Laminate vs. Engineered Wood Flooring (big house, buy, living)

[JH6]

Someone replaced the carpeting in my house with cheap laminate and 5 years in it looks terrible.

Chipping all over the place and looks cheap.

I will be ripping it up, and am considering having the subfloor polished and acid stained.

[AustinDude360]

Originally Posted by riaelise

Go with what is cost efficient for you, honestly. I had two different colors of laminate flooring -- our first floor was dark walnut and the second story was berbau (a red-brown looking wood). No problem at all come sale time.

The stairs break things up, so it's almost like having two houses stacked on top of each other visually. It is a turnoff to have mismatched next to each other. Chances are you have carpet on the stairs, so that will also show division between the two floor colors. If you want to rip the beat up engineered because it looks bad and beyond restoration, then feel free to replace with whatever you want. But don't do it just based on having two different colors.

BTW darker wood is en vogue, with the caveat being that it does show wear more often than not.

What about having laminate upstairs and engineered hardwood downstairs? You are right that carpet stairs separate out the levels and we plan on keeping it carpet because of small children. I'm a little concerned about the price of the engineered hardwood downstairs as I think it's pretty expensive. Brand is Mannington 3" ClubHouse American Classics. There is about 700 sq feet already installed downstairs.

Really disappointed in the warranty on it...only 15 yrs . Likely explains why it's beat up. Most of the laminate I'm looking at is 30+ yr warranty or "Lifetime" AC4 grade 12MM+.

[riaelise]

Originally Posted by AustinDude360

What about having laminate upstairs and engineered hardwood downstairs? You are right that carpet stairs separate out the levels and we plan on keeping it carpet because of small children. I'm a little concerned about the price of the engineered hardwood downstairs as I think it's pretty expensive. Brand is Mannington 3" ClubHouse American Classics. There is about 700 sq feet already installed downstairs.

Really disappointed in the warranty on it...only 15 yrs . Likely explains why it's beat up. Most of the laminate I'm looking at is 30+ yr warranty or "Lifetime" AC4 grade 12MM+.

It should be fine, since the mismatch isn't on the same floor, but on two different floors.

AC4 is a good wear rating, since AC 3 is the standard. Hardwood (personal experience here with our current house) can easily scratch. The biggest pro is that it can be refinished, but refinishing isn't cheap either! I take it that the engineered floor looks really bad, right?

[AustinDude360]

Originally Posted by riaelise

It should be fine, since the mismatch isn't on the same floor, but on two different floors.

AC4 is a good wear rating, since AC 3 is the standard. Hardwood (personal experience here with our current house) can easily scratch. The biggest pro is that it can be refinished, but refinishing isn't cheap either! I take it that the engineered floor looks really bad, right?

Yes - I got quoted $1500 to refinish it. The engineer floor has dents and places where the finish have stripped off. The floor is less than 5 years old from what the owners told us so frankly I'm quite surprised it's like that and have concerned how it will look in 5 more years. You can still sell the home in it's condition, but again I am concerned how it will last into the future. I'm pretty certain this hardwood would be considered "builder" grade. I guess I could have the damaged floor panels replaced since they left us half a box worth of extra flooring. There is enough in the box to repair the damaged sections of the floor.

[Aquitaine]

Seems like the lesson here is that both types of flooring come in poor quality and better quality, which makes sense - there's a dozen ways to engineer a cat....

[10scoachrick]

About time for me to throw in the recommendation for cork flooring...sort of a 'hybrid' or 'compromise' material...quiet, nice thermal break and sound attenuator. Relatively inexpensive, stable...removable down the road(I often thought I would take the 'old' cork out of the master at the big house and re-use it in the garage work area...IF we ever got tired of it). Put it in DW's office and in the living room of the townhouse. Only a single dog ~ 21# on the big house floor...no damage in 5 years. Smaller dog at the townhouse, don't anticipate any damage here, either.

