Laminate vs. Engineered Wood Flooring (Avery: hardwood floor, sales, real estate)

[AustinDude360]

Hello,

Can anyone tell me the big differences between the two? I'm thinking about an upgrade and looking at both. I live in CP and found out that a friend of mine's Avery Ranch home has all laminate floored...I was completely surprised . Totally has me thinking about it since it's a big cost difference and Avery Ranch is considered a nicer area where I currently live in CP.

We actually have engineered hardwood in the living room and kitchen around in our home. I am not too much of a fan of it...it has a lot of scratches already, our kids beat it up pretty bad, and I heard you can't refinish/re-paint them as well as true hardwood.

[Aquitaine]

"True hardwood" in central Texas is a bad idea. The temperature extremes we get will warp the heck out of it. Two builders I've spoken with won't even do it anymore.

My brother-in-law used laminate for his place and it looks great for the value. It's not as appealing as the engineered stuff (which is much closer to 'true' hardwood) and we are using engineered on our place, but like any product, there is a range of quality and durability depending on which you select. Not all engineering is created equal.

There are threads about this in the real estate section and some folks will never like laminate. For my money, I think that's a throwback to when it really looked like an inferior product. I think it is the best bang for your buck, but if you have the money, the engineered stuff can be very good quality and look more appealing.

[HappyTexan]

I had laminate in my home. I went with the higher priced Pergo. I was into year 6 of it when I moved.
Kids, dogs, chickens (yes chickens), rabbits, roller skates, a bike, dragging chairs, infinite dropped items and it never cracked or chipped. It really took a beating and still looked great.

Just don't go for the cheap stuff. Spend the money to get the high quality stuff.
I had a wood version throughout the house with a tile version in the kitchen/dining area.

Stood up great to our Texas climate.

[riaelise]

Good, higher end laminate is of comparable quality. The newer, wide-plank versions with beveled edges mimic wood very well. As for resale value? My last home had the wide plank beveled edge laminate and it definitely helped sell the house (combined with the overall aesthetic of course). The hardwood floors in my current home (not my choice btw) have more scratches than I ever had with the laminate

[AustinDude360]

I'm looking at 15MM AC4 grade laminate from build direct...definitely not the low grade laminate . I think our engineered hardwood that came with the home has a tiny wear layer probably around 2mm I think. Stuff is pricing out slightly over $2 a square ft which seems pretty cheap...just have to find fair priced labor.

I agree riaelise...my engineered hardwood is all scratched up right now from the former owners :/

[verybadgnome]

A quality engineered wood should have a top layer of sufficient thickness to be refinished at least a couple times. If you don't have to do that but every 20 years then you could hypothetically get 60+ years out of them. I had engineered maple in my old house and it was beautiful and durable. Then you have options like cork (technically a tree bark) which is gorgeous and easy on your feet. My mom had water damage to her laminate and the top layer started to peel off. Like most things in the home it is better to spend a little more at the outset and buy quality and then not have to worry as much down the line.

[riaelise]

A good laminate floor can last a long time as well. Water and any type of wood (including the wood fiber used in laminate) don't mix. The only advantage is that wood can be refinished vs. having to re-lay the floor.

OP, if you decide to do laminate, I'd go with 12 mm vs. thinner floors.

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by riaelise

Good, higher end laminate is of comparable quality. The newer, wide-plank versions with beveled edges mimic wood very well. As for resale value? My last home had the wide plank beveled edge laminate and it definitely helped sell the house (combined with the overall aesthetic of course). The hardwood floors in my current home (not my choice btw) have more scratches than I ever had with the laminate

Agreed. The best quality laminate is better than the cheapest wood. There is crossover now. I personally prefer engineered hardwood but I regularly have laminate installed in rental and sales homes. Totally changes the look for the better compared to carpet.

Steve

[CarnivalGal]

I personally don't like laminate. When we were looking at houses, it was a definite turn-off, especially in the area and price range we were looking at. To me laminate is to wood as linoleum is to tile. It may be high quality, but still not the same as the true stuff.

We put engineered hardwood in most of our lower level nearly 10 years ago. It still looks pretty good, and we have 2 kids and an 80 pound dog. It can also be refinished twice throughout it's lifetime and is still under warranty.

[AustinDude360]

Can you refinish an engineered wood hardwood floor in a different color? We have a ugly dark brown color and thought about refinishing light with a high gloss finish if it was possible. It's only has a 2MM wear layer. It's beat up pretty good so I as tempted to replace it with at least 12MM 4AC laminate if I decided to gut the whole setup.

If we had engineered hardwood downstairs but laminate upstairs...would that be considered odd? The colors would obviously be different (second story is definitely going to be light floors).

We had something similar in our last home with our tile setup (bathroom tile was different color than kitchen tile), but that did not seem to bother potential buyers.