Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: cosine on May 16, 2016, 03:35:13 PM
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Wife and I want to install it in the master bedroom. Advice, recommendations, installation tips? We are heavily leaning towards Somerset's engineered red oak in natural.
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Only engineered flooring I have put down for other people feels weird under foot and weird sounding when you walk or move stuff on it. Kind of a hollow tinny noise.
I think one was armstrong and the other was the actual pergo brand.
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We had hardwood flooring installed in the living room and hallway. Had it glued to the slab. Best decision I ever made. The house before we had engineered laminated hardwood and it sucked. As stated above always sounded hollow. You clacked everywhere you walked.
If you can swing it go hardwood. Glued on slab or nailed on if peir and beam.
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Do you know if the engineered hardwood you described was nailed/glued down or floated?
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The stuff I put down snapped together and floated. Both used some sort of foam sheet underneath.
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Quality of foam matters. A lot! Foam sucks. The heavier rubber type that's sticky on one side is the best. Not cheap though
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My brother has it. It looks phony. It's springy and sound hollow. A condo we rented a couple years ago had trouble with warping. I wouldn't have it. As my dad always said, "If you're gonna do a job, do it right." If you want a wood floor go with the real McCoy.
We have had ceramic tile or porcelain tile throughout our homes except for a couple small rooms that already had oak hardwood floors. Wood floors need care. Once you do the tile you can accessorize with rugs if you want. You'll never have to worry about flooring again. EZ to keep clean.
You can also buy porcelain or ceramic tile that looks like wood.
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I'm about to floor my whole 5 yr old house ... it sits on a slab. Afraid of using tile because I don't know if the floor is done settling ... would prefer tile but if it's not done settling it could cause cracks ... I've walked on a lot of laminate and only when it was thin, cheap, and poorly done have I ever heard it sound like a drum ... I'll be using 10 mm Allen Roth laminate ...
[popcorn]
http://www.lowes.com/pd_392045-19871-AR306___?productId=3645848&pl=1&Ntt=allen+roth+laminate
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My brother has it. It looks phony. It's springy and sound hollow. A condo we rented a couple years ago had trouble with warping. I wouldn't have it. As my dad always said, "If you're gonna do a job, do it right." If you want a wood floor go with the real McCoy.
We have had ceramic tile or porcelain tile throughout our homes except for a couple small rooms that already had oak hardwood floors. Wood floors need care. Once you do the tile you can accessorize with rugs if you want. You'll never have to worry about flooring again. EZ to keep clean.
You can also buy porcelain or ceramic tile that looks like wood.
Any issues with low humidity in winter with the oak? The main reason for considering the engineered was for dimensional stability in winter when our house often gets down to 20% relative humidity.
The engineered isn't a laminate, it's a 3mm sawn oak top layer on a 7 ply birch core. It's as expensive and from the top indistinguishable from the company's solid wood product.
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Bunch of damned uppity posers!
What's wrong with dirt being good enough?
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Bunch of damned uppity posers!
What's wrong with dirt being good enough?
Concrete is superior.
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The engineered isn't a laminate, it's a 3mm sawn oak top layer on a 7 ply birch core. It's as expensive and from the top indistinguishable from the company's solid wood product.
Then get the 100% oak. It can be re-finished and repaired. BTDT.
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Concrete?
Concrete is aspirational!
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Any issues with low humidity in winter with the oak? The main reason for considering the engineered was for dimensional stability in winter when our house often gets down to 20% relative humidity.
The engineered isn't a laminate, it's a 3mm sawn oak top layer on a 7 ply birch core. It's as expensive and from the top indistinguishable from the company's solid wood product.
Most of my last house had oak floors- never had a problem.
Current house has a few rooms with oak floors, ditto.
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Then get the 100% oak. It can be re-finished and repaired. BTDT.
So can the engineered product
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So can the engineered product
All 3mm of it i am sure.
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All 3mm of it i am sure.
