I was just taking a walk with my Sassy (a Maltese) and I met someone who told me she has hardwood floors and her dog just passed away and there was no real damage to the floors even if she took a day to clean up the throw-up or pee. She told me maybe it is because she has two coats of finish on the solid oak hardwood floors.

So Solid Oak is better to have with pets than Engineered Wood and Laminate? I can't have solid wood since I am on a cement slab unless I have a subfloor installed.

Yes, doggie claws can put indented scratch areas on a hardwood floor. With cats, the claws actually dig in.

Liquids on some engineered floors with a poly finish can cause the finish layer to split, buckle, and warp. Likewise, liquid getting between the cracks of some laminate type flooring can cause the seams to expand and buckle as the fiber layers beneath absorb it. The solid oak floors with a wax finish at my Mom's place have gotten stained from the cats throwing up. There are surely scratches on it too, from dogs and cats over the years, but I haven't really looked. The stains just stand out.

For myself, I would only do solid hardwood again, as engineered has not worked well for me -- both with the pets throwing up and my not catching it immediately (takes no time at all to buckle), an intermittent problem with my washer drain.

After this last drain overflow, I am wanting to tile over my whole downstairs! as I will likely be here a long time to come. I do love the wood though.

If you plan to live there yourself for a long time then, with pets, tile is practical. It's surely not for everyone, though, so I'm not sure how well it would do on the market later. Most people might just want to do it over unless it's around the beach or something. Hardwood, I think, is always a plus on the market and is always value added.

Hi Squirrel, I have 4 very little dogs with tiny claws that I cut frequently so I am not worried about the scratches but thank you for reminding me if I have clients with dogs that visit which may scratch my floor. Some of my clients actually bring their pets to my office. :)

I guess I am worried about the liquid. I know Porcelain Ceramic is best on the floors but one of my wood look like Porcelian tiles has a chip in it from bringing it back from the store on top of other porcelian planks so it can chip if scizzors or heavy things drop on it.

I guess there is no perfect flooring and I am waiting for samples to decide if I should go with the 12 MM Laminate or the engineered hardwood floors that would not be as sturdy and fixable as solid wood floors.

Thank you Squirrel for replying. It seems that Solid hardwood floors are the best, then laminate, then engineered hardwood floors if one has pets?

lynn: I'd go with solid, if you can. Second choice would be engineered. Last choice would be laminate: there was a thread a while back--last year?--where someone said that laminate floors are waaaay more slippery than hardwood and not good for dogs for that reason. :)

P.S. And if your dogs are 5 lb. dogs, don't even worry about scratches on hardwood. Nothing beats solid hardwood floors, imo.

I've only seen one wood type ceramic style, back about ten years though. It was on a white body and not very dense, as in I'd be afraid of something like that with regards to chipping. Chipping can be a problem if the color doesn't go through the clay body.

I guess all floors are a problem for one reason or another. Carpet's no fun with fluids either. I'm with Organic, though, solid hardwoods are best if you go that route.

I've got the slab downstairs too, so went with the 3/8" engineered, which goes on with adhesive. Probably would have tiled if I had known it wouldn't hold up well. I believe I recently saw a solid hardwood being made now that is less than the 3/4" so can be installed with adhesive also.

My mother had to have the floors in her new place refinished only after a couple years, as their washer ran over. They've got the slab and a 3/8" engineered floor also, applied with adhesive. The water heater went once and since another leak, but the flooring people said they probably couldn't get another resurfacing out of that floor.

Organic and Squirrel, thank you both for your help. I am waiting for samples from Brutuses for the Park Avenue Laminate flooring but my heart still seems to be with that BR-111 Amendoim Engineered Flooring. If it was possible to go with a hard wood flooring not engineered I would prefer it and feel better about the situation if it needs finishing. I am not sure I can go that route though since I live in a preserved wet lands area and that is why there are no basements in my townhouse complex and my downstairs area in on a cement floor. I wonder how much a subfloor cost to install and if it still would be a problem with moisture going that route?

Finances are tight and are getting tighter by my obsession with what floor to get and I must try to work but it has been 4 weeks and I have done nothing about the buckled up engineered floor that is starting to smell musky in the foyer area that has the bathroom, coat closet, utility room, and the garage. The rug is needing to be cleaned all the time since it is a light beige and I had enough of dealing with my allergies with this carpet.

Maybe I should put down the stone-like Retalli Beige procelian Ceramic tile (if it chips the color goes all the way through the tile so that is good and it is strong and looks like real stone an is not slippery) I picked out ($2.26 or $2.28 a square foot that I liked better than the more expensive tiles) that should be waterproof and be good in my two foyer areas that surround my home office (both small area with the front foyer very small. This way, I can get some work done and wait for labor day sales and by then I will be sure what I want to do? Maybe the BR-111 Amendoim will go on sale. I also love the Tiger Wood. I love the Brazilian Cherry but I think it is too dark for my office that does not have overhead lighting.

I really like this wood since it looks nice with my office furniture and picks up colors around it without being too dark but I fear that if I sell my townhouse most people would prefer to see oak or a species that looks like oak on the floor.

Didn't turn up the picture I saw, think it may have been Bruce. But did find a reference to the solid 5/16" stuff that is now being made, do-able below grade.

Yup, and here it is : )

Here is a link that might be useful: 5/16 Solid Flooring

Squirrel, Thank you for the link and the information that I really appreciate but 5/16= 0.3125 and I do not want to go with any wood less than 0.375 thick (3/8th veneer) so if i can not go with solid wood that is a reasonable thickness due to my slab cement floor, I feel I have to go with the engineered wood. I wonder what it would cost to install a subfloor first to use solid wood?

