Explain different types of wood floors to me (hardwood floors, engineered, laminate)

[anifani821]

I am sooooo confused. I have put hardwood floors down in several houses. I am talking - the old-fashioned way. Oak wood.

But I have seen many floors that look terrific and the owners say - well this is engineered flooring. Some say - oh, this is laminate.

Hmmm.

I have gone to many warehouses and flooring shop, looking at different types of hardwood flooring and I am completely confused.

I thought what I wanted would be an engineered flooring - that floats - and snaps together. You don't nail it down. You don't glue it down. The wood is laminated to the core, and so you can typically sand the floors at least once.

But some of the materials I am seeing at stores look like PLASTIC. Yet, they say - well this is an engineered flooring.

Could someone please help me understand this. I have been on websites and I remain confused.

I want to put hardwood flooring in my master b/f and the office suite that adjoins it, and out into the hallway. I could call up the guy who put down my "real" hardwood floors but that took nearly a week, between all the sanding, staining, finishing, etc. I want something that can be put down - end of story. People have told me you can get a crew in and get it put down in one day.

I do NOT want to pay a premium price. That means, I am not going to go to a store for a package deal that costs $8000. What I am seeing is that the pre-engineered stuff is going to cost me MORE than what my flooring guy put down! IS THAT CORRECT??????? I am utterly confused!!!!

[dunroven55]

Originally Posted by anifani821

I am sooooo confused. I have put hardwood floors down in several houses. I am talking - the old-fashioned way. Oak wood.

But I have seen many floors that look terrific and the owners say - well this is engineered flooring. Some say - oh, this is laminate.

Hmmm.

I have gone to many warehouses and flooring shop, looking at different types of hardwood flooring and I am completely confused.

I thought what I wanted would be an engineered flooring - that floats - and snaps together. You don't nail it down. You don't glue it down. The wood is laminated to the core, and so you can typically sand the floors at least once.

But some of the materials I am seeing at stores look like PLASTIC. Yet, they say - well this is an engineered flooring.

Could someone please help me understand this. I have been on websites and I remain confused.

I want to put hardwood flooring in my master b/f and the office suite that adjoins it, and out into the hallway. I could call up the guy who put down my "real" hardwood floors but that took nearly a week, between all the sanding, staining, finishing, etc. I want something that can be put down - end of story. People have told me you can get a crew in and get it put down in one day.

I do NOT want to pay a premium price. That means, I am not going to go to a store for a package deal that costs $8000. What I am seeing is that the pre-engineered stuff is going to cost me MORE than what my flooring guy put down! IS THAT CORRECT??????? I am utterly confused!!!!

We recently had White oak hardwoods laided in our house on concrete slab. They are engineered wood but they are sanded, stained and sealed on the premises. This makes them look more like real hardwoods. We used 3" wood and they look great. Some other woods are softer and will show marks more easily. These can be sanded three or four times

The builder uses hardwoods that are engineered and they look like plastic and are very soft. Can only be sanded once.

You now know all I know about hardwoods, wouldn't want to tell you any more because talking about confused you really would be. If you want more information though I know a very honest guy from Fort Mill who can tell you all you want to know and maybe more. Please pm me if you want his number.

I wish you luck with whatever you choose and hope you will be very happy with the results.

Dunroven

[Cecilia_Rose]

I dont know a lot but I do know I hate laminate. From a cleaners point of vew its a PITA. Basicly its a picture of wood. The guys will be along shortly to give you the proper terms so Ill just tell you what I know from experience.

There are advantages and disadvantages to the different kinds of wood floors. The thick stuff can sanded more times. But when its installed they finish it in place. This stinks up your house and you have to wait for it to dry before you can put your stuff on it. The thinner stuff can be sanded less. Depends on the grade. But it has a factory finish that can be even better than a home finish. AND. You can put your stuff on it right away. And no smell.

Everybody gets hung up on the sanding thing. But seriously how many times do you plan on sanding your floor. If youre housing a pack of Wolverines then get the thick stuff. If your putting it in a bedroom where everybody wears bunny slippers then get the thin stuff.

[anifani821]

Hee Hee Hee.

Cecilia Rose, you crack me up!!!!!! No, I don't want to have to go thru/ the sanding, staining, finishing . . . you are so right - it stinks up stuff. I want it already done b/f they get here. Just want them to measure, cut, click in place and go home, LOL!!!!!

DUNROVEN- you are such a dear!!! Thank you so much - I will PM you!!! I really am tired of the carpet. With our allergies . . . DH says - well we will never get a payback on it if we sell the house someday. OH WELL. You know - if someone wants to lay carpet over it - fine. I will have some rugs, I am sure. Sometimes in life, you just can't worry about getting a "return" on an improvement - if the improvement makes your life happier. Quality of life is everything to me - and DH much prefers hardwoods, too. He is just worried about the $$$$. So we will see . . . Thanks again!!!

[Cecilia_Rose]

JMO but since you think you might not recover the cost and its a bedroom Id go with lower cost/grade. Lets face it the furniture covers a lot of the floor in a bedroom. And you can put some spiffy Orientals etc in the walkways if you need to protect the floor. Just remember to wear your bunny slippers. .

