[NA] engineered wood flooring.

simtech

simtech

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Simtech
We are building a new house and need to pick flooring. Cant use solid hardwood cause we are on a slab. Our current house has engineered hardwood in it and I hate it, the veneer pulled off in spots and just overall doesn't look good. But I thought it was because the previous homeowner did not do a good install on it and in one area it took on some water damage.

So with that today we trek off to the floor place where the builder said to go. We feel we will have to go engineered and the sales peeps addressed our concerns and said this stuff is great. So we looked heavily at the Shaw epic line. Get home and find reviews and they appear horrid! But then again so do most reviews about engineered flooring. I look at it like this...consumers will trash publicly in a heart but not praise in the open. But I honestly could not find anything good about it.

So with that said, has anybody used a engineered hardwood that had good results in the long term? and if so what brand? The ones im looking at people were saying in a matter of days it was buckling and chipping the veneer off. This stuff is too expensive for that!
 
Check out the ceramic tile floors, they have some that approximate wood and look really good. It would be more durable and won't delam.
 
Ive looked at those and given some thought. I was looking at stained concrete but just the cold and hardness of them im scared about and feel the tile might be the same. Not sure yet though.
 
Stained concrete that I have seen in commercial applications made me glad that I selected tile instead for the new airport terminal building. For tile on a slab though, make sure that the stress cuts are not too far apart and that you lay and cut the tile to have grout seams over the stress cuts. Cracks in the concrete under tile will reflect right through the tile. And - I'll qualify my remarks by saying that I am expert in nothing. I know less and less about more and more until I am approaching the point of knowing nothing about everything.
 
I work for Shaw, but in one of our commercial divisions, so I'm not terribly familiar with our engineered/hardwood products which are targeted at the residential market. That said, I was very disappointed in how "our" engineered hardwoods looked in my in-law's house. Lots of problems on the stairs with the finish layer popping off in dime sized places.

If I was you, I'd look at one of the Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP) or Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT) products. The LVP goes down in planks just like hardwoods and (IMO) has the look and feel of hardwood. In addition, those products are very tough and don't suffer from moisture problems like natural products. And of course, you should buy Shaw products, because those other guys suck. ;-)

Here's a link to someone's web page showing a number of our LVP products:

http://www.wayfair.com/Shaw-Floors-...115858745340&gclid=CJvbibKwuM4CFUslgQod7HcKfA

As an aside, I was talking with one of our commercial salesmen about this family of products a day or two ago and asked him "What's the useful life?" His answer was "I don't know. The installations I see are all holding up incredibly well."
 
I have Bruce engineered or laminate wood floors from Home Depot. It's 3/8" laminated wood (plywood) with oak veneer and is tongue and grove. Comes pre stained and sealed with some freakin' tough clear coat. We love it! Had it for nearly a decade and there's not a scuff on it even though we have wooden chairs sitting directly on the wood floor, 3 rowdy boys, and a dog. It's cheaper than anything I've seen from Shaw or other big brands, and it's every bit as good in my opinion. One thing I love about it is that it feels and sounds like pure hardwood. No clickety clack like most floating floors. Ours is glued down. Love it!

Our home, built in 1959, has 3/4 solid oak floors throughout. At some point in the home's history, a floors in couple of the rooms sustained some water damage. We installed the Bruce directly on top of the old solid oak, and retained the original oak in other rooms. In my experience, having both types, the finish on the Bruce floors is harder to damage. It resists abrasion very well, doesn't dent as easily as the solid oak, and since it's plywood, it doesn't warp as easily. I don't think warpage would be an issue with either type installed on a slab, but ours is a subfloor home, and is more exposed to temperature variances, particularly from the bottom side. Of course, as a plywood with veneer, it can't be expected to last forever like a solid wood, but I suspect it could be refinished once or twice, provided the oak veneer isn't damaged all the way through. Based on what I've seen over the last 10 years, I can't see this stuff wearing out for a long time. That said, if laid in a kitchen or some place where it will get wet, I doubt it would fair al well, although it seems to have held up flawlessly in our entryways. The entryways do get wet from time to time, and I've not seen any delamination of the plies or veneer, and there is absolutely zero wear of any kind.
 
