"masonite" is the generic name for tempered-hardboard, a wood particle and glue panel made with heat and compression by many manufacturers, and the material is still used by the Masonite Int. Corp. as the facing of some of its molded composite panel doors but other door manufacturers often use a molded wood fiber board facing (MDF) which is superior in many ways. The frame of a molded composite door at its perimeter edge. The core can be solid particle board (SC) or hollow with mineral wool/honeycomb/corrugated cardboard (HC). I have never specified a composite molded door but if I did I would avoid a hardboard or particleboard facing and use an MDF facing with a solid core and a smooth rather than textured finish. IMHO the best painted paneled doors are cut from one piece of MDF with a router and Jeld Wen and Bolection offer better choices in all door types than Masonite. Here is a link that might be useful: Bolection

Just a fellow consumer here, but just went through this same evaluation a couple of months ago. Two kids (13 and 11) and a dog (1 year old lab). We have laminate in the family room and it's pretty bullet proof. But we were replacing everything else down stairs and went through the wood/laminate/tile evaluation. We eventually decided on Adura tile from Mannington for the kitchen and powder room (tile look not wood) and Mirage engineered wood in the foyer, living and dining rooms. Actually swayed back and forth between laminate and wood where we eventually installed the wood. In the end it came down to wanting real wood in those rooms and we'll just have to see how it goes. My wife and I were just talking about this and had a laugh that we should have gone laminate because when the wood was just installed I had what you would call "new car" syndrome. Don't skip on the floor, don't place that on the floor, and donÂt even breathe on the floor. The anxiety issue is passing with time and we're happy with the decision and the look and feel of wood. When we get scratches (not if) we'll deal with them. Unfortunately you can't run this through an analysis and come up with an exact answer. In the end if you really wanted wood the laminate will probably be a disappointment. But, if you can't deal with the anxiety (at least initially) of wood not wearing as well then laminate may be the better choice. Our dog romps more in the kitchen and family room so that won't be seeing wood floors. We're not the most indecisive people but this took a while to finally come to a decision. A rather long post without any real direction but your not alone. Dom

I put vinyl plank over my concrete floors in two rooms. The one where adhesive is rolled out and the planks laid has glue that seeps out in high traffic areas-specifically where a chair rolls over it at a desk. The plank that is a "floating" application and stick to each other is fine except where by heavy buffet is sitting. One section is buckling because of the weight of the legs (very small footprint). My dogs slip on it, so we ended up tiling.

Whatever you do, dont do a slab! My parents house has a slab and it's increadibly inflexible. If you have sand or clay, you can get settling issues over time that are very hard or very expensive to fix. Plumbing problems? Have fun not only tearing up your floors but breaking up and replacing concrete. Very messy! If my father had it to do over again he would never do a slab but a crawlspace or basement. If you have clay, especially with the tempurature flucations you get in Canada - well, good luck with that. With a crawlspace you can easily deal with any of the issues that were pointed out above. Foundation settles? You can relevel your house pretty easily since it's "floating" on the peremiter foundation. And just because you have a slab doesn't mean you can't have moisture or radon problems either - and if the builder gets the slab wrong you are faced with a very messy and expensive fix worse than if you have a plumbing issue. I'm puzzled with your mentioning a basement - if you have a basement, this is all moot - there is no slab except for the basement floor. You don't want to do a crawlspace under a basement floor - ventalation would be insane. But I would do a thermal break - vapor barrior and 2" - 4" of rigid foam before pouring the basement slab. Better still, since you want to finish the basement embedd radiant heat in that slab that's on top of foam. I'm thinking about re-doing the floor in my basement to get radiant heat - it's awesome! If you do go basement or crawlspace, be sure the builder is using engineered joists for the sub-floor. Read the manufacturers guidance for the maximum size of holes and minimum distances between multiple holes through the webbing or center of the joists. Manufacturers provide this information for a reason - improper holes through the joists dramatically compromise the structural integrety of the joists which leads to at best overly bouncy floors, at worse floors that collapse! Be very wary of plubmbers and HVAC contractors - they often hack through structural members with impunity. Hold your builder accountable to maintaining the recommendataions of the manufacturer of the joists (or any other product) and NOT CODE! Get it in writing! Code is the MINIMUM - but you want your minimum to be the manufacturers guidance. I had to put up an extra knee wall in my basement to strengthen a floor that was weakened due to an overzelous HVAC guy that destroyed two joists routing the fresh air intake for my furnace. Learn from the experience of others. If you can find a home inspector that actually knows building code and has experience with engineering, stipulate that you will do your own pre-drywall structural inspection and then final inspection with your own inspector. Trust but verify... Good luck! Just don't do a slab ;)