Engineered wooden flooring

agent_orange_2

We have been considering replacing the laminate flooring in our living room with the nicer looking engineered wooden flooring. The laminate floor we have, has been down for ten years +. The laminate has worn very well considering the use (3 kids and a scatty dog - we no longer have the scatty dog).
I know the engineered stuff states that it is suitable for areas of heavy use but I have been wondering how hard wearing it is, has anyone experience of this product long term?

Thanks for any help.

The agent.

billy_the_kid_2

Engineered flooring will provide the same level of wearing as solid wood floors. It has the addtional benefit of not swelling as much as solid wood and can be laid as a floating floor. Buy the thickest wood layer you can afford as these can be sanded many times.

As for money saving, check out www.wood4floors.co.uk as they are very good value compaired to the diy stores.

thehairybuilder

I`ve had engineered realwood in our last house and laid again in our new house .
Really wish I hadn`t bothered !
In last house it was in living room and lasted 11 years pretty well BUT in our new house in the hall , kitchen , dinig room and utility room it`s beem a disaster . Contrary to what anyone tells you real (hard)wood is actually , too soft and easily marked for use in areas of high traffic .
OK for living room where you come in and sit down but no good for walk ways or dining room tables where chairs are scraping about and God forbid if you happen to drop your iron in the kitchen - been there , got the dented floor ! It`s barely a year on and if we were honest , it`s begining to look tatty . This was expensive £40 per m2 walnut flooring too , not a cheap`n`cheerfull version so it`s been disappointing to say the least

martindow

We too used this in our last house and wished that we hadn't. You have to be very careful will it as it is easily scratched. There were felt pads on all the furniture but if these picked up some grit they could leave alarming gouges in the floor surface. House rules of taking shoes off at the door to try to avoid damage also became tiresome. It looked lovely (to start with at least) but we wished that we had stuck with carpet.

We also found that this type of flooring made the house very noisy but presumably no worse than the laminate you have now.

We moved so it's the new owner's problem now!

rl1

I am currently debating between laminate or engineered wood for the Living Room/Dining Room and Hall. Are there any benefits of wood over laminate, I've been told it's quieter and warmer. Anyone know if this is true? I am reluctant to have something that will scratch and dent easily of there are no obvious benefits over laminate which will stand up to practically anything.

I also wonder whether the engineered wood would fade as the dining room end of the room has large patios doors and is south facing. Any advice appreciated as always.

moredough

Slightly off subject. sorry, It's not engineered, but I just thought I'd give Elesgo super gloss laminate a mention http://hdm.info/portal/page.php?lang=en&page=2_02&ber=2&gru=20&art=200&lin=2007 . We used it in our daughters bedroom. It's been down around 18 months now and it is truly stunning. It stands up to abuse well too. It will be going down in our living room once our budget allows.

rl1

rl1 wrote: »

I am currently debating between laminate or engineered wood for the Living Room/Dining Room and Hall. Are there any benefits of wood over laminate, I've been told it's quieter and warmer. Anyone know if this is true? I am reluctant to have something that will scratch and dent easily of there are no obvious benefits over laminate which will stand up to practically anything.

I also wonder whether the engineered wood would fade as the dining room end of the room has large patios doors and is south facing. Any advice appreciated as always.

I'm bumping this hoping to get an answer as I need to decide on this fairly soon.

ginvzt

We laid enginered wood (oak) flooring downstairs in our house. Wouldn't change it for a million. Unless to real wood, which would cost a million.
Both me and OH are very happy with it (it is down for a year now, bought it from B&Q, own brand). It is much warmer than laminate, less noisy, looks better. My parents got laminate in their house and the difference is huge.

The more wood the better. Why would you want plastic (laminate) floors, when you can get something natural?...

martindow

rl1 wrote: »

I also wonder whether the engineered wood would fade as the dining room end of the room has large patios doors and is south facing. Any advice appreciated as always.

It certainly changed colour noticeably over 18 months where we had rugs on the floor - can't remember if it was lighter or darker - so you may find that the colour will change by the patio doors.

misgrace

ginvzt wrote: »

We laid enginered wood (oak) flooring downstairs in our house. Wouldn't change it for a million. Unless to real wood, which would cost a million.
Both me and OH are very happy with it (it is down for a year now, bought it from B&Q, own brand). It is much warmer than laminate, less noisy, looks better. My parents got laminate in their house and the difference is huge.

The more wood the better. Why would you want plastic (laminate) floors, when you can get something natural?...

I agree 100%, its the best thing we ever done, its cut down my housework considerably , it looks gorgeous, and not cold, and looks stunning.

I always was sceptical about it, as only heard the bad points, but tbh, I wish I had it done years ago.

Get a good quality one though, with a thicker MM of the actual wood.

Ours is made by Kahrs, called 'london' in oak, ours comes in actual planks and is the click system type.

misgrace

Me again

Here is a link to the company I used on another thread, read the posts also, it might be of some help to you.



http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=375853