I appreciate the reply, thanks. Is it possible that particular engineered floor was a softer variety than the hardwood floor? I'll be going with Brazilian Jatoba, which is one of the hardest. Today I verified, I have 1/2" particle board on 3/4" plywood on joists sitting 24" apart. Sorry about the long-winded post! I've been thinking about it over and over again, and I'm now thinking engineered hardwood might be my best bet, then solid hardwood, then laminate. Honestly though, I think I'm going to opt for one of the two real woods. As I mentioned, water damage is my biggest concern, since this will be installed in the kitchen. From what I've read, it seems that engineered hardwood is much more water resistant than solid hardwood. Is this correct? If so, I guess that's my best option... For the flooring prep and installation, I'm a believer in the old adage "Your final result is only as good as your prep work". I want to make sure my subfloor is ready to quietly support a long relationship with my finish flooring. I'll be doing all the subfloor work myself. I'm not sure if I'll install the hardwood floor or if I'll have it installed, but I'm leaning toward the latter for warranty purposes. As I mentioned above, I have 1/2" particle board, on 3/4" plywood, on joists sitting 24" apart. I've read that, with the wide joist spacing, for solid hardwood floors, it's recommended I lay another sheet of plywood or OSB to bring the total subfloor thickness to 1"+, correct? When it comes to the installation, what are the big differences in nail down, glue down, and floating, when it comes to potential issues longevity, and performance of the flooring? Only the engineered hardwood can/should be floated, right? How can I quantify whether it'd be worth the substantial expense of pulling the particle board and laying down another sheet of subflooring for a nail down installation? I don't hear of glue down installations much, is that something I should be considering for my installation, or should I choose between nail down and floating? It appears the cost for engineered or solid is about the same. If floating an engineered floor is anything like installing laminate, I'm pretty sure I could do it myself. Cost for a nail down installation is around $2.25/sq ft, or $1575, plus the cost of laying 700 sq ft of additional subfloor. Another question! My bottom cabinets are sitting on the current hardwood in the kitchen, so I assume I have to remove them for the install? Any chance of not cracking my tile countertops?

Caligirl - I had the door painted in Scherrs' stock white paint. They use Sherwin-Williams paint, and give you the name and number of the color. I'm planning to buy moldings and cover panels (i.e., plywood!) stock at a lumber yard and paint them to match. This is one of the things I'm loving about this idea. Scherrs told me that they will paint custom, using any Sherwin-Williams color. I used their standard white, which is fine for me and matches all the moldings in my house, so I don't know if there's an upcharge for using another color. About the door sample, yes, you can get as many as you like, but you pay for them. Mine ended up costing $50 and is about 15x20 (not sure of the actual dimensions). You have to choose the door style and also the edge profile. I spoke with Dea at Scherrs, and she helped me to figure out what to use to get the look I want. I chose a simple door with picture frame molding around the recessed panel. A traditional look for my traditional house. I actually like the Ikea doors, and if Adel White had been a painted finish instead of thermofoil, they might have swayed me. As it is, I couldn't be happier with the Scherrs door. Are you thinking of using white paint? I thought about another color on at least some of the cabinets, but I was concerned about the edge banding on the cabinets showing through. I always notice that when I'm at Ikea, and if I were using a wood door, I would re-band the edges to match. I figure that the whites should work fine. Even if there's a bit of difference, they'll be close enough that it won't stick out if you happen to see a sliver between doors.

A floating floor is a floor that is not anchored to the subfloor (gravity holds it in place). A floating floor must have an expansion gap around the whole room. That means there will be a nice, big fat gap at each and every wall. The ideal expansion gap is the same thickness as the laminate. The laminate you show is 10mm thick. That means you must have 10mm gap at every single wall and a gap of 10mm on EITHER side of the door jam. Because this is a rental AND the existing floor is VERY WELL installed (baseboards appear to have been done properly) I do NOT suggest you install quarter round or shoe moulding. That means you will LEAVE the gap all the way around. This gap will fill up with crud. And then to add insult to injury you MUST use an underlayment product. Your product of choice has an integrated underpad which is most CERTAINLY plastic stuff. Even if it didn't have it, you would need an underpad to protect the existing floor. The underpad MUST NOT be plastic or vinyl or any product that will trap moisture. That means you need to work with 3mm cork underlay or Quietwalk fiber based product. Either of these products will add $$ cost to your project. But this point is moot because you have a laminate with plastic underlay = absolutely not allowed over an existing wood based floor. Ever. But why no 'plastic'? Because it will cause the moisture underneath the existing floor to catch on the bottom of the plastic and DRIP DOWN onto the existing floor. And you will be left with a fantastically moldy mess that you will be required to pay for. And considering the fact the existing floor is THROUGHOUT the house, you might be required to remove/replace the ENTIRE THING. Because a tenant must bring the home back to the ORIGINAL state. And that state includes an entire house covered in the SAME floor. Right. On to the transition strips that you will WANT to use at the doors...but will not be ALLOWED to use. Again a reducer (what the transition strip is called when moving from a 1/2" step down to 0" inch floor (like concrete or the existing flooring level). Why can't you use it? Because the transition must be ANCHORED. That is to say you would have to affix the transition to the EXISTING floor. IN doing so you risk (100% risk) of damaging the existing floor. That brings us back to leaving the house in the way you found it. And back to the issue of a floating floor over another floating floor - this is bad science. An unstable floor on top of an unstable floor. It would be like building with marbles. The warranty on BOTH floors is void (landlords love to hear these things...you might own them another floor if they find out about another floor sitting on top). In short: Don't do it. You will have one heck of an expensive 'project' on your hands when you move out. A white area rug would do MUCH better and would be MUCH cheaper.

In theory you can do so. The floor must be smooth (ahem...not gravelly), flat (no humps, bumps or valleys) and preferably level. The aggregate finish is a higher end finish than laminate. Care should be taken to maintain the aggregate. Your home's inherent value (part of what you paid for) is tied up in the aggregate flooring. To damage it while putting in a lower value floor will cause the value in the home to drop. Besides, laminate should not be installed in kitchens.