"We installed hardwood over existing hardwood going in the same direction - although there was no subfloor, so pulling it up wasnt really an option. No problems at all." You had no subfloor? The hardwood was nailed every 16" directly to the joists? Did you do the work or did some contractor convince you that this was the situation? I Have not seen that in 40 years of remodeling old homes and will probably never see it. As I said before, TAKE UP THE OLD FLOOR!

I spent about 6 hours removing 15 lineal feet of 5" wide wood floor that had been glued down properly. Yes, I had to be more careful than you because I was doing repairs, but I would seriously consider going over the floor instead of removing it. Sophie's advice is excellent as usual, but you may need some marijuana after the pizza and beer.

SJ McCarthy, our contract is stated we are responsible for the materials and we pay for the labor. Unfortunately we never met nor discuss with the owner but only discussed in details ( in the proposal) with the project manager who is the solely the carpenter.) We just found out there were a lot of the DETAILS from the proposal were not explained (per the PM,but who knows) in detail to the owner or almost like "bait and switch" - for example like item #2- he spent more time because the owner did not get him another helper to help him- I told him this should not be the customer's expenses-Anyway we are willing to pay for it. The owner was offering to renew and establish a new contract from the original contact ( we felt that he cherry picking the items from the proposal, we marked them up then again he decided not to included) for the unfinished works . Once he agreed in our 2nd meeting (another example: he agreed tiling our study room to be included from the original contact in our 1st meeting then when he write the REVISED CONTRACT- he wants to charge us ), but again we are facing the same old stories-he tried to change the wording. We were burned so many times and now we diligently review line by line knowing the owner's personality. He kept saying he lived by the contract-then I told him then he should honor the low estimated to install our engineering hardwood floor including removing the carpet-in the end he says he would honor but he did not including the cost in the new REVISED contract which we add into it - we are so tired with his games. So now we put a contingency - once we agree with the new contract, no more additional expenses from the previous work was done- and we do agree that we need to be notified first and need both signatures for additional expenses from the new contract. and no more point finger of "not included" since we have discussed in detailed and are in the contract. The new addition has a hardwood floor installed - with Dri-core. Once hardwood floor was installed- they are some areas squeak- we were told by PM -put a marked up then he would fasten without explaining to us-these would be additional ridiculous charges (PM told the owner, too-we told PM that they should explain it to us- ) Regarding the installing the engineering hardwood floor is for our existing rooms(concrete slabs that has plywood already)- we are told just to put a vapour barrier. Is it possible to let me know what brands for the glues have to be moisture resistant ($2/sf) or moisture PROOF ($3/sf).? The manufacture instruction suggests to use Franklin Tongue and Groove adhesive (cross linking polyaliphactic emulsion glue) www.titebond.com -any suggestions? This Applachian engineering hardwood floor - FLOATING only needs GLUE between the wood (tongue and groove per the manufacture manual ) then would be FLOAT - this is not to be GLUE DOWN on our concrete floor (could be glue down if necessary but not in our case). Here is the website- on PAGE 9 http://www.appalachianflooring.com/uploads/general/documents/engineered-installation-guide.pdf We trust the PM and we pay for it- we just want to move on and complete the project-It has been almost 10 months. We have to do what we have to do to protect ourselves now- The owner refuses to install our towel bar in our new shower without charging us, and we told him we will take care them by ourselves. I will update this post and hoping for a better solution. Thank you

Wow...that's a huge question. I know it sounds simple, but it is quite complex. So complex there are entire books on the subject (both professional and lay-man). So....solid hardwood is just that. It is solid. It is the same wood cut from the same tree, from the same plank at the mill. Traditionally it is 3/4" thick. Widths vary but the classic is around 3" wide plank. A 3/4" solid hardwood can be refinish 3-4 times with a total lifespan of 60-100 years. These are either factory finished or site finished. The industry has realized that some people are too afraid of large purchases so the solid hardwood industry has come up with the idea to make their planks THINNER and thereby making them cheaper. I've seen 1/2" or even 3/8" solid hardwood. They can be refinished once...maybe twice and have a lifespan of 20 - 40 years. These thinner solid hardwoods are often factory finished (cheap, thin and fast). And that's the easy part. Engineered hardwood...where to start. First off the TOP layer is the ONLY LAYER that contains the pricey hardwood that you are paying for. Everything else is like "plywood". The body of the plank is made up of cross-hatched layers of wood (not always hardwood) that are glued together. The top layer will range from 2mm - 6mm. The ability to refinish will depend on the thickness of the top layer (known as the wear layer). You need 3mm of wood to complete a full sand and refinish - just once. So the 2mm wear layer is a "one and done" type of floor. It has a life span of roughly 20 years (though many people rip them out after 15 because they look beaten up). The 6mm wear layer in a 3/4" engineered plank that is site finished is the Holy Grail of the engineered hardwood world. They are the most expensive, the most beautiful and offer the longest life cycle of all engineered hardwoods. They are so expensive that they are MORE expensive than solid hardwood floors. Whew. There is so much more but that's the difference in a nutshell. Shaw has had some complaints. The biggest issues with wood will be humidity and indoor climate control. Ask your builder to check the heating/cooling system. Ask them detailed questions about the unit's capability to handle climate control that is REQUIRED for a hardwood floor - regardless of the presentation.