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square-edge vs microbeveled wood flooring in kitchen

15 years ago

We are trying to decide between prefinished Bruce wood strips for the kitchen. The strips without bevels, what they call square-edged, look good but cost ~$3/sq ft more. The microbevels look a lot better than the macrobevels on my other older Bruce floor but may prove to be objectionable. Have to think about it.

Is there any other issue with the tighter fitting square edge strips? Do they really fit so exactly that we won't notice slight differences in height between strips? That was why we went with a sanded in floor in the last house but maye it is not worth the dust and solvents again. I'm hoping the square edged strips will be better in the kitchen for the occasional small spill versus a bevel. Any thoughts on these choices in a kitchen?

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Comments (4)

avivacarol
15 years ago
Hi, I asked a similar question, but about beveled planks. Maybe you can help me. I am looking at (closeout) price on a nice wood oak sawn 5 inch plank. It is engineered and definetely beveled edges. I am wondering how hard it would be to clean. I have dog and kid. A very lived in space including kitchen. Your thoughts. How did you keep area clean? Photos? Thanks,

Carol avivacarol@aol.com
jaansu
Original Author
15 years ago
Just came from the showroom and some conversations with the dealer. The square edge seems to represent the oak floors that I am used to: some will develop gaps between the planks/strips on ageing due to expansion/contraction. No big deal to me since this is the character of a wood floor. It still seems easier to clean and has less potential for unhappiness compared to the beveled edge floor. The square edge is significantly more expensive although. Worst comes to worse, I assume I can sand down the prefinished coating to the wood and go through the traditional means to get a oak floor.
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if you want square edge you can get it from Bruce, Mohawk and many other mfctrs. They may not have the samples but the lines all make square edge products. The reason for micro bevels are that no floor is perfectly flat and without sanding the floor you will have instances of overwood which if your picky you will notice with a square edge product. With micro bevels this helps avoid the situation as it camaflouges the height variations. Other reason is simply design. With a bevel each strip or plank is accented and it is a different look. Any difference in maintenance would be extremely negligible.
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boxers
15 years ago
99% of prefinished have microbevel or a very slight kissed edge. Its not a big dirtcatcher. There are handscraped or rustic looks with deep bevels like the older plank floors used to have. I wouldn't be concerned. Square edge products can work fine if the subfloor is very very level. You may feel overwood at corners but not excessiely. Thats part of the reason for the bevel, but from a cleaning perspective I wouldn't make it the deciding factor.
Laurie
15 years ago
I'll chime in on this discussion, too. Dh & I are not sure which way we'll choose, but are leaning towards the square edge version of Lauzon's red oak natural. This is going to be a DIY install. We're on a concrete slab, so it has to be engineered. I was told that Lauzon's square edge product can not be floated. Their microbeveled product can be either floated or glued down.
I have heard that Lauzon has excellent quality control and the square edges are "true" or have little or no variance between boards...a very tight fit. On the other hand, I've heard that if the subfloor is not extremely flat, then "over wood" (think that's what someone called it) or little ridges will result and can be felt with bare feet or socks can get snagged on them.

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