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We've done a good amount of engineered hardwood and been happy with the results. However, it's not all created equal. Some doesn't hold up very well, so try to get one that's particularly hard and will stand up to the abuse.

In our house in PA, we put in some stuff that was scratched basically on day 1. Very weak, and its hardness rating (in the store) was 3/5. The stuff we put in that was 5/5 was very obviously harder, virtually indestructible.
 
I had the laminate stuff. It looked awful, might as well have been linoleum. The engineered wood stuff I've seen all has a slight beveled edge that just does not look anywhere near as good a a quality hardwood floor. And, a quality hardwood floor can last the life of the home with a little care. At worst, you sand it and refinish. With the other stuff, you pull it up and start over.
 
There are some higher quality hardwood laminate plywood (engineered hardwood) that can even be refinished a few times, do your homework.
I did a few rooms about 25 years ago, they are still going strong. My daughter lives in that house now.
 
I have engineered floors over my slabs. Just buy something better than your Home Center Bruce crap and you'll be OK. I also have used Pirelli rubber floors on slabs. Very durable.
 
Just put in a subfloor over the concrete slab and use real hardwood. It's done on the majority of homes these days, so it's not new technology.


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We put Evoke engineering flooring two months ago. I believe it's made in Canada. We are loving it. We have had numerous guests in our house that swear it's real wood. It's nice to walk on, easy to clean, & looks spectacular. Our's is called "Sven" & looks like wide maple planking. In the nine years my wife & I have been together we've owned four homes & have remodeled three of them. We've been around the block a bit when it come to flooring.
 
SoonerAviator said:
Just put in a subfloor over the concrete slab and use real hardwood. It's done on the majority of homes these days, so it's not new technology.


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Yeah we can have that done but it is VERY costly. Though I'm sure it might be worth it but I've read even that poses problems.

Thanks everyone keep your experiences coming!
 
flyingron said:
I have engineered floors over my slabs. Just buy something better than your Home Center Bruce crap and you'll be OK. I also have used Pirelli rubber floors on slabs. Very durable.
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You smokin' crack, Ron? My Bruce floors are freakin' tough. Not a scratch in a decade, and they have been thoroughly tested in that time. Not even the slightest hint of scuffage or wear in the high traffic areas.
 
I had that question for my flooring guy. Wanted to put a dancefloor in the rec-room. They have a subfloor product that allows you to put conventional hardwood onto slab.

Nothing beats real hardwood for longevity. Just visited my parents house. Hardwood laid directly on poured concrete in 1977. Hydronic floor heating underneath. Refinished twice, looks new.
 
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I had Bruce engineered ~1/4" glued onto living/dining room and bedroom slab and it has been 'ok' for 18 years. This variety is not very scratch resistant but it could be one of their cheaper styles. From early on, I was drilling 1/16" holes into the seams, syringing in glue, applying weights. We are in a 12"/year rain area (pretty dry) and the slab has a barrier, but the glue was not 100%.

It has suffered most at outside doorways, by the sink, but the fridge, under windows. (discoloration, delamination, lifting) I don't blame the product for that. It's wood, exposed to water.
If there is any risk of moisture ie kitchens, doorways, I would put in ceramic tile in those rooms or areas.

Still have not seen a pseudo-wood product that is convincingly wood-like but I understand it is a lot closer now.
 
It comes in various quality levels. I can tell you the loss-leader home center cheapest Bruce didn't hold up (yes it delaminated as the original poster says). I'm sure Bruce has some better products out there. As I said, I've got a house full of engineered floors both wood and cork. We went that way because we have radiant floor heat in the slab and we were told that the engineered would fare better in that environment.

