Engineered wood, what type, where to buy?

smallblueplanet

There seems so much choice and so many 'discount warehouses' to buy the flooring from.

Is it just down to price and preferred style? I mean standard planks, narrow planks, wide planks? Brushed and oiled, oiled, lacquered, brushed and lacquered...

Are there some that are a 'smarter value choice'? Easier to look after, wear better? Do better in front of the hearth for an open fire?

Any opinions and advice gratefully received. :beer:

Silvertabby

We bought ours from a local independant timber merchants. The lady we spoke to was happy to give us advice, mainly:

1. Avoid the 'rustic/brushed' finish - dirt gets into the grooves and is much harder to clean than a smooth finish.

2. Go for a thick, real wood, veneer. 6mm (the one we bought) is thick enough and durable enough to withstand a few 'sanding downs and re-oiling' in the event of damage.

3. Wider planks are easier to fit and can make the room look larger.

We don't have a real fire, so can't help you there - but would suggest that you place a flame proof rug in front of it regardless of which option you go for.

We chose the oiled finish rather than the lacquer, as we thought the latter looked too shiny. Once the flooring had been fitted, I gave it 2 coats of good quality oil. The tin says that should last for at least 2 years, but we're coming up for that now and it still looks as good as day 1 (mind you, no kids, no dogs...)

We paid about £55 a sq mtre (wood flooring only).

onomatopoeia99

I went lacquered from "Wood and beyond", 6mm oak, 18mm ply underneath, 180mm wide boards . It's been down 6 years and has needed zero maintenance except an occasional sweep with a broom (I chose lacquered for this reason). Cost about £32 / per sqaure metre for the wood, plus a bit more for the underlay. Probably more expensive now.



Not terribly hard to self-install, took me a day and a half for a 12' x 16' bedroom.


Only problem with the supplier I mentioned is their stock seems to change very often, so you're unlikely to be able to go back in a couple of years and get more of the same.

davemorton

Sorry to OP for jumping on this thread, but what is the benefit of this over solid wood flooring, as they seem to be the same price?

smallblueplanet

davemorton wrote: »

Sorry to OP for jumping on this thread, but what is the benefit of this over solid wood flooring, as they seem to be the same price?

I think it depends on things like finish and fitting costs too, plus I think engineered wood is better with underfloor heating?

xyz123

davemorton wrote: »

Sorry to OP for jumping on this thread, but what is the benefit of this over solid wood flooring, as they seem to be the same price?

Main reason is that real wood expands, contracts which can cause problems over the years even without underfloor heating...