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.

Another thing to consider when looking at the engineered floors is plank length. I just realized why I didn't like some of the photos I saw ... they had too many short pieces which gives the floor a choppy look and to me, it looks too much like a tile effect. The Uptown Floors suggested above sound great, and I will look at them more closely, but they still have "shorter" board (12" to 8 ft). I am looking at another company with board lengths from 3 ft to 12 ft. Those longer boards make a big difference in the overall look in a larger open floor plan. The longer boards do cost more, so I need to do some more comparisons and value of spending more for a more pleasing look. Their other specs are mostly similar. I think floors are going to be my hardest decision!

Wow that is a "bubble-gum in a long haired cat's fur" type of mess! Yikes. The quietwalk was supposed to be the vapour barrier. Ok...it happens. Someone tried to double up on the moisture resistance. In theory a moisture resistant adhesive should have been enough....but someone decided to double down and glue down the QuietWalk and then glue the wood to the QuietWalk. The issue is the quiet walk is not strong enough to 'stay together' when you pry up the wood. This is a mess a hardened professional would cringe to take on. A DIYer is going to struggle mightily. G&S offers great advice. The beer being the MOST important part ;-)

I bought Downs H2O LVT. It is made by CoreTec from James Duty at Cloister Flooring America in Lititz, PA. I think you and I might be in the same area - not sure if there are any other Cloister Flooring Americas except the one's in Lititz and Ephrata.. One of the other brands I looked at was Kardean, but it was quite a bit more expensive and took me over budget. Price check other stores in your area. Flooring America, Carpet One, Pro Source, and Floor Trader Outlet will have the same "Exclusive" product with a different name.. Different stores in the same chain can and most likely will have different pricing. Flooring America in Etown was more expensive than Cloisters. Carpet One in Annville/Cleona was the highest price when I did my comparison. I really like the people at Cloister Flooring America and love that they offer assistance getting started if you are wanting to install yourself. Again - COVID may be limiting the service, but when I got mine they offered for someone to come to the house for an hour and show you what to do there was a cost, but something like $100.00. They also rent some of the supplies. Everyone else I talked to pressured me to have it installed and pretty much said "You're on your own." Also, if you can wait till after the holidays, flooring should go on sale. Generally everyone wants flooring done by Christmas and then the market hits a lull and stores are trying to drum up business. I don't have a clue how COVID may change things this year. If we are dealing with the same "Cloister Flooring America" ask if they will be having an anniversary sale in March. I think that is an annual sale for them.