icenet, I am not Floorguy or a professional so I can't answer your exact question so I will wait for floorguy to answer it a little better than I can. But I do know that if there is deep scratches or pee stains that can't be removed a 4 MM floor most likely can be sanded down to remove the damage without replacing the floor. Maybe floorguy can correct me if I am wrong. I had a 2 MM engineered wood floor here that lasted 18 years in my townhouse that did get very worn out looking losing most of the finish on time and eventually got totally ruined from the water damage when my central air conditioner failed and squirted water that flooded the floor lifting the veneeer in layers along with the plywood and that is when I found out my floors were not solid oak floors. The finish really did only have a 15 year life like the Bruce Engineered Glen Cove Flooring Planks's warranty says it had. The finish on top along with the hardness of the wood and the thickness I feel from my samples all determine the quality of the floor and how long it will last but then again you have to compare the cost of sanding down a floor and refinishing it to replacing planks that cost less. I hope Floorguy comes back to answer the question more accurately and maybe some other flooring people since I am also curious being that I will be buying an engineered wood floor after my busy season ends. For now, this was my break and now I have to get back to work despite it being a Sunday and holiday. I love Maple Wood but having it unstained would be too light for my home office I feel despite showing the beauty of the grain and keeping the room light and airy. We'd love pics. Happy Easter to those that celebrate. It is still cold today which is amazing since it is almost the middle of April. But it is sunny outside and that brings light into my room making it easier to work.

there is no time frames ot limits on failures. chances are it will last 50 years. chances are also that tomorrow is can crack out and start the path to failure. it is a gamble. some win the roll of the dice and some lose. some customers are willing to take that gamble to save a few bucks onm removal. I can tell you of the huge numbers of replacements we do when customers come into our stores with complaints of previous installers/stores who have clad over an existing flooring product, had problems, then came to us to fix them. Actually I remember quite a few who came to us for a quote, then went with someone else when we told them something needed to be ripped out or extensively prepared to be done right, then had someone else do it "their way" to save a few bucks, only to come back to us and pay us to rip BOTH LAYERS out, buy new material from us, and pay us to install it again. That original few bucks they saved is now gone with much more wasted in labor and materials, so it ended up costing them exponentially more in the long haul. I am not saying this is the case with yours, but it is nevertheless a gamble. Standards exist because they give time and trade proven results. Doing it right the first time, there is little chance of failure.

You've done a very good job with the situation you've been given. The hardwoods look very close to identical. The only thing I could add to this - and it is ONLY an esthetics suggestion - would be to go 1/2 step darker on the transition strips. Like sewing a seam on a shirt/dress/pants, the ideal is a perfect colour match (thread to cloth). If the match can't be done, a good seamstress will go a snick darker. At a distance it is much harder to see a darker stitch then it is to see a lighter stitch. That is the only thing you could do at this point. And to be clear, the transitions are a pretty good match. If you do anything, the transitions going 1/2 step darker than they are right now would be all I would suggest. Other than that, think of those pieces of wood as the thing that saved you $15K. It's all about how you look at a situation. You can think, "Oh, geeze. I wish I didn't have to have those things there," or you can think "Thank GOODNESS for those transition strips! They saved me $15,000!" Still the same situation - just a different way of looking at it.

First, the transition location should be located in the area covered by the door when closed(not like the second picture), IMHO. Second, making a transition like that is doable, even if the two surfaces are not perfectly even. But, the difference should not be more than 1/8". I have done similar transitions between tile and nailed hardwood. Not sure if a floating hardwood floor would move enough to cause a problem. Might try a siliconized colored caulk that would allow minor movement.