So what kind of hardwood floors?

[Susan in TN]

So if you were going to install hardwood floors in your house (dining room, living room, bedrooms) what kind would you get? Real hardwood? Laminate? Pros/cons of upkeep and cleaning? Wear and Tear?

[Sharon in SC]

So if you were going to install hardwood floors in your house (dining room, living room, bedrooms) what kind would you get? Real hardwood? Laminate? Pros/cons of upkeep and cleaning? Wear and Tear?

 

We went with solid hardwoods (Brazilian Cherry 'cause it is the hardest we could find, necessary for us 'cause of dogs with nails) because it is the most durable and can be refinished for decades of use.

[Laura Corin]

We chose bamboo and were really happy with it.

 

Laura

[Aggie]

Get the hardest wood you can afford. We had hardwood floors in our previous house, but they were almost destroyed by the time we moved. Ds's toys really did a number on them. Perhaps it was a poor finish, I don't know, but I've seen other wood floors that don't look as worn as ours did.

 

We also installed the pre-finished hardwoods in the bedrooms. They held up ok. It was less expensive than regular hardwood, and dh installed it.

 

Laminate...hmmmmm....we have that now for several reasons. The kind we put in seems nearly indestructible. Nothing has dented or scratched it in any way. However, it is *very* sensitive to dampness. I wouldn't recommend it except in a living room where the chances of something spilling are slim. A dc left a wet towel on the floor and it left a mark. :(

 

As for cleaning, I dust mop and vacuum, then damp spot clean when necessary. Same in our previous home.

 

hth,

Aggie

[runamuk]

My dad, who did remodeling for years, recommended that people put in the hardest wood they can afford. It will withstand more wear and tear and last much longer.

 

We have a softer hardwood in this house and it's getting scratched and marked already (we've been here 5 months).

 

I'd love to put in some reclaimed wood floors when we buy our house. My dad had some in his farmhouse that were fabulous.

[ma23peas]

I would say it would depend on the style of the house...we have a traditional southern house and went with white oak over red oak because it did not have the reddish tint to it..we used English Chestnut as our stain (Duraseal) and love it...I would not do pre fab unless you're going to be there a short time...read wood can be sanded and refinished several times and if you get dings in pre-fab it can be pretty hard to fix.

 

Tara

[abbeyej]

Ours is oak. About 60 years old and still looks great. I love it. We did have it refinished when we moved in a little over 4 years ago. It didn't *desperately* need it, but we knew it would be easier to do while the house was totally empty. Having a good finish (with plenty of coats) is very important, certainly, in terms of the wood looking great long term.

[Parrothead]

I have to go with the others that say get the hardest you can afford. If I had the money to get what I want I'd go with cork in the kitchen, oak in the other rooms that aren't carpeted.

[Carol in Cal.]

Either mismatched oak, because it's so pretty but still kind of casual and it never looks dirty (ahem) because of the many colors, or walnut--stained very dark.

 

We have laminate in a couple of rooms at our church and are very disappointed with it. It seems gritty and dirty all the time--shows every little thing; and it has a hollow, fake sound when you walk on it. It's slick like plastic, so it's a little more slippery than hardwood. We bought the best they had about 3 years ago, and just hate it.

[Jennifer in MI]

Our 1920s house had oak flooring and it was still wonderful after all these years. Then, a fire destroyed it.

 

Our current house, we had to put in hardwood. We chose real wood that was prefinished. It's wearing VERY well. We have it throughout our first floor - kitchen and all! LOVE IT!!!!!

[Sharon in SC]

We went with solid hardwoods (Brazilian Cherry 'cause it is the hardest we could find, necessary for us 'cause of dogs with nails) because it is the most durable and can be refinished for decades of use.

 

 

I wanted to reiterate what others have said - we, too, went with the prefinished for the hardier durability over finished on site jobs.

