engineered hardwood flooring = how good?
i had to use because of concrete it marks and scratches easily go with hardwood if you can comparable price
It's actually pretty good. The main disadvantage is you cannot sand the wood to refinish. We just installed some over a concrete floor, looks good.
Hey! Like any product, how 'good' an engineered floor is depends on the grade, and also what you have in mind as far as installation location. But in general engineered floors lend you the feel of real wood with the advantages of an easy installation. Unlike a solid wood floor, you can float an engineered floor if you're on a concrete slab. And engineered floors are generally less sensitive to temperature and moisture changes when compared to solid hardwood floors. I've added a couple of links here to give you a bit more background on engineered hardwood flooring. I hope they're helpful. Good luck with your project!
The biggest problem with engineered hardwood flooring is that it has a very thin wear layer. This is the top part of the slat that you can sand down to refinish. You can maybe get away with sanding down (about 1/16-inch each time) a couple of times to refinish it over the lifetime of the flooring. But, a solid 3/4-inch plank has about a 1/4-inch wear layer. So, you can refinish it 4 or 5 times over its lifetime. When I was remodeling a house, my friend (who owns a flooring business) convinced me that I should not cut any corners on the flooring I install (hardwood and tile), because it's very expensive and difficult to remove and replace flooring that has worn out prematurely from using an inferior product. Hardwood floors generally need to be refinished every 5 to 10 years, just from normal wear and tear. So, your engineered wood floors would theoretically have to be replaced in 15 to 30 years, whereas my 3/4-inch solid plank floor wouldn't have to be replaced for about 30 to 60 years (long after I'm dead and gone). Also, it's kind of a crapshoot as to whether the engineered floor will look right (as good as the original finish) after refinishing. Also, when installing a new wood floor, it's better to install an unfinished plank, and then have it sanded and finished. This is so for a couple of reasons: First, you get to choose the exact stain color, rather than being at the mercy of what's on the market. Second, when you install wood flooring, there will be small gaps between the slats. If the floor is prefinished, water that spills on the floor can seep down into these gaps and down to the unprotected wood. But, by finishing the floor after installation, the finish seeps down into the cracks, better sealing them against moisture.
I used this in my entry way, library and hallway. I think it looks great but it does scratch very easily. When they were hanging the doors on my hall closet they sat one down and gouged the floor and it is very noticable.So unless you are getting a great bargain on it I would not recommend it to anyone else. I only bought mine because it was on clearance and it was really cheap. (Now I know why.)
