Solid Wood vs Engineered Hardwood

BradleyS · #1 07-07-2020, 07:03 PM

I hope to start a small home build within a week or so and wish to install wood flooring throughout.
I have installed, with glue , engineered hardwood on a cement slab subfloor, but now will have a plywood subfloor to nail (staple) onto.
I would appreciate any and all comments regarding the two types of flooring and which one y'all would choose.

MartinGibsonFan · #2 07-07-2020, 07:32 PM

There was a huge lawsuit with Lumber Liquidators of some gassing of engineered wood, seems engineered wood has a potential to have Formaldehyde.

https://enviroklenzairpurifiers.com/...-formaldehyde/

J

Tico · #3 07-07-2020, 07:55 PM

I'd use real wood from trees ... even if I have to eat fishheads and rice for the rest of my life.

I'm just not a fan of fake stuff when real stuff is still available.

Plus I'm not a big fan of my family breathing in formaldehyde, or other mysterious unnatural fumes various fake stuff outgasses.
For that reason ALL the rugs in our home are real wool ... wool from real sheep ... real sheep from their mommies and daddies.

HodgdonExtreme · #4 07-07-2020, 09:33 PM

If it were me, I'd look at that engineered floor every day and wish it were actually wood.

But engineered has advantages. It's definitely a more stable material; the same way a laminated guitar is more stable, environmentally, than a solid wood one. Plus it's cheaper...

But labor to install is the same! And while most engineered floors are able to be sanded/refinished once or twice - solid floors can be done several.

And nothing looks sweeter than a finish-in-place solid floor. Just beautiful.

Dogma · #5 07-07-2020, 10:54 PM

I've done two remodels since 2013. I have a 1909 house and its oak floors were both trashed and had seen too many re-finishes to support one more so I had to do a complete replacement. Oak is definitely the appropriate look for the house. However, there are some issues like the fact that a lot of the oak options I investigated included many short pieces of wood of random patterning and coloration. I did not like this patchwork look. But the major issue for me was dogs. Even though oak is pretty hard, the nails on a medium to large dogs are harder! Since I will always have a dog, I ended up going with this product:
https://teragren.com/xcora-strand-bamboo-flooring/

It is much harder than oak, up there with the rainforest hardwoods. It has a wavy grain-like flow and the color I chose has a similar visual cast to oak. As I understand, it's real bamboo mixed with polymers so not like "picture of wood" flooring. It is very easy to clean with just warm water and is super tough. The problem is that it is very difficult to install with fasteners. Glueing is easier but one has to be very careful not to get glue on the top surfaces. Mine is glued to plywood subfloor.

Not inexpensive but does the job I needed done and looks nice.
Note that there are other manufacturers, including one carried by LL. I know nothing about any of those.

RedJoker · #6 07-08-2020, 05:20 AM

I always think I'm going to go with hardwood but always end up with engineered. Just too many advantages and a much better product for my needs.

The Watchman · #7 07-08-2020, 06:34 AM

Give us the numbers. Cost is not an insignificant factor. Plus how long you think you're going to live there. Is it a room that has potential for water damage? Do you have dogs?

Jeff Scott · #8 07-08-2020, 07:47 AM

Most of our 1917 house has solid 2 1/4" wide, 3/4" thick oak, in a mix of rift and quarter sawn white oak (the attic and second floor hall are vertical Douglas fir).

We are now in the final stages of a new enclosed porch project and had to make the same decision between engineered and solid flooring. At first we looked at the former but quickly realized that the actual surface of wood (from the company that we first looked at from the flooring dealer we usually use) is only about a millimeter thick (maybe) and the rest is plywood, so I went to a regional flooring manufacturer and got some sample pieces of solid hickory, red oak and walnut and once we made a comparison between those and the engineered (which had some sort of unknown "exotic" mahogany-looking veneer layer) and researching both companies (Ark Floors - an American division of a Chinese lumber mill - http://www.ark-floors.com, and Sheoga Flooring - https://www.sheogaflooring.com) it was a no brainer to go with the latter.

Sheoga Flooring is Amish-run, and the wood is harvested in this part of the country. They make both solid and engineered flooring; one of the great things about their engineered flooring is that the top layer is over 5.25mm thick so it can be sanded multiple times, just like solid flooring.

