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Laminate vs engineered & underlay questions
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Hi OP, please don't get too annoyed at people suggesting LVT. We get a lot of people on here asking questions who aren't aware of what they don't know, and they would get better answers to their real issue if they considered a wider solution set. In particular, many people confuse vinyl with modern LVT but the product quality is incomparable and people sometimes need to be shaken out of their preconceptions.
Anyway, onto your desired topic - engineered wood. In terms of the surface, it has all the positives and negatives of real wood. It looks great, and have a good feel. Like any wood floor, it can get scratched and dinged relatively easily. However, those issues often look more characterful than bad, unless they get too intense, and it is relatively easy to refresh the floor with a sand and surface finish.
Does the price bracket make a difference? It can. You can get a thicker top layer, which means the surface has more very long-term durability. The cheap stuff you can probably heavy sand and refinish 2-3 times, the better stuff many more times. The other difference I have found is in the quality of the joints - expensive stuff tends to have better tolerances that means easier and better fitting. But to be honest, the correlation between price and joint quality isn't reliable. I've used more expensive stuff that was a pain and cheaper stuff that went together well. But in general, I think it holds.
I would happily use engineered wood in most places in my property, except kitchens, bathrooms and mud rooms.1 -
princeofpounds said:Hi OP, please don't get too annoyed at people suggesting LVT. We get a lot of people on here asking questions who aren't aware of what they don't know, and they would get better answers to their real issue if they considered a wider solution set. In particular, many people confuse vinyl with modern LVT but the product quality is incomparable and people sometimes need to be shaken out of their preconceptions.
the different price brackets are the thing I'm asking about really. the floor is about 16.5 square meters and my max budget for the flooring and underlay would be around 3k but id be reluctant to spend more than around 1k unless its definitely good value for money. 1k would get me the stuff that's about 50 per square meter.
engineered wood from b&q starts at £21 per meter with a 2.5mm top layer
https://www.diy.com/departments/goodhome-bishorn-natural-oak-real-wood-top-layer-flooring-2-03m-pack/3663602537038_BQ.prd
b&q £27 per meter with a 3.2mm top layer
https://www.diy.com/departments/goodhome-elkins-natural-oak-real-wood-top-layer-flooring-1-58m-pack/3663602537052_BQ.prd
b&qs £42 per meter stuff says its 3mm
https://www.diy.com/departments/goodhome-eslov-natural-oak-real-wood-top-layer-flooring-1-75m-pack/3663602568834_BQ.prd
£50 per meter stuff from kahar doesn't give at top layer thickness at all (if anyone can see it?)
https://www.onestopflooring.co.uk/shop/product/lushwood-oak-london-matt-lacquer/
£100 per meter stuff from kahar has 3.5mm
https://www.onestopflooring.co.uk/shop/product/kahrs-oak-prague/
that suggests to me the 27 per meter stuff is best value re price per top layer (and reviews suggest to order more than needed and open packs to check planks and return any with flaws which i can do because b&q isnt far away), but idk if the extra 0.5 mm important for domestic use and worth double the price or is there something else in the construction i should be looking at?
Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you. Anne Lamott
It's amazing how those with a can-do attitude and willingness to 'pitch in and work' get all the luck, isn't it?
Please consider buying some pet food and giving it to your local food bank collection or animal charity. Animals aren't to blame for the cost of living crisis.0 -
£50 per meter stuff from kahar doesn't give at top layer thickness at all (if anyone can see it?)
https://www.onestopflooring.co.uk/shop/product/lushwood-oak-london-matt-lacquer/
Kährs makes flooring the easy choice | Kährs (kahrs.com)
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shiraz99 said:£50 per meter stuff from kahar doesn't give at top layer thickness at all (if anyone can see it?)
https://www.onestopflooring.co.uk/shop/product/lushwood-oak-london-matt-lacquer/
Kährs makes flooring the easy choice | Kährs (kahrs.com)Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you. Anne Lamott
It's amazing how those with a can-do attitude and willingness to 'pitch in and work' get all the luck, isn't it?
Please consider buying some pet food and giving it to your local food bank collection or animal charity. Animals aren't to blame for the cost of living crisis.0 -
ariarnia said:shiraz99 said:£50 per meter stuff from kahar doesn't give at top layer thickness at all (if anyone can see it?)
https://www.onestopflooring.co.uk/shop/product/lushwood-oak-london-matt-lacquer/
Kährs makes flooring the easy choice | Kährs (kahrs.com)
Lushwood Natural Wood Flooring UK
I suspect Kahrs original flooring is (or at least was) manufactured in Europe.0 -
shiraz99 said:ariarnia said:shiraz99 said:£50 per meter stuff from kahar doesn't give at top layer thickness at all (if anyone can see it?)
https://www.onestopflooring.co.uk/shop/product/lushwood-oak-london-matt-lacquer/
Kährs makes flooring the easy choice | Kährs (kahrs.com)
Lushwood Natural Wood Flooring UK
I suspect Kahrs original flooring is (or at least was) manufactured in Europe.Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you. Anne Lamott
It's amazing how those with a can-do attitude and willingness to 'pitch in and work' get all the luck, isn't it?
Please consider buying some pet food and giving it to your local food bank collection or animal charity. Animals aren't to blame for the cost of living crisis.0 -
ariarnia said:shiraz99 said:ariarnia said:shiraz99 said:£50 per meter stuff from kahar doesn't give at top layer thickness at all (if anyone can see it?)
https://www.onestopflooring.co.uk/shop/product/lushwood-oak-london-matt-lacquer/
Kährs makes flooring the easy choice | Kährs (kahrs.com)
Lushwood Natural Wood Flooring UK
I suspect Kahrs original flooring is (or at least was) manufactured in Europe.1 -
If it is scratch resistance that you are after, it may be worth considering strand woven bamboo flooring. We had this down in one of our previous houses with two young kids running toys over it all day and a lively dog….was very hard wearing.
Obviously depends whether you like the look of it but may be worth considering.1 -
benson1980 said:If it is scratch resistance that you are after, it may be worth considering strand woven bamboo flooring. We had this down in one of our previous houses with two young kids running toys over it all day and a lively dog….was very hard wearing.
Obviously depends whether you like the look of it but may be worth considering.
https://www.ambientbp.com/blog/classic-engineered-strand-woven-bamboo
Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you. Anne Lamott
It's amazing how those with a can-do attitude and willingness to 'pitch in and work' get all the luck, isn't it?
Please consider buying some pet food and giving it to your local food bank collection or animal charity. Animals aren't to blame for the cost of living crisis.0 -
ariarnia said:benson1980 said:If it is scratch resistance that you are after, it may be worth considering strand woven bamboo flooring. We had this down in one of our previous houses with two young kids running toys over it all day and a lively dog….was very hard wearing.
Obviously depends whether you like the look of it but may be worth considering.
https://www.ambientbp.com/blog/classic-engineered-strand-woven-bamboo
I've gone for oak this time around as kids are a bit older, dog calmed down a bit, and it looks a bit warmer than bamboo which is more what we're after to go with our current decor. We bought from ambience hardwood flooring who had a good selection, had very good reviews and were helpful on the phone when I asked for advice. They also sent out samples rapidly, plus I didn't realise at the time of ordering but their sister company is the bamboo flooring company, who we got our bamboo flooring from several years ago. If nothing else they could probably offer some further advice around engineered vs bamboo, plus they had some good guides around pros and cons of different finishes such as lacquered/oiled etc.
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