Hardwood floor questions

[RandyHamilton]

I will be pulling the carpet out of my living room and dining room and replacing it with hardwood floors. I never realized there were so many options until I started trying to decide what I was going to install.



1. It appears that the laminates are the cheapest, but how durable are they compared to engineered or solid hardwood?



2. What about Bamboo floors. I read where it is said they are harder than oak. I like the look of the caramelized bamboo.



3. Nail and glue or interlocking? Interlocking looks a lot easier to install.



Anyone have bamboo floors in their home or otherwise have first or secondhand knowledge on the subject?



The best prices I have been able to find are from lumberliquidators.



All suggestions appreciated. .

 

[HoleshotHolset]

The company I work for has bamboo on the cafeteria floor in the main building at HQ in MA. I have been absolutely amazed at how well it has held up over the ~3 years. It has ~800 people going across it everyday and sliding chairs with a complete disregard for the finish. Every time I travel to HQ, I'm amazed at that floor. I'd definitely consider it... especially when you consider that bamboo is very quick to grow/mature and it is completely renewable.



At the wife's place, we have two high energy dogs that you'd think would tear the heck out of a laminate floor, but it has yet to scratch at all in over a year.



Dad has a pre-finished cherry floor in the dining room. It looks VERY nice and the finish has been durable over the last ~9 years... but its very soft and has a few dents in it. When we installed it, you could literally see how thick the finish was on top of the wood... that was encouraging.



Cheers,



Matt

 

[rubberneck]

I have solid maple hardwood in my house, my parents have solid oak. My brother did pre-finished solid hickory. All three are holding up very well. My complaint about the pre-finished stuff is that the cracks between boards collect dirt and spills. With the finish on site stuff, you have a nice solid sealed surface. In my last house i had laminate maple. It dented much easier than the solid maple i have now. I don't know the current cost difference of finish on site solid vs pre-finished or laminate, but my vote is definitely finish on site solid wood. Oh yeah, and do yourself a favor go for a satin finish instead of a high gloss, especially if you have kids or animals. You don't notice the scratches or dings nearly as much.

 

[Todd G]

I bought and installed 900 sq ft of Brazillian Cherry from Costco last year. It ran about $1. 50 per foot with the pad. Took me a few days to do the job myself. After a year and 2 big dogs, there are no scratches. Cherry is HARD!

 

[RandyHamilton]

thanks guys,, I appreciate all the input. . Doesn't make the decision any easier though!

 

[Alphacowboy]

real wood all the way myfriend! DO NOT INSTALL laminate flooring! I have installed it for customers, but I would NEVER install it in my own home. The stuff just looks fake to me and on top of that, like said above, it doesnt wear all that good. Unlike real wood, you cant just scuff the surface and re-coat it with a new layer of polyurathane (sp?) Plus, laminate tends to be VERY slippery, something I really dislike about it. I install alot of the laminate stuff, but its for Great Clips stores here in the MN metro area. They only use it because its cheap and quick, and since all there stores are on concrete slabs, they install it with a pad under the flooring so the stylists feet dont hurt so bad at the end of the day.



You might want to check out these guys... http://www.lumberliquidators.com/home.jsp



I just installed some of their Bellawood Oak flooring, and the stuff was pretty decent. Some of the boards were not exactly the same thickness, but for a prefinished flooring, it wanst at all that bad. Plus, it didnt have the docked edges, they were squared so no dips/cracks for dirt to catch in. I also installed some mahogoney (sp?) prefinished flooring for my brother last weekend, absolutely beautiful, but I know it wasnt cheap! It was 4k for ~300 square feet!!! And that was with his builders discount!



Lastly, floating or not floating, again personal preferance here, I hate floating floors! I like the stuff that is nail down. I hate nothing more than walking on a floor and feel it move under your feet. I dont care how careful you are at laying the floor and installing shims and spacers to fill in any gaps under the flooring due to an uneven sub floor, it still bounces. if you can nail it down, go that route. The flooring we just layed for my brother was a nail down, or glue float. We had to go the floating route because his subfloor was a gypcrete cement. This wasnt a snap together floor, it was a typical tongue and groove, but you just glued it together. If you like I can check with him tomorrow about the brand and type if you like.



if you have any more questions, I will try to answer them the bast I can.

