A good quality engineered with a thick wear layer is at least as good as a good quality solid. However, most of the engineered products out there are thin wear layers or worse yet rotary sliced wear layers. Also the lengths in the vast majority of engineered products imported from Asia are horrible usually 1 or 2 lengths maxing out at anywhere from 36 to 49 inches, any good quality solid will give you 84" or more as a maximum length. Engineered excels in difficult installations where high or extremely low humidity are a concern or with unstable species like hard maple. A premium quality engineered floor will likely be more expensive than a comparable solid except in really pricey exotic woods like Wenge, Sapele, and Burmese Teak. As to prefinished engineered vs. solid the finish on both types from most manufacturers will be virtually the same thing a UV cured polyurethane or acrylic with Aluminum Oxide in it. Regardless the manufacturers warranty all prefinished floors will need refinished in 5-10 years depending on your tolerance for scratches, so unless you plan on pulling up your flooring look for something that can be refinished: - No rotary sliced engineered - No engineered with wear layers less than 3mm (Thomasville is 2.2mm may be able to be screened lightly once, maybe, deep scratches will not be able to be sanded out) - No cheap substrates (MDF, HDF, pine, multiply Oak) What you should look for - A true random length product - 4mm or thicker wear layer - Baltic Birch plywood substrate - Aluminum Oxide finish Some Brands you may want to consider if the higher end product appeals to you: - Owens Plankfloor - Canterbury Signature Engineered - Real Wood Floors engineered All of these are available prefinished or site finished, have 4-5mm wear layers, and are true random length products. Best of luck in your search

Sophia Wheeler--no, it's not gall. Cancork promoted this as a DIY floor. We checked each step with them along the way. We hired a local general installer because there was not a specialist in the area, and Cancork said that was fine. The subfloor was within specifications. We checked that and, again, OK'd it with Cancork. Cancork told me at the time that they didn't tell me about adding a cork underlayment because "most people don't want to do it because of the expense, so we didn't think you'd want to." As for the peeling, it is not in one of the birdbath areas. The peeling is starting from a few very small spots (like 1x2 cm) in one area of the floor. The floor was prepped properly--exactly as per specifications by Cancork before applying the poly, and they specifically said only to vacuum carefully and then run a damp microfiber over it (no cleaning product) before applying the poly. They warned me against scratching the floor or abrading it before applying the poly. In fact, we had to prep it in sock feet to keep any abrasion from happening at all. I understand that things happen, but within 6 months, when we did everything as per Cancork's instructions and now they tell me that we didn't do it properly--that is truly gall.

I'm not fond of 3-in-1 products. They are often expensive and rarely offer the best of both worlds. Vapour barriers are stupid-cheap. The building industry standard is 6mil polyethylene sheeting that is properly overlapped (8 inch overlap) and then the seam (the overlap) is then taped using moisture resistant tape (aka "Red Duct Tape"). The poly sheeting = $0.06/sf. The tape is another $0.06. An industry standard vapour barrier can be laid for $0.12/sf. Then you throw down 6mm (1/4") cork underlayment on top of the vapour barrier (no tape, no glue...it just sits there) for $0.70/sf. Excellent. You have just created an excellent thermal barrier + vapour barrier for less than $1/sf! Now you float your engineered hardwood floor over top and you are done. The other "systems" will cost you MORE money (Dricore isn't dry; it still needs the vapour barrier as already described above....but it does have the same R-value as the 6mm cork underlay) and take more time to install. And it will do exactly the same thing as the 6mm cork + poly sheeting. Installers love this system as it is cheap, easy, fast and effective. If you live in a SUPER cold place (like Northern Canada, Norway, N. Sweden, Finland, Russia or Alaska) you can always use 12mm cork underlay (1/2") and have SERIOUS R-value added for about $1.50/sf. Vapour barrier is the same as the 6mm cork. Have fun.

I'm a fan of Hickory. Love it! I love it's STRONG variation! Yep. Variation is the word that can be used for Hickory. If you are going for "mid-tone" then it means the Hickory is stained. No problem. That's fine. Hickory takes a stain very nicely. But it will still have plenty of variation. The stain will even that out a little bit, but not entirely. The finish is UV cured urethane. I'm not very excited about that finish. If you are going for factory finish, you will want to work with the TOUGHEST finishes on the market (that's why you go with factory finished...for the TOUGH finish). The UV cured urethane is a ho-hum type of finish. Average would be the best way to describe it. The thickness of the plank is 3/4" = normal for sold. The plank width is 5" with random lengths UPTO 60" (5ft). That tells me there will be many planks in the 3' - 4' range. Again, this is ho-hum average. And with a wide plank product, it will need "glue assist". And Hickory certainly needs it because it has a bit more movement (less stable) than white oak. And then there is the "low gloss" format. The low-gloss finish on this depth of colour = nightmare to live with. It will show dust, etc as well as oily foot prints, sock prints, paw prints and will look hazy at certain times during the day. The "haze" is part of the chemical make up of the finish itself = that's how they take away the gloss...they haze it with a chemical additive. The haze goes away when you sand and refinish the floor. That's the only way to fix it. If you must have a mid-tone floor, I would recommend a TOUGHER finish (aluminum oxide or ceramic infused polyurethane) in a satin. Satin is FAR MORE livable. It offers a lovely glow without being shiny. It hides skin oils (like paw prints from dogs) because it is the same gloss level as skin oils....it isn't hazy....you get the idea.