ok, this is an area where I actually know something! I sold and spec'ed hardwood for a custom shop before my mommy-life. The information you are getting here is correct. Engineered floors will give you 1-2 refinishings ON A PERFECT SUBFLOOR. One of the issues that sometimes arises if there are inconsistanies in the height of your subfloor. Because there is thinner wood wearlayer (before you get to the engineered wood) there is the chance that you can damage the floor irreparably when you sand it. Now I only saw this saw this happen twice, once on a loft job and once in an older home. The loft was more subtle as it was over concrete, the old house more obvious as they were DIYers and picked engineered flooring to try to negate their irregular subfloor (they neglected to tell us that that was why they chose engineered, we would have talked them out of it had we seen the floor first) Neither of their claims to the manufacturer were fully settled because both times they did not follow the guidelines for floor prep. The loft job was also a materials only job for us with their GC laying the floors but he insisted he knew what he was doing. A good engineered floor will not be cheaper than most of your nail down options because the production costs are higher. Now having said that, GOOD engineered floors certainly have their place in places where you can't put traditional hardwood due to height restrictions or concrete subfloors. My boss had a great engineered floor in his basement and it survived a flood remarkably well (it was ash, Kahrs brand out of Scandinavia and one of the beefier engineered floors and one of the pioneers) My Grandmother also had a Kahrs floor in her ground suite condo and she LOVED it and I was impressed by the milling. I'm considering it for our basement because it's warmer and less echo-y than laminate There has been a lot of 2nd rate engineered flooring coming out of China and being labeled for all sorts of different companies. You should be able to tell an engineered sample because the layers are sandwiched together and the tongue will be a different wood than the top (showing) layer. Distressed finishes are usually more expensive because of the extra step in manufacturing to make it distressed. That is different than just getting a lower grade of hardwood like a rustic or tavern grade (in solid hardwood). Those grades have more character but they often don't carry a warranty and generally have a higher waste percentage. Another thing to think about---if you ever have to replace part of the floor, you will always be able to replicate 3/4" thick hardwood but engineered floors are more like tile, they change and get discontinued over the years. You could go pre-finished, save the hassle of site finishing but with the thicker wear-layer a 3/4" nail down floor offers. Only you will know if you can handle beveling or not. The changes in milling the last 10 years are huge. The bevel in your better milled wood is tiny. I like Canadian mills, Model or Mirage for pre-finished. Remember that if you ever re-finish, the bevel will disappear and you will, essentially have a site finished floor. One benefit that many people don't know about? With a prefinished tongue and grooved floor you can have a good installer cut out a single board (or more) from your floor if it gets damaged which is why we did a fair bit of pre-finished in new homes since inevitably we would get call-backs at move in to repair trade damage (@#$%^ plumbers and their big wrenches!). Prefinished hardwood deals the best with shinkage and expansion issues because the finish is on individual boards. Site finished floors are more labor intensive but the materials are cheaper (apples to apples). They are what many people consider the gold standard however there are more steps and you don't always know how it's going to look until it's done. There is more chance of finish contamination and trade damage during the rest of the building process. We refinished 100 year old floors. I loved the idea that there wasn't 4 generations of carpet and crap in the landfill. Definitely a forever floor and it can usually be re-sanded for all but the very worst water damage (think entire house under water for a few days) If you are going with a wide plank, keep in mind your species and humidity level (and your ability to keep humidity stable). The wider the plank (with 3/4" thick flooring), the more obvious shrinking and expanding will be. If you take a 2" wide board and it shrinks 2%, it isn't very noticeable. If you take a 6" wide board and it shrinks 2% the gaping will be more noticeable and in the case of a site finished floor *could* pull your finish apart. You'll need to find a flooring contractor in your area with lots of experience. Most of the best hardwood shops ONLY do hardwood. Beware of carpet shops and many of the big box stores in many instances. Make sure they are accredited with the NWFA (national wood flooring association) http://www.nwfa.org/member/ good luck!

Helpful discussion! I am installing hardwood on our top floor, and I'd like a good quality hardwood. The trouble is that I have an open staircase going upstairs with lots of railing on both sides of the open hallway. I pulled up the existing carpet upstairs and realized that I only have 1/2 inch between the carpet and the railing. The hardwood contractor says that I'll have to go with 3/8 inch engineered hardwood; If I don't, the new floor will be higher than the railings. Alternatively, the railings will all have to be pulled out and their height increased-which will cost thousands. My question is this: Are these the only two options? 3/8" hardwood or raise the railings? Since we have a dog, I am a bit concerned about getting a flooring product with a 2 mm wear layer.

Option #2...because option #1 doesn't look very promising. The 'fibreboard core' is concerning. This isn't a 'wood' floor it would be considered a hybrid. It sits somewhere between laminate (HDF core) and an engineered hardwood (top layer of hardwood sitting on plywood). If you want engineered hardwood then PLEASE purchase hardwood. If you want laminate, then PLEASE purchase laminate. The hybrid of option #1 may not give you want you THINK it will give you. It will give you a laminate with all the issues laminate has with moisture etc. It will give you the DOWN SIDE of both floors. Option #2 is a NICE sounding product. The total board thickness is a snick more than 1/2" (5/8" = 16mm). The wear layer of 4mm is 25% the total thickness. That's a nice ratio. The 4mm means you will get a floor that can be refinished (you need a minimum of 3mm wear layer to get a proper sand/refinish). The thickness of the wear layer also indicates the stability of the product. A THIN wear layer often PEELS/splits/cracks because it doesn't have the hold needed to grab onto a different material. You will notice option #1 has 1.5mm. I am going to tell you a secret which not many people know. The HDF core is VERY dynamic. It is SOOOO dynamic it can/will move up to 1" over 25 linear feet! I can pretty much guarantee you the 1.5mm wear layer is NOT going to allow that type of movement. Which means the GLUE will be the ONLY THING from allowing the HDF from expanding MORE than the rigid top layer. The glue will fail and the thin wood surface will split/check/crack/peel under extreme movement (1" over 25 linear feet is considered extreme BTW). There are few surfaces that can handle that type of movement...hardwood is NOT one of them. Paper photographs sitting over the paper HDF = no problem = traditional laminate. Cork surface over HDF = no problem...cork is very dynamic/stretchy. Pay the up-charge or go with traditional laminate. Traditional laminate in the PRICE RANGE you are looking at for floor is going to outperform the hybrid. And the hybrid cannot go in a kitchen without SERIOUS moisture prevention the seams. The HDF will expand when it comes in contact with moisture. The wood on top will NOT expand in the same way. Remember: floors take the MOST amount of abuse of any finish. There is always something sitting on, touching, walking on the floor at all times...because gravity works. Do not go cheap with flooring. It works out to be far more expensive.

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.