Floorguy, if I float 3/8th vs. 1/2" which would feel better since I am thinking of going with BR-111 3.25" wide 3/8th thick Triangulo engineered wood. I love the 5" wide but I think it looked a little wide in my home office with so much furniture I have. If I glue down the floor, I will have to seal the floor first so I am thinking of floating it. I also like the Mirage Maple Auburn Lock that is almost 1/2" thick and 4 5/16th wide and I like the 1/2" thick Pradoo Bruce Park Avenue Laminate. But so far the 3/8th thick BR-111 3.25" wide is winning in my mind but it may change after my busy season... So if I float the 3/8th with a very thick pad will it not feel as good as the 1/2" thick engineered wood?

Hi wxkristin, You should have the concern. A lighter weight floating floor like 3/8" is quite much harder to perform the same asa thicker and heavier one. Here are the 3 main things to have a sound instaled floating wood floors: flat subfloors, quality underlayment, heavier floors with good wear layers. Good luck with your project.

I just wanted to add that I have the Hallmark engineered floor in wide plank hickory and absolutely love it. It was more expensive than other engineered floors, it was comparable in costs to solid hardwood. We went with engineered because it was in our kitchen. No issues in almost two years with this floor. The benefit of a thicker layer is more chances of sanding it down to refresh the floor. We hope our floor outlasts us.

Those prices are high. When you pay that much for HVAC, it really makes sense to superinsulate and then just use electric baseboards. Even 1/2 of $17k would get the structure to a level where you could fully heat with electric baseboards for what you want for $100 a year. If you need a/c, do a minisplit for $4000 installed and that $100 goes to $30. By superinsulate - sprayfoam is not it. In your climate, you want R40 walls which is achieved by 12 inch thick walls with cellulose/fiberglass or 3-4 inches of rigid foam on top of 2x4 wall. Sprayfoam has its place but filling a cavity with it is not what it is best for. Are you really looking at R20 walls? Is that even code? Or is there rigid foam that you have also? There are no drafts in a modern wall - fiberglass or not. $8k for sprayfoam is a waste. If it is 2 inches of rigid foam on the outside - then it is not. My walls in NC are zip R3 over fiberglass bibs in 2x6. The small amount of rigid foam just helps with the thermal bridging of the framing. The bibs fill voids much better than batts. It is blown in. We have foam in small areas that bibs would not work with. I think $10k did our 3800 sqft house (not counting the zip R which was $3k upcharge over zip). I would think you would want R-80 in the roof which is probably best achieved by rigid foam over the sheathing given the rafter space needed. Or you could just do code minimum and minisplit with electric baseboard back up it since it isn't full time use.