I understand engineered wood floors can be sanded and refinished, just not to the depth of wood planks.
That's the effect of globalization. Everything is cheap and disposable. Essentially making skilled craftsmanship in the states a niche market.
I installed bamboo in my parents living room once. Three days of back breaking labor and not the most perfect job by any means. Should have just paid some guy a $1000 like he quoted. But I was bored and thought I could do it myself. Not fun!
If you lived in the LA area, I have a great contractor that I just used. He was fabulous. I will say that initially I was all about hardwood floors. But then I saw this new higher grade of laminate. It actually has grooves and the feel of hardwood as well as the look. Now the dogs don't destroy it. I just couldn't see paying that much for something that was going to be scratched, and cause a melt down every time some water dripped or spilled on it. I'm really happy with my floors, though initially was dead set against laminate and swore I'd never get anything but real wood. At least check it out, you don't have to settle on it. Good luck with your installation. I had almost my whole house remodeled, every wall painted, new tubs, toilets, and tile in the bathrooms, new vanities, all the little repairs of closet door tracks and things that didn't work repaired, plus the new floors, in the rest of my house, and tile in the kitchen. The contractor and project manager were great and the whole thing only took about 3 weeks. But I found the hardest part has been putting back and organizing all the crap I had to move out of the place. That's still an ongoing project. I didn't get internet back in my house until the middle of February.
Back-breaking? I guess everything is relative. I find installing floors easy and kind of zen compared to other DIY projects I've done.
With a concrete subfloor you are limited to putting in a floating or glued floor (engineered or laminate) unless you want to build up a wood subfloor for 3/4" wood to be nailed to. I've had both engineered and 3/4" and yes you can sand down 3/4" 7 times vs the 3 times you can do engineered but I doubt you have to do either more than once in your lifetime unless you are horrible on floors (huge dogs). Get a pro in and see if you can float over tile. It will raise your floor up meaning you may have some door issues to address. The right way would be to tear out the tile and float or glue the engineer in (I'd do glue). But the right way is not the easy or cheap way.
^ thanks. I'm meeting a guy today so I should get a little more info but you pretty much confirmed what I thought. The best way (tile tear up) is going to add extra cost. Not sure how much but we will see. I hadn't thought about having the right base for 3/4 real wood. Thanks. I was leaning toward floating but mostly because i've heard it handles imperfections in the floor better. Not sure of all the other pros and cons though. I think a nice engineered will do the job and certainly last for my tenure there but of course it's nice to have the real deal so to speak.
is engineered that much cheaper? whatever the cost, you won't second guess putting wood down. you might, however, regret it if you go the cheap route.
If you are considering ever selling your house anything floating does not add the value that a glued down or nailed down floor does. Most people buying houses especially hate laminate. My wife has been a realtor for over 10 years and has seen this over and over.
1 more thing...if he does float engineered on top of tile make sure he redoes the baseboard or you will have a 1" baseboard by the time you put the shoe molding back on which will make your floors look trashy. ie Don't spend good money and end up with something that you won't be 100% satisfied with or actually hurts your resale.
THIS! Before we even purchased our new home we had the builder put down real hard wood everywhere. We looked at some new homes with the laminate and it was for sure a no buy on our part. Just did not look good at all.
can anyone here vouch for bamboo flooring, and what kind..is there a specific brand that has great quality bamboo flooring? I've read that young bamboo scratches easily?
I know a lot of folks with wood floors who disagree. If you have wood or dogs larger than 40lbs, wood (hardwood or engineered) can take a beating.
I agree with the hardwood vs laminate. I personally ripped out laminate out of my house and installed wood flooring before we moved in. I was careful and saved the laminate and reused it to floor my 400-sq-ft man cave/office. But in retrospect, with the dogs and kid, I should have just kept the laminate. I'm kind of leery of bamboo. I've read that some of the glue can be toxic. YMMV, obviously.
Just to clear up some misconceptions...the OP is talking about installing engineered wood. This is NOT laminate. Engineered wood is 3 layers of REAL wood crossing back and forth and is 3/8" thick. If you have concrete subfloors and you want the real wood look, this is really your only option. If installed properly, it's impossible to tell the difference without some real work. 3/4" SOLID wood flooring requires it to be nailed into 3/4"+ of wood. Now you could build up a subfloor of wood on top of concrete but you really run into issues if you try and do that. ie doable but not really practical on a concrete subfloor. I've heard of people gluing solid wood down but it is not recommended. Laminate is particle board (glued sawdust) and a picture stuck on top. Laminate is not on the OP's list of options. I will add if you really want the OEM look, then get the raw engineered installed (glued). Then sand, stain and seal it after installing. You won't be disappointed with the results if the job is done right.
