There are numerous quality brands. Our #1 brand is Mirage. They make a nice product and have a fair amount of variety. That said, I don't see much in the way of truly bad flooring. In prefinished we carry Harris, Anderson (some recent reports of lower quality), Mannington (ditto), Armstrong/Hartco, Kahrs, Ark, Homerwood, Johnson, Bella Cera, Navarre, Garrison, Hallmark, Triangulo and Columbia. Each has decent offerings. My feeling is that if one can find an ideal floor that's prefinished, it has valid advantages. To be clear, we also do unfinished floors and refinishing.

It's pretty widely accepted that most dishout is caused by the big machine. After you Trio the floor, there isn't enough screening done to cause dishout and as I pointed out, the weight of the buffer divided by the area sanded doesn't provide enough pressure to cause dishout with a 100 or 120 grit screen. I seriously doubt I could cause dishout even if I tried. I also haven't experienced the release of grit on the floor as you claim but I'm mainly buffing with using dust pickup. Perhaps if one was not using the Trio and was buffing with a heavier grit sandpaper for a longer period of time to eliminate ripples or chatter, I could see it, but in that case one should be using a hardplate. Even then the screening process after the hardplate isn't aggressive or extensive enough to cause dishout. Perhaps you're using the term "screening" to refer to the entire process done after the edging and big machine work. If so, I can see your point. http://www.hardwoodfloorsmag.com/component/com_kunena/Itemid,292/catid,6/id,404/view,topic/

My concern is the layers of vinyl underneath the hardwood. Hardwood doesn't like sitting on vinyl and vinyl doesn't like sitting on hardwood. The two do NOT like each other. If you think this is a good idea (which it is considered on the technical side of things a horrible approach to this) then you might have to add another layer of subfloor. A nice, fat, thick 1/2" plywood to cover those two layers of vinyl. Now you can go ahead and lay the hardwood. Technically, my suggestion is hideous. It is atrocious. It is so "unprofessional" that I could weep. But if you insist on leaving the vinyl in place, then you need to think of a way to separate the vinyl from the hardwood sitting on top....and one very sure way is with plywood. Again, my suggestion is a travesty. Then again so is laying hardwood over two layers of vinyl. In the flooring world, we 'allow' ONE layer of resistant flooring (like vinyl) to sit underneath another floor. For example: the first layer of vinyl was considered "OK" to lay another layer of vinyl over top. All good. No one in the technical department batted an eye. If a THIRD vinyl floor was proposed (or a laminate, or linoleum, or cork, or hardwood, or tile, or even carpet) it would be a "NOOOOOOOO! STOOOOOP! DON'T DO IT!" type of answer. So I will officially say: No. Stop. Don't do it. There. It has been said. That being said, if you as the homeowner choose to forgo the installation instructions and the "Best Practices" as set out by the National Wood Flooring Association (as homeowners your word is "law" when it comes to things like this), you are welcome to go ahead and lay hardwood over two layers of vinyl. If you do it, I suggest a new layer of plywood to help things along - because you need FLAT. And most "old hardwoods with two layers of vinyl sitting on them" are anything but flat. Good luck. You would be better off remediating the asbestos/vinyl and getting down to bare hardwood. Now a new floor (with the help of a layer of plywood) can go down. Or you remove the original hardwood with the vinyl (this is easier to do than scrape off the vinyl...and easier = cheaper) and start with a new layer of subfloor and go after it like it should be done. But as homeowner your word is "law". If you tell a professional to "just do it", they will say "yes ma'am/sir" and do it. But they will not warranty their work. You will be left holding the bag - and all the pit vipers that lay inside. It's your call.

Laying the new floor in the same direction as the old floor is not the normal way to go about this. In the building industry, it is more common to see layers that are staggered or "bricked". In other words if layer #1 is laid in a North-South direction, then layer #2 (the top layer) is laid perpendicular to it in an East-West presentation. If you want to run the new flooring in the same direction as the old, you will want to use some underlayment (plywood) over top of the old floor so that you can maintain the "staggered" or "bricked" layering system. That is one way to maintain the North-South presentation. Please work with hardwood flooring professionals who have some experience renovating these old gems. They will have seen what worked....and what didn't. Their experience will be invaluable on a project like yours.