Wood Flooring...... Which is best

niamh4626

Hi,

I jsut bought my first apartment/home!!! I am mega excited about furnishing it:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D!!

I am going to put wood flooring (french oak i think) in the living room, it is a massive space, circa 320sq foot so I need to know, which flooring option should I choose, semi solid wood flooring - you cant sand it if it gets damaged, solid wood flooring - quite expensive but would last for years OR engineered woof flooring, which seemingly is better that semi solid in so far as you can sand it if it gets damaged (so i've been told)......

Can anyone share their feelings, oinions, experiences on my options?

Thanks,
Niamh

Saruman

Ruling out laminate? Pretty hard to damage and its cheap. also simple enough to lay yourself.

niamh4626

Definatly do not want laminate, it is too plastic and cheap looking!

SpitfireIV

I put down a semi solid floor recently, luckily it was for my brother, he pushed a wardrobe across the floor (granted the wardrobe was full, but was on castors) and the bloody thing left four track marks going across the floor!! Pretty deep too! It was an oak floor, but because its semi solid, its only a thin layer of actual oak so doesnt stand up to as much punishment as a solid floor would.

Laminates are ok, and some of them look pretty realistic and well finished but give them another few years and they'll be gone out of fashion, everyone will be pulling them up, just like the beautyboard of the 70's/80's....ughh, seemed a good idea at the time.

Personally I'd be going with solid, might be a little more expensive in the long run, but you'll get your moneys worth, and whats more you'll have something that more ermm.......honest? A proper wood floor as wood floors should be!

Carpenter

Hi
You and buy good semi solid or bad semi solid
The thing is when buying semi solid buy the 1 with a tick skin of hardwood 6mm would be good then when it gets marked you can sand it out and I can tell you it would take some mark to go down 6mm and it would take some time to sand down 6mm as well

Double Barrel

Put real wood down. You will not regret it.
Buy the flooring and let it sit in the room you are installing it in for a fortnight or more to let it get acclimated.
You can lay it yourself but I would advise hiring a professional to sand, fill & seal the floor. Depending on the type of wood you decide on -Oak etc. allow for expansion at least .5 inch at all walls etc. .

Carlow52

Currently putting down stuff that is 40 euro a sq m/ already have stuff that is down 15 years: kids/ dogs/ grandchildren have all come and gone: not a mark:)

cltt97

What do you think about this foor? http://www.doordepot.ie/component/virtuemart/?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage-ask.tpl&product_id=209&category_id=35 I've got solid oak downstairs, but can't really afford to go solid for upstairs and I hate laminate, so when I saw this I thought this might be a good alternative. Does anyone know anything about hickory/pecan wood? I googled it and apparently it's very hard wood.

Double Barrel

Pecan and hickory were/are used quite a bit for parquet wood floor. Both are very hard woods. The wood usually needs to pilot holes drilled before one can drive nails in it.
Is this product sold as pre-finished squares with a peel off backing?

cltt97

I'm not sure, I'm planning to have a look at ot over the weekend, as it appears a good deal.... Will keep you posted.

boatbuilder

I vote for real wood. Rustic oak is nice.
I put it down in my living room myself. It was a hell of a tough job but in the end it worked out exactly how I wanted it and it should outlive me by many years!