Laminate vs. Engineered Wood flooring...help me decide

[jerseygirl07067]

I live in FL and would be installing this over a concrete slab (using a moisture barrier of course). DH and I are undecided which way to go on the floors.

I've always admired the wood floors for their beauty and from what I have researched, engineered wood would be a great option to install over a concrete slab. It looks nice, and in my opinion, would improve the appeal factor, for when we eventually sell our home down the road (that road could be 5 yrs from now or 15, depending on if we upsize at some point.) However, I am concerned about scratching as my 8, 6, and 2 y/o are quite hard on things. I don't want to worry about my floor every time they pull the chair out to sit at the table, or drag something across the floor. However I do have friends who have wood floors with kids and pets, and it does look pretty good. But they do concede that they often have to tell their kids to be careful on it.

The laminate seems so much more practical. DH and I have had fun "scratching" the different wood and laminate samples and the laminate seems almost impossible to scratch. I found one at Home Depot that was really pretty, with some texture,and randomized pieces that did look authentic. But I have always hated that plastic sound of walking on laminate, and I am concerned that it would not add much to value of our house. Yet, the high end laminate costs as much as some of the engineered hardwoods I like.

If we could install the laminate and not have it sound hollow and plastic-y I might consider it, but I am still torn between doing that and the wood.

Please help me decide! I did research some old posts on this, and laminate was a more popular choice than I expected. If I could install it and have it sound more like wood, I might consider it. Otherwise, I might go with the wood. Still torn, lol.

[lcarlson90]

We installed engineered hardwood a year and half ago and I love it. My boys are pretty rough on stuff and it has held up really well. There are a couple of scratches but it doesn't look bad. We have larger wood planks that are a distressed espresso color.

[rin]

When we put in new flooring in our house, we ruled out laminate because we were concerned about formaldehyde emissions from the laminate flooring. I would be concerned about that in the long run.

If the price difference isn't prohibitive, I would totally go for the engineered wood. Laminate totally can get scratched up (my parents put some in their house and after about 5 years it was looking pretty worn in the high-traffic areas), although this definitely might vary by brand.

[Mermanaid]

We have engineered wood in our house (over concrete slab) and I love it. It does have scratches and several places where chair legs have rubbed it. That is my fault though because I failed to keep leg protectors on the furniture. However, it doesn't bother me because we got a distressed wood precisely for this reason. You can hardly see any scratches, etc. in it because it is supposed to look that way.

We had laminate in our first house. And while it was impossible to scratch I hated the sound of walking on it. It sounded tinny (is that a word?!) -- like it was not solid.

[jd11365]

Check out vinyl flooring. (Not linoleum, vinyl)
Looks so real, and is so as durable as they come. When you see wood floors in department stores, it's not wood, it's vinyl that looks like wood. I was uber impressed.
In the end, we went with wide planked laminate because of logistics of with our current tile. I really wanted the vinyl though. Go to a flooring place, not Home Depot. They will help you so much and give you a much better deal. I have 2 great ones I worked with on my side of town, they might go to yours.

[kara97210]

We had laminate in our first house. And while it was impossible to scratch I hated the sound of walking on it. It sounded tinny (is that a word?!) -- like it was not solid.

That's what I don't like about some laminates - the sound when you walk accross them is really echo-y. We are planning on eventually putting in engineered wood in our basement.

[amandabea]

I think the engineered wood wins out for several reasons - 1) looks, 2) sound (not echoey), 3) resale value, and 4) ability to refinish. I know the laminate would likely wear better for the long haul, but i would not choose it...nor would I consider a house that had it throughout. In the kitchen or basement maybe.

[dogmom]

Check out vinyl flooring. (Not linoleum, vinyl)
Looks so real, and is so as durable as they come. When you see wood floors in department stores, it's not wood, it's vinyl that looks like wood. I was uber impressed.
In the end, we went with wide planked laminate because of logistics of with our current tile. I really wanted the vinyl though. Go to a flooring place, not Home Depot. They will help you so much and give you a much better deal. I have 2 great ones I worked with on my side of town, they might go to yours.

Yes, I've seen it in several peoples houses, it looks great. My father put it down himself in his place, very easy he said. I am planning to do it for my front hall and my husbands office when we get the money.

[lhafer]

I live in FL and would be installing this over a concrete slab (using a moisture barrier of course). DH and I are undecided which way to go on the floors.