[texdav]

Real wou that are soid and about one inch thick like your talking about are still avialable but expensive. But since it is then sanded and fiinished that is understandablte but it loks much better than prefinish thin wood and will last a lifetime or more. Also they can be refinished many times over. Some like the prefiinised but they really only last so long anyway.Many woods now are very easy to dent so ma-ple or oak are still good.No problem with smeel now with the caytalized watre based finishes.

[Stephan_K]

Yes it is a bit confusing... Maybe I can help some. Most solid hard wood flooring you can get pre finished today. It is exactly the same flooring that you had put in that took a week to lay, sand and finish. Only difference with pre finished, the sanding, staining and finishing is already done. Once nailed down that is it...it's done and ready to walk on. Most pre finished hardwood flooring has a small beveled edge or micro bevel. That way any variances in the surface from board to board are not noticed. And they come in thinner stock too, 3/8" 1/2". I'm old school and prefer 3/4" . And the thinner stuff usually isn't any cheaper either... go figure... You can purchase many flavors of 3/4" pre finished for $2 - $4 a sq ft. That's cheaper than good carpet !!!

Engineered flooring is usually a laminated (layers of wood) product but precision engineered to not have a micro bevel but have a surface that is perfectly even from board to board. It looks like a solid raw install that was sanded and finished. No variations in surface from board to board and no micro bevel.

And yes some engineered and pre finished flooring can have that "plastic" look due to the kind of finishes that are used on them. Some are definitely pretty cheesy looking ! There are many that are very natural looking too. No cheese ...

Then there is the laminate flooring. Usually an engineered type floor with a laminate surface (non wood) that looks like wood or something else. These are usually floating type floors that "snap" together and do not get fastened down. They just sit there ! These can be very cheap to very expensive. For the expensive ones... might as well go with real hard wood, it's cheaper !

Check out Lumber Liquidators site. They have a flooring 101 page with all sorts of good info. And they have just about every kind of wood flooring you could want. As far as I am concerned, I haven't seen anyone that can beat their prices either.

Hope this helps some...

[harborlady]

Originally Posted by anifani821

Hee Hee Hee.
DUNROVEN- you are such a dear!!! Thank you so much - I will PM you!!! I really am tired of the carpet. With our allergies . . . DH says - well we will never get a payback on it if we sell the house someday. OH WELL. You know - if someone wants to lay carpet over it - fine. I will have some rugs, I am sure. Sometimes in life, you just can't worry about getting a "return" on an improvement - if the improvement makes your life happier. Quality of life is everything to me - and DH much prefers hardwoods, too. He is just worried about the $$$$. So we will see . . . Thanks again!!!

Ani I think it would pay for you to gently remove that carpet, roll it up, store it in the rafter space of the garage or attic for resale time if it means that much. You don't have to suffer with it, but you also don't have to lose money on your resale if this wall to wall is decent.

DIY versions of hardwoods- try lumber liquidators website. Might want to inquire about low voc/fume, reduced toxics coatings if they're available. The same techniques mentioned above for engineered wood prep work- you could do most of the stinky work outdoors to keep it out of the house prior to installation. Hire out the install if it's too much labor, materials prepped and ready to go on site are a plus for them. Final coat will be the worst inconvenience to deal with in the end.

Going through life with the wrong size shoes is just silly, isn't it? Hope you choose what's best fitting.

[Ms. 01 Snake]

There are several products on the market these days and I will be happy to break then down for you:

1) an engineered wood floor- are generally 2, 3 or 5 thin sheets of wood that are laminated together to form one plank. Wood plies are stacked on top of each in opposite directions. This makes the floor more stable and far less effected by moisture than a solid wood floor. The top (finish) layer can be almost any type of wood.

2) a laminate floor is not wood, it is made of a backing (usually melamine) a plastic layer, core (high density fiber board), melamine a plastic type resin used throughout, print film (picture) is the finish layer and wearlayer which is a clear melamine with aluminum oxide particles.

3) Pre-finished wood floors- wood floors that come out of the factory already finished (no sanding and staining once installed)

4) unfinished hard wood- these have to be sanded and finished once installed.

I hope this helps. It just depends on what your needs are.

[anifani821]

You guys are just great. All the ideas, suggestions and info have been VERY helpful.

So this is what I understand so far.

1. Whenever I have had floors put down in the past, I have had unfinished hardwoods put down - sanded, stained and finished once in place. That has been the most economical thing for me to do, as I always find someone who is reasonably priced and the guy who did my floors downstairs 2 years ago was nearly half what other estimates were - and the floors look fabulous! However, it brought our lives to a halt as we had to wait for days for things to dry and there were several steps to the finish (lacquer, varnish, whatever). We ASKED for poly (water-based) but what we GOT was the highly toxic, stinky, nasty mess and I do NOT want to go through that again. If I could find someone who would stick to our specs and put down waterbased poly that does not STINK as badly and does not take 12 hours to dry in between sandings . . . then I would just do the hardwood unfinished route again (b/c of cost).

2. I now understand that laminate is definitely NOT what I want.

3. Pre-finished sounds like something I could live with. However, seems this is much more expensive when I price things out.

I have spent hours on Lumber Liquidators over a several year period (as we had thought about buying from them instead of putting down the unfinished hardwoods two years ago). But I am terribly confused as it appears even their stuff on sale (pre-finished hardwoods) is much more expensive than having someone to do the unfinished flooring (that I have done in the past).

I guess one pays a premium price to get the pre-finished wood? I mean, it does not interrupt your life the way it does to have the unfinished stuff laid . . .