My contractor picked up most of the flooring, but I needed one more carton so I drove out there to pick it up myself, and got to walk around the manufacturing and warehouse areas. I left very impressed with their operation; very well organized and spotless, even though lots of lumber was being processed into flooring.

We went with a pre-finished mix of rift and quarter sawn white oak that matches the rest of the house very nicely; you can get unfinished, also, depending on your needs. The floor was installed last week and looks absolutely beautiful.

No affiliation other than being a very satisfied customer.

BradleyS · #9 07-08-2020, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Watchman

Give us the numbers. Cost is not an insignificant factor. Plus how long you think you're going to live there. Is it a room that has potential for water damage? Do you have dogs?

I guess you could classify our build as a tiny home. It will be our retirement home in Pa and is 720 sq. ft. The build will have a full basement, that I plan to finish. I plan to install bamboo flooring in the basement.
We lost our last Golden this past Christmas. I am skeptical, but my wife sees a Golden in the future.
I am looking at 3/4" solid Hickory in 5" planks.

I appreciate all the replies! Thanks Y'all.

tinnitus · #10 07-08-2020, 12:42 PM

Underlayment (either separate or attached to whatever you put down) will keep it from clacking when you walk on it. I wouldn't put anything susceptible to possible water damage on a ground floor or near washers, showers, etc. Or maybe I would, there's always insurance in the event of a mishap.

MrDB · #11 07-08-2020, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tinnitus

Underlayment (either separate or attached to whatever you put down) will keep it from clacking when you walk on it. I wouldn't put anything susceptible to possible water damage on a ground floor or near washers, showers, etc. Or maybe I would, there's always insurance in the event of a mishap.

There's almost always a deductible in the event of a mishap as well.

tinnitus · #12 07-09-2020, 02:21 PM

My upstairs carpeting was worn out years ago and I tore it all out last winter. I was impressed with the hardwood floor a friend of mine did, so I went to his house for a how-to tutorial thinking I might try it myself. Took him about 10-15 minutes to (inadvertently) talk me out of it.

He is a patient, careful, skilled woodworker. I possess none of those qualities. Strike One.

Apparently 3/4" plywood is the minimum acceptable subfloor for hardwood. So my 5/8" particle-board subfloor would all need to be replaced. Strike Two.

He showed me some water damage to the hardwood floor in his kitchen, explaining (with eyes rolling) that he'd have to replace it - someday. Steeeerike Three!

I repaired and sealed the particle board subfloor myself, paid an independent contractor to install dark, rustic-cut looking Pergo Outlast+ (waterproof) in 5 days, and returned 7-8 excess boxes to the retailer for a full refund. Nothing but spontaneous compliments from everyone who visits.

The Bard Rocks · #13 07-10-2020, 08:51 PM

You missed on Strike 2. With 5/8 below, you simply add 1/4" Luann to it and have an even stronger subfloor. The hardwood goes on top of that.

dhalbert · #14 07-10-2020, 09:40 PM

I would be interested in hearing about experiences from anyone about alternatives to standard engineered hardwood on a cement slab. We live in a 1950's slab ranch with asphalt tile under carpeting right now. The ceilings are too low to install sleepers for a regular hardwood floor.

I have looked at Juncker flooring, a European solid-wood brand which floats and is held together by clips. It is attractive but I have found few local installers with any experience with it.

The Sheoga thick-top engineered wood that Jeff Scott mentioned sounded nice, but their website says it can't be installed floating, and highly recommends the humidity to be kept at 35-50%. We would not be able to keep that range, especially on the high end, here in MA.

Birdbrain · #15 07-10-2020, 10:08 PM

My home has a patchwork of floors I've installed, room by room, when a good deal cam by. I've used 3/4" and 3/8" engineered wood, cork, and solid maple. A decade on, the only floor I'm fully satisfied with is the solid maple. It's been in a rental house for 14 years, half of that with big dogs, and it still draws complements from everyone who sees it. It's hard as nails. The finish is no longer perfect, but could be any time I choose to refinish. It's surely the last floor that house will ever need.

I used lower-grade maple, highly figured with knots and stripes. Lots of short pieces, too. That can be an exciting, dappled look, like a koa guitar. Installation was a breeze, with rented hand tools. The step that's held me back in my own house, which is continually occupied, is the dust of sanding before applying finish. In reality, the dust was minimal because the planks and subflooring were flat and uniform.