Engineered wood vs laminate flooring

[bringmagicback]

Had an issue regarding our flooring recently and need to replace. The floor is for our dining room not wet etc. The flooring guy suggested laminate while the contractor friend of ours suggested engineered. I know the difference, those of you with experience ....opinions?

 

[Cyclonepride]

Laminates have a harder core, so will be more dent and scratch resistant. They're installed "floating", so they do have a different sound and feel, and as a picture of wood, don't look all that real. Typically more moisture resistant too, though not nearly as moisture resistant as the new interlocking LVT, which has pretty much destroyed the laminate market (typically at a higher price point though). I have dogs and went with the interlocking LVT and love it as I don't have to worry about moisture at all, and it is wearing very well (my dogs are little).

The engineered wood has the beauty of real wood and can be recoated down the road (though most engineered floors don't have the wear surface to be sanded).

The decision really boils down to your lifestyle and the look you are going for. If you have kids and dogs, laminate or LVT. As a floating installation, those are way easier to remove and replace later. If the look is paramount, engineered wood is the way to go.

 

[Cyclonepride]

Also- whichever way you go, since it's a dining room, protect the new flooring from your chairs (either using an area rug or well maintained pads under your chairs), as dining room chairs are probably the leading flooring damage culprits, behind big dogs.

 

[stevefrench]

laminate = great scratch resistence and looks pretty good (if you aren't buying some $0.99 lowes or lumber liquidators garbage). However the core is essentially constructed of compressed sawdust. So any water, even topical spills, can cause expansion and swelling. Will cost you between $4-$6/sqft installed

There are different qualities of engineered hardwood. Depending on construction and the actual hardwood layer on top. The inexpensive rotary peel engineered floors are just entry level wood that is not refinishable and have relatively short warranties on finish and performance. Still wood. Many still look great. Still carries the "value" of a hardwood floor from a resale perspective. Just a little lower quality. Will cost you between $7-$9/sqft installed.

The higher quality engineered floors have a sawn top layer that is cut in the same way they slice 3/4" boards fir solid wood floors. It's just cut thinner, 3/16 - 1/4" ish, and then placed on top of ply layers. Many of these can be refinished as many times as a solid 3/4" hardwood floor could be. Evcellent dimensional stability because of the construction, same grain as a solid sawn board, high quality. Will cost you between $9-$15/sqft installed

All engineered floors are prefinished by the manufacturer and have way higher quality wear protection on the surface than you could apply on a floor being sanded and finished in place. Many of the higher quality engineered floors have 50 year warranties on the finish (doesn't mean you can't dent or scratch it, it's still wood, it's just means you'll never wear through the finish even in the highest traffic areas of your home)

 

[Deleted member 8507]

laminate = great scratch resistence and looks pretty good (if you aren't buying some $0.99 lowes or lumber liquidators garbage). However the core is essentially constructed of compressed sawdust. So any water, even topical spills, can cause expansion and swelling. Will cost you between $4-$6/sqft installed

There are different qualities of engineered hardwood. Depending on construction and the actual hardwood layer on top. The inexpensive rotary peel engineered floors are just entry level wood that is not refinishable and have relatively short warranties on finish and performance. Still wood. Many still look great. Still carries the "value" of a hardwood floor from a resale perspective. Just a little lower quality. Will cost you between $7-$9/sqft installed.

The higher quality engineered floors have a sawn top layer that is cut in the same way they slice 3/4" boards fir solid wood floors. It's just cut thinner, 3/16 - 1/4" ish, and then placed on top of ply layers. Many of these can be refinished as many times as a solid 3/4" hardwood floor could be. Evcellent dimensional stability because of the construction, same grain as a solid sawn board, high quality. Will cost you between $9-$15/sqft installed

All engineered floors are prefinished by the manufacturer and have way higher quality wear protection on the surface. Many of the higher quality engineered floors have 50 year warranties on the finish (doesn't mean you can't dent or scratch it, it's still wood, it's just means you'll never wear through the finish even in the highest traffic areas of your home)

I see what you did there

 

[stevefrench]

Laminates have a harder core, so will be more dent and scratch resistant. They're installed "floating", so they do have a different sound and feel, and as a picture of wood, don't look all that real. Typically more moisture resistant too, though not nearly as moisture resistant as the new interlocking LVT, which has pretty much destroyed the laminate market (typically at a higher price point though). I have dogs and went with the interlocking LVT and love it as I don't have to worry about moisture at all, and it is wearing very well (my dogs are little).

The engineered wood has the beauty of real wood and can be recoated down the road (though most engineered floors don't have the wear surface to be sanded).

The decision really boils down to your lifestyle and the look you are going for. If you have kids and dogs, laminate or LVT. As a floating installation, those are way easier to remove and replace later. If the look is paramount, engineered wood is the way to go.

Traditionally laminate is extremely sensitive to moisture. Even the new laminates that are being marketed as "new and improved water resistant core" will have issues. Laminate can look better than LVP in some cases, just because they can finish it differently and it doesnt always have that gloss of a vinyl.

Correct, that a flooring decision really comes down to your lifestyle and what you require for look and price.

 

[stevefrench]

I see what you did there

Ha. Autocorrect on the iPhone making wood jokes now

 

[mkadl]

Had an issue regarding our flooring recently and need to replace. The floor is for our dining room not wet etc. The flooring guy suggested laminate while the contractor friend of ours suggested engineered. I know the difference, those of you with experience ....opinions?

Laminate when spotless is beautiful. IMO. BUT the gloss if very hard to keep clean. Bare feet even leave prints. Maybe I am too picky? 4 years of laminate in our home.

 

[Cyclonepride]

Traditionally laminate is extremely sensitive to moisture. Even the new laminates that are being marketed as "new and improved water resistant core" will have issues. Laminate can look better than LVP in some cases, just because they can finish it differently and it doesnt always have that gloss of a vinyl.

Correct, that a flooring decision really comes down to your lifestyle and what you require for look and price.

"Less sensitive than wood" (on the surface) was my point. Yeah, I'm not buying the water resistant core either. We're installing the Rigidcore LVT 100 to 1 over laminate these days.