Hardwood flooring vs Engineered flooring

[mojoputter]

We are looking to have our kitchen floor updated, not sure if we want hardwood or engineered like Pergo flooring. I'm sure there's enough experience out there that can give me advice on whats good and bad about both types.

[PurpleFloyd]

Kinda like wood siding vs Masonite siding. Personally I am a fan of wood and there is a track record of wood floors lasting hundreds of years. They can be sanded and repaired and they are nailed down.

Pergo is engineered with either a laminate or solid wood face. Lots of people like and are happy with floating floors but I am not one of them plus I don't like all the extra base shoe needed to accommodate the expansion cycles.

I am biased and many people like them so take it with a grain of salt.

[delcecchi]

How do they both stand up to water that doesn't get mopped up right away, like a leak or something?

[Nhamm]

Solid wood, engineered, and Pergo(laminates) are all 3 separate floors, each with unique characteristics and pro/cons.

Solid wood was described well previously, stands the test of time, can be patched, sanded, refinished lasting well over a century.

Engineered floors are typically a wood veneer glued onto a plywood base. Withstands humidity much better and is suited well for higher humidity environments. Not all engineers are created equal, but some are of higher quality with a decent wear layer of wood that can be refinished 2-3x, tops. Most unfortunately cannot. Mixed price bag on these floors.

Laminates are well, laminates. Painted pictures on top of a fiber board essentially. Although over the years the pictures have become quite impressive. Not all laminates are junk and some are quite good at standing up to water. Its all in the tongue and groove and each floor again has its own traits.

Throw another one into the loop, LVT, or luxury vinyl tile. This is becoming quite popular with the DYI crowd, being easier to install, holds up to most everything, and has a nice pricepoint. Again there are good ones and bad ones, but for the most part the printings on these floors can be quite outstanding and like engineered, come in different textures which is hard to replicate on real wood.

Throw me a PM if you would like to have a further discussion on flooring, Ive been a 2nd generation contractor in the biz for over a decade and don't drum up business online, just like to talk about floors and perhaps upcoming fishing opener plans.

And to answer the ? of how well any of them stand up to standing water? Maybe some laminates, some LVT, but overall none. That's what tile is for:)

[chasineyes]

I put down pergo in our office and absolutely hate it! I wish I would have done real wood. Especially since it was a nice 12x10' square room. We did all hickory in my dads cabin, and love it. It's extremely easy to nail down (rent the hammer) but it is time consuming if you have a lot of corners and small runs. I would say if this is a home your going to stay in then go with wood, especially if you can lay it yourself. If you looking to "change it up" and sell in a couple years than just do pergo.

[PurpleFloyd]

As a comment, the brand name Pergo has 2 separate product lines. One is a laminate which is vinyl print over mdf and the other is an engineered wood as I eluded to that has solid wood over an engineered core.

It would help to understand which you are considering.

[mojoputter]

As a comment, the brand name Pergo has 2 separate product lines. One is a laminate which is vinyl print over mdf and the other is an engineered wood as I eluded to that has solid wood over an engineered core.

It would help to understand which you are considering.

We currently have hardwood in the hallway and foyer, the hallway butts up against the kitchen floor. I'm thinking hardwood because we are thinking about selling the house in 5-7 years and I think hardwood would be more appealing for re-sale of the home. But after seeing some of the comments here, I may do a little more research into the engineered type of flooring.

[delcecchi]

We are looking at kitchen flooring soon, and when considering wood of any type, I wonder about the joints between pieces. After all, kitchen floors get wet, they get spilled on, they get mopped, etc. Is water or moisture getting into the joints a concern? How OC does one have to be about cleaning stuff up immediately?

[BoxMN]

We are looking at kitchen flooring soon, and when considering wood of any type, I wonder about the joints between pieces. After all, kitchen floors get wet, they get spilled on, they get mopped, etc. Is water or moisture getting into the joints a concern? How OC does one have to be about cleaning stuff up immediately?

This is why I went with the vinyl snap together stuff. We just have small kitchen and entryway, but after using it, I would use it anywhere that moisture "might" be a problem for whatever reason. Looks great, just like wood with nice grain both in terms of looks and texture. Installing it was a joy. Just a tape, square, sharpie and utility knife with plenty of sharp blades.

If I was doing any kitchen, basement, bathroom, or entry way I would consider this for sure, and based on my experience so far, I would likely use it 99.999%. I do love the look and feel of real wood, but honestly this stuff is nice.

Feels so much better on your feet than hard tile too. I hate tile feel on my feet, maybe if the floor was heated, but its so hard.

Good luck.

[PurpleFloyd]

Check clearances and transition areas too. I can't tell you how many times I have gotten calls from customers who either installed flooring up to the Dishwasher or refrigerator and had to hire me to shim up or remove countertops or remove cabinets to get them out or they removed prior to install, put flooring back to the wall in those spaces and now the opening was too short for the appliance to go back in.

[leech~~]

We are looking at kitchen flooring soon, and when considering wood of any type, I wonder about the joints between pieces. After all, kitchen floors get wet, they get spilled on, they get mopped, etc. Is water or moisture getting into the joints a concern? How OC does one have to be about cleaning stuff up immediately?

Del, we put engineered wood in our kitchen. You just get use to the "sock shuffle" when you drip a little water!

[Moonshine]

Very timely conversation for me. We just began the process of building our new home. We have a custom builder who is a high quality guy and only wants to use hardwood floors. It is already baked into the price of our home. We asked about engineered floors, not to be cost conscious, but because we were told that the expansion gaps are significantly less during the changing seasons. He does not like the limited amount of times you can sand and refinish and that they may be easier to scratch or dent. Anyone familiar with the durability? Is there a harder engineered product available? I have had hardwood floors for a long time and don't see the need for numerous refinishing's.

Also, the handscraped floors are really popular now and my wife wants them. Our builder is advising against it because the uneven texture limits the ability to refinish. Anyone familiar with the ability to refinish handscraped floors?

Thanks!

[Nhamm]

Engineered wood floors will significantly expand/contract less than your solid wood floor. That's the way they were designed. Solid wood floors vary on species, if $$ not a concern look into quartered sawn flooring, on average will move less than half of your regular sawn. Plus its look is absolutely stunning.

Hardness of finishes can vary from floor to floor, prefinish to sand on site. There are commercial grade finishes available that can standup to a lot for those who sand their floors. Prefinish I see the biggest variation of hardnesses. Some are ridiculously soft and others are rock solid. Its hard to replicate a baked on UV finish layered a dozen times in some factory.

There are solid wood floors which have that hand scraped look you are liking. Just don't be surprised when you go to have it sanded years down the road the contractor charges you double to sand all the texture down. And those floors will wear faster than your typical. All those ups and downs have high points which are going to wear down significantly faster. Something to keep in mind.

[Pat K]

My sister put in a hand scraped floor about 2 years ago. She loved it for about 2 months and now she isn't very fond of it. It is difficult to clean with a vacuum, broom or dust mop. There are spots that are hard to get clean with hardwood cleaner and a mop designed for hardwood floors. She is rather obsessive about cleaning so her frustration with it may be a little over the top.

Her 3 toddler grand kids spend a lot of time at her house and the high spots showed wear from their toys and chairs being pushed and rolled over it.