Engineered or site finished hardwoods?

5 years ago

We are building a new home and have the choice of site finished or engineered wood flooring. The downside to site finished is our builder (track-builder in high end neighborhood) will only do a few basic minwax options and won't allow for any color blends. I want a grayish floor and the classic gray is making me a little nervous as we've tried it on a few boards and it can vary greatly. We have two dogs that are very hard on floors. What would pros suggest? I am considering LVP in the basement, but just can't quite accept it for the main living area. Thanks for advice . (And Merry Christmas!!!)

Featured Answer

whaas_5a

5 years ago

You have two dogs that are hard on the floors. Do they have nails that will contact the finish?

You can debate the engineered vs site finished but here is what I can offer eitherway.

Get a satin finish - better at hiding scratches

Get a high grain wood like oak or hickory - better hiding scratches plus the wood itself is generally more impact scratch resistant

I have a character grade hickory with a site commercial satin finish. I will tell you it still scratches to hell but generally the color, grainIng and low gloss help hide the inevitable when you have active dogs. They give more love than the floors so I forgive them.

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Comments (16)

vinmarks
5 years ago
Not a pro but I prefer site finished but no gray. Gray is on the way out.
DLM2000-GW
5 years ago
Do site finished but don't do gray. Pick a mid depth wood tone - it's the best backdrop for however you decorate now and down the road. The floor is not the main focus, it's a supporting player for everything else.
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PRO
Anglophilia
5 years ago
Site finished but no gray! This is a big investment, not a "fashion item". Pick a mid-tone brown and it will be good forever. If you want fashion, a throw pillow or a new top from H&M! NOT your flooring!
chispa
5 years ago
Ditto on the 3 replies above mine!
Holly Stockley
5 years ago
On top of the above, you really don't want a custom blend if you can possibly help it. It's difficult to keep consistent, batch to batch, and virtually impossible to match later.
PRO
G & S Floor Service
5 years ago
Minwax takes forever to dry and has compatibility issues with other brands.
dan1888
5 years ago
Some of this may depend on the width of board you want. Wider tends toward engineered. But for engineered you need to consider the thickness of the top hardwood layer. Softwood is underneath and if the top layer isn't thick enough you can get dents, etc. more easily. You can also consider bringing in your own finisher.
PRO
Beth H. :
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Minwax? these are high end homes and the builder is using the bottom of the barrel stains for finishing?

what kind of wood floors? red oak? white Oak?

how about you get a credit for the staining, and just have them install the raw wood? Hire someone yourself to do what you want.

otherwise, just pick the engineered wood in the color you want. Or are you limited on that too?

walnut is always a safe color
T
5 years ago
What are the best types of oak floors? Red or white?
seabornman
5 years ago
We had same option and decided on prefinished solid wood: Lumber Liquidators Bellawood. The factory finish is extremely hard and should resist pet damage more than site-applied. Get a sample of what you have in mind and test it.
PRO
Anglophilia
5 years ago
NOTHING beats site-finished when it comes to pet damage! And forget "satin" finish - it wears down rather quickly in high traffic areas. Go for the high gloss "gym floor" finish. It wears like iron. I've had as many as 5 small dogs in my house at one time, and my floors still look very good after many, many years (34 upstairs, 19 downstairs).

I've had both white oak and red oak. My red oak floor was a "found" floor under layers of linoleum/plywood/vinyl tiles and it was lovely, but I prefer white oak and it takes stains better. The quality of hardwood floors varies dramatically. You want Clear NOFMA, tongue and grove flooring.
geoffrey_b
5 years ago
Site finished with no stain. If you want real wood - live with real wood.
PRO
Beth H. :
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Engineered floors are REAL wood. They can often be stronger than a solid wood due to the multiple thin layers of REAL wood. Solid wood floors can be refinished multiple times. engineered, once,, sometimes. just depends on quality.
PRO
Uptown Floors
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Beth hasn't been out of the house in awhile ;) Some engineered can be refinished multiple times.

"as we've tried it on a few boards and it can vary greatly" That's more likely due to the underlying color tones of the actual hardwood itself; obvious in Beth's pictures.

Some of the unwanted tones can be minimized, but takes a pro.

With my prefinished, I create a portion of the colors using Rubio Monocoat sample kits. Also use dyes. It's then sent to production where the colors are matched.
gwc1973
5 years ago
Many years ago I would have said "site finished" but now I prefer engineered. I did site finished in 3 previous homes and in our most recent home I did engineered. I prefer the engineered floor.

If it can be glued down, then glue it.

A few reasons:

1) I got really tired of not knowing EXACTLY what the floor would look like once stained. You can buy the different engineered floors and lay them out and see which one you want to use and know exactly how it will look like.

2) There are many engineered floors for below grade. When I had a washing machine over flow on solid wood it buckled. We had a roof "leak" that rained water onto the engineered floor and it did not get damaged at all.

3) The engineered floor is not fading like my site finished floors did.

4) Even if you get scratches on the engineered floor and little stained rubbed into the scratches will hide them.

Engineered or site finished hardwoods?

whaas_5a

Comments (16)

vinmarks

DLM2000-GW

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