[The Governess]

We installed an engineered wood floor in our house. It has a quarter inch thick layer of mahogany on top and the rest of the plank is made up of some other cheaper wood (but not particle board like laminate). The floor can be sanded down and refinished twice with the amount of wood on top. We've had ours for almost three years now and, with a few minor exceptions, still looks like new. It's a floating floor, like laminate, and was easy to install.

 

If you get a good hard wood floor, you shouldn't really have to do any upkeep on it for at least 15 years. We just mop ours with a sponge mop. Another thing about the laminate floors is that if water is left on it for any length of time the boards may swell and buckle, because the particle board is so absorbant. When we had them in our last house, one of the dogs peed on the floor and we didn't know for 6 hours or so and that place was forever swelled up. :glare:

 

I agree that the most important thing is to get a very hard wood! And one other thing to consider is that if the planks aren't completely smooth when they are fitted together (like some of those "rustic" type floors that are popular now), they are harder to keep clean...kind of like grout spaces between tiles. And the darker the floor, the more dust and pet hair it will show...just ask my sis in law, who is always complaining about how much she has to vacuum hers. It looks great when it's clean though. :tongue_smilie:

[hornblower]

We put in plank v-groove laminate and so far are happy with it.

I spent half a year going to all the shops & surreptitiously trying to gouge samples with my nails. The hardest hardwood avail is too soft for us with the number of large dogs who hang out here; usually I can put in a small (or big!) dent in hardwood with my thumbnail & some effort. Good laminate just is harder & I couldn't make a mark on it at all.

 

I was also concerned about water as my dog can suffer from incontinence :001_huh:. Once we had narrowed down our choices, I got samples to take home. I put them in a container of water for 24h & when I took out the one we ended up going with, it looked exactly like new. No warping, no change in color, no swelling, nothing!

 

For extra safety, in areas of high possibility of spills like the kitchen - it's an open floor plan so everything got done in laminate - we rubbed a candle on the edges of the planks before locking them together. There's a special kit you can for sealing the eges but it is really just wax so I just used a good quality candle.

 

I also tried to inflict other damage on the samples - dropping knives, trying to scratch them with my keys etc. It was kind of fun :lol: & in the end we were pretty confident that this one would stand the traffic for at least 5 years. And it was a good price too! If it ends up not lasting as well as we hope, I won't feel so bad because I didn't pay an exorbitant amount for it.

 

I like the plank v groove because it gives the dogs more grip as the floor is not so smooth. Also, the other style eventually gets dirt in the joints unless you're a super duper cleaner & with dogs, cats & kids & a gardening hobby, it's just not that clean here. This way, I find any dust etc makes its way into the v-groove and it isn't really that obvious because the entire floor has the grooves..... As well, our house is a bit wonky and not square and the v groove camouflages the fact that some of the joints are more 'open' and others are more 'tight'.

 

We got AC3 quality, btw. Check out the ratings here. http://www.fastfloors.com/articles/laminate_ac_rating.asp

 

We did 'splurge' and get the more expensive underlay which is a thicker, higher density foam. it's the one people in condos have to use to dampen the sounds. Our floor sounds nice and solid & when downstairs, you can't hear people walking on it upstairs.

 

hth! Good luck making your choice!

[Ellie]

I have read that if you install pre-finished hardwood floors (or bamboo or whatever) that it can be tricky to do any repairs or refinish at a later date.

 

We've always had oak, because that's what was there, but if I were installing new, I'd be interested in bamboo (I like it a little darker than the natural color, though), or cork. Hickory is pretty, too. Or cherry. Oh, heck...any wood floors would be fine :-)

[Sharon in SC]

I have read that if you install pre-finished hardwood floors (or bamboo or whatever) that it can be tricky to do any repairs or refinish at a later date.

 

 

 

I can imagine this might be the case if you opted for a deep bevel on the edges. We did not and would not expect any trouble with refinishing ours. That coupled with the fact that we have a 50 year warranty on our finish makes me thing it won't be an issue (prefinish). :)