Hardwood vs. Engineered Wood

I sell commercial doors, and have seen alot of differences between solid wood and laminate.

Laminate to me is the best! Get something from wilsonart or formica.

 

giddy, just giving you a hard time, come on now. but really, hardwoods are beautiful and durable. they are classic and will increase your home value. i don't know who said you can only sand them three times??? wood floors will outlive you and your family if installed and maintained properly.

 

If it works, that sounds good. I would think that pine is too soft to hold up for a long time as dings and scratches would be more noticeable.

 

Do NOT get engineered wood. It is cheaper and easier to install but it scrathes and dents easily and is also highly moisture sensitive. You can get one refinishing out of it.

Real hardwoods are far superior in look, feel, and durability. And, yes, you can refinish them way more than 3 times.

If you can't afford real wood or installation would be too tricky, I would highly suggest laminate over engineered wood. Modern laminate does a decent job looking like wood and it is way better for animals and kids and the like.

For context, my old house of 9 years had engineered wood flooring (it was a new consturction at the time), my current house is a 50's build with suspension white oak hardwoods throughout. Way better.

 

It might look good initially and be very cheap but there is a reason why construction lumber isn't finishing lumber. As another poster noted pine is a lot softer than oak or maple and it is likely to get a lot of dents. A bigger problem is that the construction lumber isn't milled to the same tolerances as the finish lumber. What you friend will probably find is that after awhile gaps start appearing between the boards and they sag and warp.

If you want something cheap you would be better off putting down finish grade 3/4" plywood and staining it to a color you want. That is bascially what engineered wood is.

 

Here's another flooring suggestion if you are looking to put a new floor on a first floor slab.

Stained and sealed concrete. I've spec'ed that for commercial applications and it looks pretty good and is cheap. You can do scoring and terrazo inlays and make your floor look like fancy tile.

 

Back and knee issues? Little girls and pets?

Get carpet! Get a good quality carpet installed and clean it when it needs it. If stains become a problem go steam cleaned, pro steam clean is cheap!

My parents have hardwood floors that are absolutely stunning, but they are retired. dust is a problem, it just sits there if not swept daily waiting to be disturbed unlike carpet where you can vacuum weekly and be very clean.

Also when they had theirs refinished it was 2K or so. Not much cheaper than a nice carpet.