Let's talk about hardwood floors

[Hack&Lube]

I'm in a nearly brand new concrete condo and I really don't like my engineered hardwood floors.

They just feel cheap and dent and tear incredibly easy and under the super thin layer of wood it's just particle board. You also can't save engineered wood by sanding, refinishing, or even steaming out dents like you can with real hard wood.

I think I would have preferred something like restaurant grade laminate (looks great and withstands lots of traffic) or real hardwood but I don't know if those options are possible.

I would definitely look into replacing my floors in the future.

[puckluck2]

Use Canadian wood. That's all the advice I got.

[DFO]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

I'm in a nearly brand new concrete condo and I really don't like my engineered hardwood floors.

They just feel cheap and dent and tear incredibly easy and under the super thin layer of wood it's just particle board. You also can't save engineered wood by sanding, refinishing, or even steaming out dents like you can with real hard wood.

I think I would have preferred something like restaurant grade laminate (looks great and withstands lots of traffic) or real hardwood but I don't know if those options are possible.

I would definitely look into replacing my floors in the future.

I'm not a flooring expert but what you're describing sounds like laminate and not engineered. When scoping out flooring for our place we looked at an engineered product that could be site finished and even re-finished down the road. All of the engineered samples we looked at seemed to have 1/8th to 3/16th inches of wood on a laminated backing.

[Bigtime]

It can definitely be engineered, quite a lot of it coming out with an HDF core instead of plywood layers.

Also keep in mind a thicker wear layer on the top will exert more force on the plywood/HDF core if subjected to large temperature/moisture swings and can delaminate faster than a thinner wear layer.

[trublmaker]

You should really look at bamboo flooring, it comes in alot of different patterns now is probably one of the most durable

[Fobby]

How do I keep the humidity up in the summer time? Does turning on the fan of the furnace turn on the humidifier be enought?

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by trublmaker

You should really look at bamboo flooring, it comes in alot of different patterns now is probably one of the most durable

Just make sure it is dried out adequately for our environment here, and know that horizontal grain is the most unstable of the bunch. Vertical is better, and strand woven is the best for stability.

Originally Posted by Fobby

How do I keep the humidity up in the summer time? Does turning on the fan of the furnace turn on the humidifier be enought?

I find the summer is easier to keep adequate humidity, it's the winter when our furnaces/baseboard heaters (in condos) kick in and suck every bloody drop of moisture out of the air.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

I think I would have preferred something like restaurant grade laminate (looks great and withstands lots of traffic) or real hardwood but I don't know if those options are possible.

I would definitely look into replacing my floors in the future.

PM sent.

[red sky]

Originally Posted by trublmaker

You should really look at bamboo flooring, it comes in alot of different patterns now is probably one of the most durable

My neighbour has bamboo flooring and well it appears durable, it seems susceptible to chipping as opposed to denting. Not sure if this is normal but I am sure Bigtime could speak to it.

[Table 5]

Definitely don't cheap out on product or installation. Our "new" engineered hardwood floor that the previous owner put in is starting to lift up all over the place....I'm not sure if it's the crappy product, or the installation...or both.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by red sky

My neighbour has bamboo flooring and well it appears durable, it seems susceptible to chipping as opposed to denting. Not sure if this is normal but I am sure Bigtime could speak to it.

I've heard of it happening with a lot of the very hard exotic woods out there (some of which I carry). Some people get so obsessed with the janka rating and wanting the highest one that they miss the fact that certain impacts actually work against the hardness, and you can get the chipping occurring like your neighbour.

I would much rather take a red oak or a Canadian maple that while not bullet proof, it will most likely only dent and scratch, and not be too hard to the point of brittleness.

[DFO]

Is there a climate in Canada that is harder on hardwood than what we deal with in Calgary? Building a place here was an eye opener - besides the flooring issues I learned alot about problems with solid wood exterior doors and wood accents on the exterior. The humidity and freeze/thaw issues here suck.

[Fobby]

Sounds like I should have talked to BigTime before buying my hardwood...... I bought some Mont Royal Hard maple.. i hope that's the good stuff.

So I shouldn't have to worry about turning on the fan of the furnance in the summer time? and crank up the switch in the winter time? LOL

[puckluck2]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Definitely don't cheap out on product or installation. Our "new" engineered hardwood floor that the previous owner put in is starting to lift up all over the place....I'm not sure if it's the crappy product, or the installation...or both.

They probably installed on k3 instead of plywood.