[centralaustinite]

Originally Posted by 10scoachrick

About time for me to throw in the recommendation for cork flooring...sort of a 'hybrid' or 'compromise' material...quiet, nice thermal break and sound attenuator. Relatively inexpensive, stable...removable down the road(I often thought I would take the 'old' cork out of the master at the big house and re-use it in the garage work area...IF we ever got tired of it). Put it in DW's office and in the living room of the townhouse. Only a single dog ~ 21# on the big house floor...no damage in 5 years. Smaller dog at the townhouse, don't anticipate any damage here, either.

Did you do it yourself? I want to put cork in the master, we have solid wood flooring in the main living areas but pre-finished. The company that made it went bankrupted before our house was even finished! Not a good sign. The fancy factory finish was not at all durable and after 10 years, we need to refinish it.

I'd love to pay someone to install cork, any recommendations?

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by centralaustinite

Did you do it yourself? I want to put cork in the master, we have solid wood flooring in the main living areas but pre-finished. The company that made it went bankrupted before our house was even finished! Not a good sign. The fancy factory finish was not at all durable and after 10 years, we need to refinish it.

I'd love to pay someone to install cork, any recommendations?

I've now installed four rooms of cork flooring, including a large master and smaller living room. Tedious, but not difficult, especially if you are covering the transition areas with 'something'. Two people can make quick work of it, a luxury I haven't enjoyed...one person is not as much fun.

I'd hesitate to yank out solid wood! A decent refinisher should be able to renew the finish with an even more durable product. Heck, a handy homeowner with a rented floor sander should be able to do a passable job; but a pro with a dust-eating sander can make relatively quick work of it. Sand and stain one day, top coat the next and Bob's your uncle!

[riaelise]

Originally Posted by AustinDude360

Yes - I got quoted $1500 to refinish it. The engineer floor has dents and places where the finish have stripped off. The floor is less than 5 years old from what the owners told us so frankly I'm quite surprised it's like that and have concerned how it will look in 5 more years. You can still sell the home in it's condition, but again I am concerned how it will last into the future. I'm pretty certain this hardwood would be considered "builder" grade. I guess I could have the damaged floor panels replaced since they left us half a box worth of extra flooring. There is enough in the box to repair the damaged sections of the floor.

My opinion is to do whatever works within your budget. If the floor is still in decent condition, excepting those planks, then replace. Though I'm not sure how it works with engineered flooring. Is it the floating variety like laminate or the nail/glue down? I know with laminate, if you have damaged planks along the edges they can be switched out but elsewhere and you'll have to take up the floor. However, from watching installers, it isn't that hard. They make it seem like a breeze. If the cost to rip it up exceeds 1500 then I'd probably just refinish. There is a markup to have existing flooring removed especially when it is not carpet. It's hard to say how long the existing floor will last, that depends on how much abuse they'll take from hereon. Mannington is a trusted name in flooring, but I do think that it is not one of their better product lines and doesn't wear that well. You may not have to rip up the floor unless you truly are sick of it, but you'll have to treat it better than the previous owners. Me personally, I request that people remove their heeled shoes or shoes in general. I use felt pads on the bottom of furniture. Can't do anything about dog claws though..lol.

Don't worry about having laminate on one floor and the engineered on another floor.

[centralaustinite]

Originally Posted by 10scoachrick

I've now installed four rooms of cork flooring, including a large master and smaller living room. Tedious, but not difficult, especially if you are covering the transition areas with 'something'. Two people can make quick work of it, a luxury I haven't enjoyed...one person is not as much fun.

I'd hesitate to yank out solid wood! A decent refinisher should be able to renew the finish with an even more durable product. Heck, a handy homeowner with a rented floor sander should be able to do a passable job; but a pro with a dust-eating sander can make relatively quick work of it. Sand and stain one day, top coat the next and Bob's your uncle!

Oh, don't worry! We are pulling out any solid wood! The cork would go in the master which is carpet now and potentially in one or more upstairs bedrooms, also currently carpeted. What did you use for transition, our floors were constructed with transition pieces between the wood and tile but nothing between wood and carpet.

Can I ask, where did you buy your cork flooring?