I have real oak hardwood in my kitchen, and three years ago I installed engineered, handscraped hardwood by Appalachian Hardwoods in my bedroom. The engineered hardwood is superb. It didn't even scratch when we had heavy, sold bedroom furniture installed. These pieces require four people to move, and at one point it was dropped on the floor: no scratches, no dents. We now have felt pads on all the furniture for more protection, but the engineered wood has held up well. It's also easy to clean. It was more expensive than some hardwoods: $8.00 per square foot! Since our home was built to look like an old Louisiana antebellum home, I wanted floors that looked old and had character. The handscraped engineered floors fit the bill, especially when compared to the price of real, reclaimed wood from old homes or barns! Now I'm replacing all the flooring in my house with the same engineered wood. I'm even removing the oak plank in the kitchen. It has not held up over the years. The finish is gone in some spots, probably from wear and the use of things like vinegar, grease, etc. Some things really seem to eat away at the finished oak regardless of how quickly you remove a spill. It also has some dings from me dropping heavy cast-iron cookware. So, I can only speak from my experience, but so far the engineered hardwood seems to be the better choice for my home. Plus, it was faster to install. If I had done raw hardwood, the contractor said he would lay the wood in the house for a week to let it "cure" before finishing it. I live in a high-humidity area (NC). I'm impatient and didn't want to wait.

You can drill the dent out with a hole saw or spade bit. And then glue in a round oak plug (1/4" thick). Sand, wire brush (manually), apply brown/smoke reactive stain and white hard wax oil.

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

Kim,,,it's very solid. just make sure the glue is spread to completely cover the plank. I have a few spots (like under the kitchen sink) where they missed the corner and it squeaks. They've held up great. I don't have dogs, but I have cats and have heard their nails burning rubber across the floor they go off on their tangents. I've spilled water, cleaned up their barf, spilled food, whatever, it all cleans up very well. as for dents, only if you drop something very heavy. but any wood floor will dent. I vacuum w/a Dyson, and then I use Bona wood floor cleaner on a mop. in the kitchen, i'll often take the scrubby brush and watered down Dawn to clean up spills or oil stains. no problem. no, I don't baby them. I don't wear shoes in my house though. I love my floors. just make sure on install they clean up all the glue residue. my guys were messy and lazy. had to call them back w/special glue remover and rag and go over the entire floor.