We are building a new house in the country. The living room, dining room, and kitchen are one open area. Which flooring product would be the best for this area. The laundry room is through a door off of the dining room and will probably have a tile floor. This is a second home.
not laminate, hardwood is more formal, cork is environmentally friendly, engineered is sturdy sturdy ...I'd go with the engineered. But, which do you like best?
Hardwood! Laminate is cheap, fake looking to me. I know it's cheaper, but the consistent look from one strip to the next just gags me to look at it. Hardwood is expensive, but it's just so much authentic, warm, and rich. I don't know what engineered is. And I'm not familiar with using cork. Bamboo is all the rage now, and it looks pretty good. But to me, unless you have lots of bamboo growing naturally in your area, it just sort of looks imported. But it's a green building material, so that's a good point for it.
I've see some upper end homes with incredibly beautiful laminate floors. Others with real hardwood. I think overall for quality, hardwood is the best. Have you ever considered bamboo, amazingly tough also.
Whatever cementious product you use , make sure it's NOT a wearing surface underlayment product, it could interfere with any glue or mastic needed to adhere the floor.