By the way, if you do put down an engineered floor, I'm a big fan of my Bostich FloorRunner stapler rather than the noxious goo that Bruce sells to glue it down. Either that or float it.
 
We have the tile that looks like wood in our house. We're happy with it.
 
We put down engineered hardwood floors six years ago. We have big dogs which took a toll on the construction grade stuff which was there before. Since replacement, we have had zero issues with it, including the landing at the bottom of the stairs where the dogs deal out the heaviest punishment. We bought it at a professional contractor supply house. Don't get something from Home Depot or Lowes. We are currently in the middle of remodeling another part of the house and using an engineered hardwood there as well. Again, a product we are buying through a commercial flooring company through our floor vendor. It cost a bit more than hardware store stuff, but it is worth it in durability. Be sure to get the tongue and groove glue down stuff and not the snap/lock floating floor.

I had Pergo laminate in my house in San Antonio. We had a window casing leak and water got under it which ruined it because the core is particle board. We replaced it with Pergo Select which has a wood core, but still were less than happy with it though, it wasn't quite as susceptible to water damage.
 
N3368K said:
We put down engineered hardwood floors six years ago. We have big dogs which took a toll on the construction grade stuff which was there before. Since replacement, we have had zero issues with it, including the landing at the bottom of the stairs where the dogs deal out the heaviest punishment. We bought it at a professional contractor supply house. Don't get something from Home Depot or Lowes. We are currently in the middle of remodeling another part of the house and using an engineered hardwood there as well. Again, a product we are buying through a commercial flooring company through our floor vendor. It cost a bit more than hardware store stuff, but it is worth it in durability. Be sure to get the tongue and groove glue down stuff and not the snap/lock floating floor.

I had Pergo laminate in my house in San Antonio. We had a window casing leak and water got under it which ruined it because the core is particle board. We replaced it with Pergo Select which has a wood core, but still were less than happy with it though, it wasn't quite as susceptible to water damage.
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Yep our builder sent us to a place that does nothing but flooring with a nice big show room. We looked at a ton of flooring! So much more info and help is given than at lowes. What floor did you end up going with?

The shaw epic line I've read where people are saying after 2 days they are having problems...I can chalk that up to poor install either DIY or jack leg installers using the wrong glue. I'm not completely settled on what we want but was taken back when I read the reviews. But we really liked that floor so we shall see. In my current house we have bruce from lowes. it is not fairing well BUT the previous homeowner did the install and I was not impressed with it. Its not horrid just not like I would have done.
 
Unfortunately, I don't recall the brand name. I'll try to remember and look tonight. The wood is "acclimating" waiting for install on Monday.
 
Of course, it depends how it's cared for. We had a cleaning lady start sloping a mop with soapy water on our hardwoods... Lucky we were paying attention, I about blew a gasket and she wasn't invited back.
 
CoreTec, amazing product
 
whoa..I just learned something...you can highlight text and it will give you the quote reply button under the text...I like!
 
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I vote solid old classic oak flooring. Its not all that expensive. Beautiful and lasts forever.
 
Would love solid oak however the cost to install it and put down tons of treated plywood makes it not very friendly. Would love love love heart of pine flooring from an old house!!!
 
If anyone goes with solid oak, get a distressed finish - I mistakenly used beautiful glossy oak and now I worry about every scuff of the shoe, every dragged suitcase, can't let a dog in there. Regrets.
 
Yup I already know regardless of how I go I do not want glossy and I want hand scrapped. Hides a lot that way. What we are looking at is hickory and on the janka scale it is harder than the red oak.
 
Do you have radiant heat in the slab? Have done many homes both with and without, a good quality engineered floor can be job site finished numerous times, simply glue it down. If the slab is on grade, you need to have placed a vapor barrier under the slab.
 
What we are about to install is "Mullican" brand. Both it and the previously installed is hand scrapped with satin finish rather than gloss.
 
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