I am handicapped by having actually repaired and refinished the product. I am sorry if that experience is not congruent with your beliefs
Perhaps this might help
http://www.hoskinghardwood.com/Department/Hardwood-Floors/All-About-Wear-Layers--Engineered-Flooring.aspx?dId=7&pageId=53
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The oak floors at the lake house were laid in the 30's when the house was built. They had been covered with carpet when we bought the place and we found the hardwood floors when we did a major rehab and addition to the place. Part of the ambiance of hardwood floors is the character they get after many years of use. They can be sanded and refinished and some of the ambiance still remains. They should not look perfect, just well maintained. Lots of products for that nowadays. We did not experience warping or anything like that.
Our present house was built in the 50's and has hardwood throughout, but some had vinyl over the wood which we covered with porcelain outdoor tile in the great room etc. Built to take a beating and the installer has to be skilled at laying the subfloor beneath the tile. The two rooms that still are hardwood are not warped at all. They have not been refinished in many years it looks like. But then we both like the way they look as they are. We have some products that clean them and bring out the grain and flaws.
We are in Michigan as I think you still are (?) So we get the range of high to low humidity.
I guess I don't know the difference between engineered floors VS laminate. I know I don't care for my brother's floor but I guess I really don't know what he has. I just have not been fond of anything but the real McCoy. Sounds like C&S has some knowledge there.
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Thanks grampster. I'm in WI but figured that both WI and Michigan see approximately the same humidity swings, hence my question.
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I am handicapped by having actually repaired and refinished the product. I am sorry if that experience is not congruent with your beliefs
Perhaps this might help
http://www.hoskinghardwood.com/Department/Hardwood-Floors/All-About-Wear-Layers--Engineered-Flooring.aspx?dId=7&pageId=53
My bils refinish did not turn out well. If they are the same cost it makes zero sense to go with the plywod product when you caj have the real thing.
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My bils refinish did not turn out well. If they are the same cost it makes zero sense to go with the plywod product when you caj have the real thing.
Except for that little claim by the manufacturer about better dimensional stability with temperature and humidity variation. Should I decide for engineered over solid because the manufacturer claims that? i don't know. Solid has appealing advantages. However, I may never refinish it, but I can guarantee that at some time next winter the relative humidity in my house will be below 25%.
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Except for that little claim by the manufacturer about better dimensional stability with temperature and humidity variation. Should I decide for engineered over solid because the manufacturer claims that? i don't know. Solid has appealing advantages. However, I may never refinish it, but I can guarantee that at some time next winter the relative humidity in my house will be below 25%.
I had/have family in the midwest, too. They run the heater in the winter and it gets pretty dry in the house. I recall getting bloody noses from the dry in Minnesota. I don't recall my folks grousing about the hardwoods. On the contrary, when they removed the nasty carpet & padding and discovered them, they were delighted. And htey were touted when they sold the house.
I think your best bet is to talk to some neighbors and ask them if they have hardwoods. If they respond with, "Yeah and we love them," you are probably fine. If they complain about humidity variation causing problems, not so much.
I am biased toward the real hardwoods as I know guys who can fix them such that after years of water damage, you can not tell where the repair began. On hardwoods that were installed in 1959. Not sure if any engineered equivalent will still be in production or match-able in that fashion some years down the road. Somehow, the claims seem to be of the "easy to clean Naugahyde fabric covering" sort of selling point relative to leather seats.
I am down with some engineered timber products. Gluelams & other structural bits are really nifty.
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My bils refinish did not turn out well. If they are the same cost it makes zero sense to go with the plywod product when you caj have the real thing.
I had to use the new vibrating floor refinishers as opposed to the more traditional drum belt type machine baby move a lot less material and some cases you can actually just get away with removing barely the Finish starting over
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<--- Chicago. Cold, dry winters. Also use the fireplace a lot in the winter to help heat the house, which dries it out further.
Solid Oak hardwood floors in Kitchen and Dining room. Had them installed about 15 years ago. Nary a problem, other then some wear. I'll probably get them refinished here within the next year.
The engineered/laminate stuff just doesn't wear/feel/look right. I can always tell since I have solid oak floors.
YMMV.
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As for humidity, invest in a humidifier to put moisture in the air in the winter. You can get them attached to the furnace. I would buy the best kind you can get if you are putting on the furnace. We run a small portable one in the bedroom now and then. Makes for better sleeping and you don't wind up with a dried up nose and canvas mouth and throat.