 

[Alphacowboy]

I bought and installed 900 sq ft of Brazillian Cherry from Costco last year. It ran about $1. 50 per foot with the pad. Took me a few days to do the job myself. After a year and 2 big dogs, there are no scratches. Cherry is HARD!

actually, Cherry is a soft wood, most likely the flooring you got has an aluminum oxide finish that is UV cured. The stuff is HARD! It will kill a carbide blade on just one floor install.

 

[RandyHamilton]

AlphaCowboy

Thanks for the info.



ALphaCowboy,,, The more information the better.



Thanks,

 

[Bob Wagner]

we are almost ready for the same project. and we are cosidering the costco laminate flooring.



just looked at the label today to see made in the usa vs china



the 5. 00 0ff coupon goes in to effect next week.



we have just under 750 sq ft to do in the family room/kitchen area.



thanks for all input

 

[Alphacowboy]

Maybe I should really look into my "Traveling Carpentry" business I have thought about doing. Looks like I will be in California with my brother in March for a entire house remodel! Lots of wood floors there as well. I think ya'll would keep me busy! :-laf Might have to invest in a NEW CTD C&C to haul around a tool trailer though... what a great excuse to buy one right? :-laf

 

[Alphacowboy]

Bob, for what its worth, please consider the real wood before ya go with the laminate. I think in the long run, you will thank yourself for going real wood in the long run. seriously look into that link I posted, some of the pricing they have on there blew me away at how cheap it can be to have real wood. I had always heard the ads on the radio about thier flooring, but not until this week had I see or installed the stuff. My brother and I were actually quite surprised at the quality of it compaired to some of the stuff we have seen.

 

[Byershome]

There are lots of facts to consider but for the do it yourselfer who has little experience putting down real wood flooring laminated interlocking flooring is the best solution. There is a wide selection to choose from, in general the more you are willing to spend per foot the higher quality and more durable it will be. Best of all most now are just cut and snap it together. Floor prep will be important with either one so what ever you don't cut corners there.



I have seen many "qualified" installers with years of experience botch the installation of a real wood floor. There is more to it than just nailing it to the floor.

 

[p-Bar]

I am a custom cabinetmaker and installed real white oak floors in my house. I am on slab and had to put down a moisture barrier then 3/4" ply then tar paper then the wood which then screwed me for the bedrooms where I have carpet , I had to ramp all the bedrooms for the 1-1/2" thick build up. If I had to do all over I would put down a prefinished "gluedown" floor satin finish. Remeber wood does not like water. 1 leak from the kitchen sink and it's all over. just my . 02 cts.

 

[bighammer]

actually, Cherry is a soft wood, most likely the flooring you got has an aluminum oxide finish that is UV cured. The stuff is HARD! It will kill a carbide blade on just one floor install.

Brazilian Cherry (AKA: Jatoba) is very hard, dense grained wood. Perfect for flooring, furniture, etc. In fact, it's so hard pre-drilling is often necessary.

If I were to build another house with a wood stairway, I'd use Jatoba for the treads.

 

[JLEONARD]

I installed pre finished Brazilian Koa (similar to the cherry but brown toned) in a dining room from Lumber Liquidators a few years ago. I'm a novice and it came out perfect using my son's floor nailer.

The stuff I bought has a"micro beveled" edge so it doesn't collect the dirt like many beveled edges do.

Jay

 

[WDixon27]

i was all set up to get bamboo off ebay when i fell into a killer deal on finished oak at lowes at about a buck a foot for oxide finished (got about 950sqf), theres a ton of companys with good deals on just about any flooring you want on ebay, way cheeper then what sams was selling bamboo for and shipping wasn't too bad if i remember right if you pick up at the local dock, plus you save tax buying out of state which came to about what the shipping would of been if i had ordered. glued it down on the cement in the living room, royal pain in the azz, fortunatly the rest of the install is 2nd floor on wood subfloor and will be nailed