considering). Engineered
flooring or Solid flooring.

The engineered flooring can either be installed with glue down or in a
floating configuration, comes
with a roughly 25-30 year warranty, and has a 2mm thick top veneer. The
solid is 3/8" or 1/2" (depending
on species) and is glued down (warranty is up to 50 depending on manuf.).
Any recommendations?
I worry a bit about a 2mm veneer (5/64") being too thin yet the engineered
flooring is also cheaper. The
solid wood would be fine but as expected, is more expensive.

My Mannington engineered wood has been down for about 18 months. Over
concrete it was by far the best solution for me. It is a floating floor and
seems to have excellent wear capabilities. I'd not be concerned about hte
2mm tip thickness.

I decided to go for engineered flooring in my last house, very easy to
put down. It was a 3.6 mm veneer and wasn't any cheaper than solid wood
but I thought it was likely to be more stable over concrete. I reckon
2mm would be fine if you don't intend to do too much agressive
refinishing.

How flat are your concrete floors? In the lounge I had to rescreed the
floor to get it flat as there were dips of up to 1.5 inches!!!, I
hadn't noticed the dips when it was carpet but a wooden floor is going
to be a bit bouncy if it is not supported. Something to bear in mind.

Geoff

I put down engineered maple in our master bath about 4 years ago. It floats
on top of a 1/8" closed foam padding layer with that on top of a 4 mil
vapor barrier. So far so good.


"James "Cubby" Culbertson" wrote in message
...
Sorry for the somewhat offtopic post (still has to do with wood though
) ).

Anyway, considering putting down wood flooring in a few rooms at mi casa.
Substrate is concrete and there is really no motivation to add a 1 1/2"
subfloor as that will
cause uneveness to other flooring already installed. I see there are
really two alternatives
for me (well more but these are the two I'm considering). Engineered
flooring or Solid flooring.

The engineered flooring can either be installed with glue down or in a
floating configuration, comes
with a roughly 25-30 year warranty, and has a 2mm thick top veneer. The
solid is 3/8" or 1/2" (depending
on species) and is glued down (warranty is up to 50 depending on manuf.).
Any recommendations?
I worry a bit about a 2mm veneer (5/64") being too thin yet the engineered
flooring is also cheaper. The
solid wood would be fine but as expected, is more expensive.

Anyone with some experience in this decision? Advice? Thanks very much,

jlc

I have an Engineered Floating Maple floor (destroyed by flood) and next door
has a Glued down 3/8 Solid Oak.... When the glue separates from the sub or
from the wood it makes noise.... so they have 3 spots that you can tell
something happened underneath.

As long as you don't drop anything real heavy with sharp edges, the
Engineered Floor will hang in there. ( the oak would get screwed too) but
that was the only problem I had when I dropped a piece of granite and it
made a dig not through the veneer, but I'm afraid to patch it because I'm
unsure of the clear coating and it's small enough to ignore.


My whole lower floor was Engineered The Kitchen was destroyed in the flood.
So we're thinking of Bamboo through out the lower floors with or without a
Ceramic tile in the Kitchen??? Still going back and forth! But the
Engineered floor as much as a pain as it is, is also easy to change and also
take with you. So in 10 years you get tired of it, out down something
different with MUCH less work. What I'm doing is taking the good flooring
downstairs and redoing the carpeted hallway and bedrooms!!!


"James "Cubby" Culbertson" wrote in message
...
Sorry for the somewhat offtopic post (still has to do with wood though
:) ).

Anyway, considering putting down wood flooring in a few rooms at mi casa.
Substrate is concrete and there is really no motivation to add a 1 1/2"
subfloor as that will
cause uneveness to other flooring already installed. I see there are
really two alternatives
for me (well more but these are the two I'm considering). Engineered
flooring or Solid flooring.

The engineered flooring can either be installed with glue down or in a
floating configuration, comes
with a roughly 25-30 year warranty, and has a 2mm thick top veneer. The
solid is 3/8" or 1/2" (depending
on species) and is glued down (warranty is up to 50 depending on manuf.).
Any recommendations?
I worry a bit about a 2mm veneer (5/64") being too thin yet the engineered
flooring is also cheaper. The
solid wood would be fine but as expected, is more expensive.

Anyone with some experience in this decision? Advice? Thanks very much,

jlc

Engineered are much more stable... Most have a plywood
substrate and the finish is tough as nails.

**** Beware of slab floors that are NOT flat *****

Wood floors do NOT like uneven surfaces.


James "Cubby" Culbertson wrote:

Sorry for the somewhat offtopic post (still has to do with wood though
:) ).

Anyway, considering putting down wood flooring in a few rooms at mi casa.

On 2005-03-16, James "Cubby" Culbertson wrote:

Anyway, considering putting down wood flooring in a few rooms at mi
casa. Substrate is concrete and there is really no motivation to
add a 1 1/2" subfloor as that will cause uneveness to other flooring
already installed.

I have heard of using a 3/4" floating subfloor over concrete by
laminating two layers of 3/8" plywood. Has anyone tried this?

Cheers, Wayne

Home Depot advertises a interlocking sub-floor (particle board) that
interlocks. Haven't tried it simply because I cant deal with the height of
it. Would cause me to much work!... If I was starting from scratch, I might
have!

"Wayne Whitney" wrote in message
...
On 2005-03-16, James "Cubby" Culbertson wrote:

Anyway, considering putting down wood flooring in a few rooms at mi
casa. Substrate is concrete and there is really no motivation to
add a 1 1/2" subfloor as that will cause uneveness to other flooring
already installed.

I have heard of using a 3/4" floating subfloor over concrete by
laminating two layers of 3/8" plywood. Has anyone tried this?

Cheers, Wayne