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Floors...hardwood, engineered, or LVP?

2 years ago

Hi! Doing a complete home renovation and we just learned that after knocking down a wall between the kitchen and dining room there’s no way to match the current hard wood floors. I honestly didn’t love the color, but would have lived with it if we were able to easily match it. We have the option to fill in needed flooring with unfinished oak and redo all of the floors, but that will be extremely costly and time consuming. Now that we need to replace the flooring, we have some decisions to make, and I am completely overwhelmed with all of the options. We have a large dog and two kids, and I need some thing that is durable, beautiful, and scratch resistant. I have done a lot of research on the differences between wood engineered wood and LVP, and everywhere you turn there are different opinions as to what will be the most durable and beautiful over time. In our last home we had Bruce Dundee wood flooring with a high gloss that has worn well with the exception of dog scratches throughout the gloss (we have only had the dog for a year so not a good sign that it is completely scratched). I don’t think high-gloss is the way to go if we do wood floors. I also like the look of wide plank dark colors, and worry about scratches on them as well. Bruce has a new brand of engineered wood flooring that looks promising and is waterproof but I really don’t know anything about it. Can anyone offer some advice? Don’t need to stay with Bruce or any other brand, just need some guidance and thoughts from people who either have floors with dogs or are pros who have some experience. Thank you!!!

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Comments (2)

SJ McCarthy
2 years ago
Oddly enough, lacing in wood + full sand/refinish is the LEAST expensive option. Nope. Not kidding.

Assuming you have wood that can support a full sand/refinish (solid hardwood OR engineered with 3mm wear layer of wood on top), the cost to sand/refinish the EXISTING = $5-$7/sf...that INCLUDES labour and materials. That's the FINAL cost.

To lace in some matching wood = $10/sf for the wood + install (or $400 - $800 depending on a 'job size') and THEN you calculate the $5-$7/sf for the sand/refinish.

If you have 1000sf, your project will cost (estimate only) $6,000 + $800 = $6,800 for a NEW FLOOR. Wow. That's pretty darn good!

Lets look at the 'other options' for 1000sf of flooring:

Demolition: $2/sf = $2,000 (floor REMOVAL)

Subfloor prep: $2/sf = $2,000

LVP Price: $3/sf = $3,000 (material ONLY)
- Uh oh...I spy with my little calculator...this just got MORE expensive already = $7,000
Install Labour: $3/sf = $3,000

oops...LVP is going to cost $10/sf for the ENTIRE thing = $10,000

The Demolition stuff = IDENTICAL for ANYTHING you choose = Non-negotiable = MUST BE DONE. The $4,000 to get 1000sf 'dealt with' so it is ready for a new floor is going to be the same no matter what you look at.

The sand/refinish option is always going to be cheaper...unless you work with $0.79/sf laminate with installation as DIY.
Susan Walters
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Can I tell you how much I hate my engineered floors? And I guess it's supposed to be the good stuff: 3/8 inch, wood core instead of MDF, glued to the slab. I have no idea about the wear layer. It's been in the house for at lease 10 years and looks like hell (in addition to being ugly to begin with). Dogs, furniture, the bangs and dents of life. We're going with LVP as soon as possible. EDIT: with my slab foundation, real hardwood isn't an option, or that would be my first choice. SECOND EDIT: Ours extends into the kitchen, and around all the entry doors. It's discolored from minor, accumulated water damage in all those spots. Wood's gonna do that, but not LVP.
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What are the current floors? Do they need to be removed? Asbestos assessments done? Hickory is lovely but VERY orange/brown (you will be surrounded in wood on all 6 sides). It is also a snick more unstable (dimensional stability) than other hardwoods. It isn't the best option for a home that is vacant/empty for large parts of the year (covid not withstanding). The good thing about laminate is it is relatively cheap and easy to install. It allows for THICK corn underlay to increase heat retention in the home and it is easy to anticipate expansion/contraction without heating/cooling for long periods of time. Vinyl is tricky in situations like yours. It does NOT like wonky subfloors. It does NOT like it too hot or too cold (becomes brittle in the cold). It does NOT like direct sunlight (can warp and/or discolour). And it does NOT like any form of underpad. Carpet is an easy fix if you like it. Hardwood can be used but I would go as NARROW as you can in a species that is relatively stable (white oak is slightly better than hickory...red oak is a snick better than that). I would look at an old fashioned 2" strip hardwood. It's dimensional stability will be the saving character. Remember: the WIDTH of the plank is the START of a stable wood floor. If you START with a stable width (very narrow = very stable) you START with the best option for the living situation. I'm a fan of cork = highly appropriate for the age. But the homeowner needs to be ready for a quirky cork floor. And cork starts out orange/yellow/brown but it gets LIGHTER. Yep. You start with an orange cork floor but in 5 years you will have blonde floors. You will LOSE the 6 sided orange box. For me that's a win.
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2 kids, 2 cats and a dog. 3 years in and I don't regret I chose Kahrs engineered hardwoods (not the oiled finish). I knocked over black stain for our deck and was able to clean it up immediately with no residual. Our dog is an ice chewer and will sonetimes abandon a piece that puddles until we find it. No issues. A couple scratches in our 1200SF of it, but nothing that makes me regret it. In the kitchen area-mysterious to us what caused them. We can see color changes where there is sun exposure vs rug coverage. We are fine with it as a living finish from a natural product. If it bothered you, one could move things around for similar sun/uv exposure I have heard.
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