I've always admired the wood floors for their beauty and from what I have researched, engineered wood would be a great option to install over a concrete slab. It looks nice, and in my opinion, would improve the appeal factor, for when we eventually sell our home down the road (that road could be 5 yrs from now or 15, depending on if we upsize at some point.) However, I am concerned about scratching as my 8, 6, and 2 y/o are quite hard on things. I don't want to worry about my floor every time they pull the chair out to sit at the table, or drag something across the floor. However I do have friends who have wood floors with kids and pets, and it does look pretty good. But they do concede that they often have to tell their kids to be careful on it.

The laminate seems so much more practical. DH and I have had fun "scratching" the different wood and laminate samples and the laminate seems almost impossible to scratch. I found one at Home Depot that was really pretty, with some texture,and randomized pieces that did look authentic. But I have always hated that plastic sound of walking on laminate, and I am concerned that it would not add much to value of our house. Yet, the high end laminate costs as much as some of the engineered hardwoods I like.

If we could install the laminate and not have it sound hollow and plastic-y I might consider it, but I am still torn between doing that and the wood.

Please help me decide! I did research some old posts on this, and laminate was a more popular choice than I expected. If I could install it and have it sound more like wood, I might consider it. Otherwise, I might go with the wood. Still torn, lol.

There's hardwood floors, engineered hard wood floors and laminate floors. Laminate is NOT the same thing engineered hard wood flooring. Laminate tends to be the cheapest of the 3 options. It sounds "hollower" when you walk on it.

In a FL climate - because of the humidity, engineered wood is usually recommended. It looks exactly like "real" hardwood floors. We live in a very humid climate as well and have engineered wood flooring in our dining room and study in our current house. We keep pads on the table legs and chairs and it prevents any scratching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxdZeYeIkhs

http://www.contempofloorcoverings.com/blog/engineered-vs-solid-hardwood-flooring.html

In my other house, I put down vinyl wood plank flooring in my dining room and it became the playroom. It looked AWESOME. Very durable, no worries about water, scratches, etc. And it was super easy to install ourself. There are pictures of it if you search this board with my name.

[BDKmom]

We have had engineered hardwood for about 4 years and it has held up pretty well. I find the finish we have usually only dings if we drop something on it. Holds up pretty well as far as scratches. We do keep pads on our kitchen chairs.

Of course, like anything, the durability of the finish can vary with the quality of the product, so just check out a lot of different options. I agree with PP who suggested a flooring store as opposed to big box store. Big box stores have very limited options, so you may not find something that meets all your criteria. Also, if you do go with engineered hardwood, check the thickness of the actual wood part. This will limit how many times it can be sanded down and refinished. When we first moved in to our house, the product that was there was builder grade and the thickness of the wood was not sufficient to allow us to refinish it.

[boolady]

We put higher end laminate in our large kitchen/dining area at our previous home and it held up great. It did not have that echoey sound (lots of people commented that they were surprised it didn't when they walked on it) because we went with an upgraded, thicker underlay pad that was also supposed to muffle sound.

[BDKmom]

...because we went with an upgraded, thicker underlay pad that was also supposed to muffle sound.

I do think that this is a big factor with laminate floors...what you are putting it on top of (pre-existing flooring) and what you use as underlay.

[jerseygirl07067]

Thanks everyone. I like the idea of going with something distressed or handrubbed to camouflage any marks or scratches. That way they don't stand out as much.

Jamie, which flooring stores did you go to in your area. I've been to Floor and Decor and Lumber Liquidators. I also checked out HD and Lowes just for comparison. I have a friend who got her engineered wood from and installed by Creative Floors. I may check them out next. They do have the vinyl planks too I believe.

I've also seen tile that when installed looks like wood planks, I'm intrigued by that too.

[jd11365]

Thanks everyone. I like the idea of going with something distressed or handrubbed to camouflage any marks or scratches. That way they don't stand out as much.

Jamie, which flooring stores did you go to in your area. I've been to Floor and Decor and Lumber Liquidators. I also checked out HD and Lowes just for comparison. I have a friend who got her engineered wood from and installed by Creative Floors. I may check them out next. They do have the vinyl planks too I believe.

I've also seen tile that when installed looks like wood planks, I'm intrigued by that too.

Sending you a PM...

[zukeypur]

We got our engineered hand scraped floors from Empire Today. They were a bit pricey, but they moved furniture, removed baseboards, installed, and put everything back the way they found it in one day (about 1000 sq ft)