I saw a red oak floor in the kitchen form that had a medium brown stain so there were yellows, red browns and browns in it making me realize that Oak is a pretty wood as long as it is not the laminated golden oak cabinets (unless they are veneered?) that are in my kitchen that I dislike. If they were that red oak, I can see I would like them. This is making me more open to floor colors and grain.

It's only 1/16" less than the 3/8" veneer, but is solid, what is the problem with 5/16?

The veneer I was looking at is 0.375 over 5 ply-wood pieces so that will be stronger for my file cabinets (that are very very heavy) to sit on top of than just a thin .3125 solid piece of wood thinner than the veneer on top of the engineered wood. I feel the solid wood must be at least 1/2" thick to be of value if it is not engineered. Of course 3/4" solid wood over a sub-floor is the best.

I also feel that all engineered wood is not the same. The sample I had from the store but had to return of the Park Avenue was 1/2" thick and when I put water on top of it and let it sit for awhile, it seemed to cause no damage that was amazed.

I just wish I could do solid wood....

Lynn, have you done some reading over at the Flooring Forum? There are a lot of comments there about different wood floor options. I'm also on cement slab, so I have also read a bit about engineered wood, and IIRC the most-recommended option at the flooring forum was Hartco engineered wood. Evidently that's the stuff used in Outback restaurants, and I think I recall a poster calling it "bulletproof." Do a Flooring Forum search on Hartco (or on Outback!) and see what you turn up.

I know you're in love with the BR111, so I don't mean to complicate your life unnecessarily. Just an option. I'd also read there about different laminates: there are passionate laminate advocates on that forum!

walkin_yesindeed, Thank you for letting me know about the Hartco Engineered wood. I just looked at the site and clicked a lot of what they had to offer. If I wanted a darker exotic species, they have very nice hardwood floors. They did not have Amendoim unfortunately.

From seeing so many pictures today of floors, I am more open now to other wood species and manufacturers as long as I find the wood beautiful and reasonably priced and will look nice in my home office. I am still not sure if I am going with engineered hardwood floors or the Bruce Park Avenue but I still love the look of real hardwood floors so much so that is an option still in the engineered format.

I see. I didn't note what thickness you are looking at and thought you were doing adhesive on your slab (the 3/8" boards). I wish I could find the pic I saw the other week. It didn't look so thin compared to the 3/4". It actually looked thicker than what I have, but I guess not.

Those Outback floors do look bullet proof. As do their tables. And would have to be with the beating it all takes. There is also a thick layer of poly on them. The finishing process affects it too. What I finished myself is much more durable than the prefinished version of the same stuff in my living room.

The article I linked above stated that the 5/16" solid could be installed below grade. Bruce, on the other hand, states:
 5/16½ solid products can only be installed on or above grade level. Do not install in full bathrooms.

You just really have to do your research on things (which I know you do), as there's often conflicting info.

Thank you Squirrel for caring and giving me more information so I can make an educated decision. So much stress fixing up a home and decorating it...

Also don't forget pictures are deceiving and one must see something in person to see the actual thickness I am learning.

Squirrel, I have learned more and now I am not sure what to do since you are right that the 5/16th solid wood product has more wear surface than the engineered 3/8th product. The thickness of the engineered wood does not determine the solid wood veneer wear level on top. Hence, the cheapest 5/16 engineered BR-111 only has a 1 MM sawn solid wood veneer on top of the plywood that is only 5/16 thick and can not be refinshed. The 3/8 version has 2 MM of solid wood veneer on top with the total depth to be 3/8th and can be refinished.

Manington's Prestige Exotics Line has 3.2 MM of Sawn solid wood on top of the total 1/2" of thickness and it is very nice and now I can see why. They use a low luster with a scratch resistant finish.

Now I see why the veneer can be damaged so easily as my engineered wood floors were from the water damage.

Bumping thread so Squirrels sees my last post.

Sorry, didn't see this, Lynn. One thing I read while I was looking for the 5/16" solid -- and I may not recall this exactly right, so just derive the general idea -- was that when looking at engineered wood, there are 3-ply and 5-ply veneers on top. Obviously the 5-ply would have more resurfacing potential. They recommended to always get the higher ply veneer.

I saw yesterday, in Home Depot, the 5/16" solid. Yes, it does look kind of thin, but it's solid. I don't have any idea how much weight those things can take or the type of damage, but I'd think having your subfloor correct would be important in supporting it well enough to withstand heavy cabinets. My mother has a huge antique armoire, extremely heavy, sitting on the thin 3/8" engineered stuff in their condo. I think I'd be more afraid the veneer would give, now that you've mentioned it, than a solid.

They have 1/2" solids, too, not just 3/4". Which I'm sure you've discovered.

How much is the sf price difference between 1/2" solid and 1/2" veneer? When I've casually looked around, just to get a feel for things, the prices seem to be all over the place.

Very true with the laminates -- wood floors are slippery enough for our pets and the laminates are even more so.

lynn2006 - I can't seem to find the web page you found that shows the Hartco floors. Do you remember what it was?

Laurie

Laurie, Here is the website that Runninginplace gave for her beautiful floors.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hartco Website that Runninginplace gave

Last few posts are where Runninginplace posted her Hartco beautiful floors.

Here is a link that might be useful: Last few posts are where Runninginplace posted her Hartco beautiful floors

Laurie, I am bumping this thread so you can see my two links in the two posts after yours. Please let me know you read this and found what you asked to see. I love Runningplace's floors.

Thank you, Lynn!

Laurie