Engineered wood sample is warped
I like this sample because looks the most natural and least "plasticky" of the samples I collected. But it is slightly warped. I think this is a bad sign and I should stay away, but so far it's the only piece that I like. On the back it lists 3 versions, and by the size, this is "Click". I am in a huge rush because our original flooring plan had to be nixed, and at the last minute we have to choose engineered wood. I think the floor will end up being glued. Should I forget this flooring because the sample is warped? Or will longer pieces be less prone to warping? Any suggestions for something that looks similar to this? Thanks!
Comments (6)
PROBeth H. :
last monthlast modified: last monthyou're judging what the floors would look like after viewing a pre-cut sample sitting in a bin at home depot??
Are there any actual flooring places you can go visit? HomeDepot is limited. Flooring should last 25-50 years, minimum. don't pick something because you're in a hurry. worst mistake ever. flooring is expensive to redo. do it once, do it right.
read through this first
https://www.bobvila.com/articles/best-engineered-wood-flooring/
He does recommend the one you have for an overall low budget,. But, It's not the best looking oak., IMO. Reminds of 30 years ago.
here it is. now compare it to the other one I suggested below
Honestly, I'd increase the budget a few dollars minimum, and go w/something better looking.what about this one? HD malibu? it's a bit wider and a lot better looking than that 1995 looking stuff you have in the picture!
1/2" and about 7.5" wide. more modern look and has the french oak finish. a classic look that won't go out of style.
comes in many diff finishes.
it's only another dollar or moreas for length, I have 6' pieces in a few diff sizes. 8-9" wide. I have lower humidity where I live. they're fine.
read this article. she talks a lot about the HD flooring and what she chose for her house. It will let you see some more pictures of what you may like.https://jenwoodhouse.com/flooring-choices-for-the-main-floor/
This is a really nice looking engineered wood flooring
Malibu:
She chose the click and lock (but they have the glue down) and how it looks after install
Comes in varied lengths that you were askingabout.
https://jenwoodhouse.com/how-to-install-engineered-hardwood-flooring/
what is your price point? If youre looking at $3.99 flooring options, you're going to get cheap wood floors. That heritage is cheap looking oak floors (compared to paying a buck or two more for the malibu. use the deferred payment or no interest for awhile if you need it)https://www.houzz.com/discussions/4932496/quality-of-heritage-mill-from-home-depot
sheila0 thanked Beth H. :Related Discussions
Wood or engineered wood?
Comments (6)The tile would have to be removed to do a proper job. You didn't say what your sub floor is...whether it is wood or concrete. That would influence what material you would use for flooring. I would not put a wood product, engineered or real solid wood, over concrete. We just built a log home and had a top notch craftsman install true heart pine that was milled locally and kiln dried. The subfloor is Advantec and we have 15 pound tar paper between the sub floor and the heart pine. This will prevent any outside moisture from getting underneath the wood...we have an old fashioned type of pier foundation since we wanted to build a home authentic to the original homes built in our area. The floor is absolutely gorgeous. It is extremely tight, and no, we don't have any cupping. I do, however, know several people who have engineered wood, and factory finished hardwood floors. They have all had cupping problems seasonally. We looked at flooring until we were pretty sick of it all. The quality of real wood cannot be outdone by any made made product, but it will involve more labor initially. We also purchased real tung oil, cut it 50/50 with citrus solvent, and have a beautiful,all natural, waterproof, and easy to repair finish. It doesn't matter how much any manufacturer or salesperson tries to tell you engineered wood is "real" wood. If your interpretation of real wood is what you find with a board cut from a tree, it isn't. It contains real wood and that is why they can say that it is. It is also full of resins, and many of the engineered products have a very thin finished surface. Look at the engineered boards from the side. Pick up a scrap board from a sawmill (your choice of wood) and then take it with you to the stores and look at everything side by side. Your answer will come to you. Finding someone who knows how to work with real wood and not something out of a box can be a challenge though. We searched for a few months and found someone from out of town. He is an expert with reclaimed wood floors, so we got lucky. Up until then I can't tell you how many flooring people wanted to glue my wood down. I sent them right on down the driveway. We now have a gorgeous floor with no cupping, no squeaking, and tight as a drum. No matter what you go with, take your time and look for someone who knows what they are doing....See Morehardwood vs. engineered wood
Comments (11)A good quality engineered with a thick wear layer is at least as good as a good quality solid. However, most of the engineered products out there are thin wear layers or worse yet rotary sliced wear layers. Also the lengths in the vast majority of engineered products imported from Asia are horrible usually 1 or 2 lengths maxing out at anywhere from 36 to 49 inches, any good quality solid will give you 84" or more as a maximum length. Engineered excels in difficult installations where high or extremely low humidity are a concern or with unstable species like hard maple. A premium quality engineered floor will likely be more expensive than a comparable solid except in really pricey exotic woods like Wenge, Sapele, and Burmese Teak. As to prefinished engineered vs. solid the finish on both types from most manufacturers will be virtually the same thing a UV cured polyurethane or acrylic with Aluminum Oxide in it. Regardless the manufacturers warranty all prefinished floors will need refinished in 5-10 years depending on your tolerance for scratches, so unless you plan on pulling up your flooring look for something that can be refinished: - No rotary sliced engineered - No engineered with wear layers less than 3mm (Thomasville is 2.2mm may be able to be screened lightly once, maybe, deep scratches will not be able to be sanded out) - No cheap substrates (MDF, HDF, pine, multiply Oak) What you should look for - A true random length product - 4mm or thicker wear layer - Baltic Birch plywood substrate - Aluminum Oxide finish Some Brands you may want to consider if the higher end product appeals to you: - Owens Plankfloor - Canterbury Signature Engineered - Real Wood Floors engineered All of these are available prefinished or site finished, have 4-5mm wear layers, and are true random length products. Best of luck in your search...See MoreSolid wood, engineered wood flooring , LVT?
Comments (9)I had tile in my last home and moved to a home with carpet everywhere but the kitchen (yes, even the bathrooms had carpet (yuk)). After 20 years my joints could not withstand the impact of living on tile floors. Choices were to replace the carpet with Carpet - It is soft and quiet. It gets dirty and is hard to get clean. Muddy paws from an active puppy while delandscaping the yard was a nightmare. Hardwood - much more expensive - harder than tile or LVT to maintain, would require purchase of area carpets to protect. LVT - cost efficient - low maintenance, limited lifespan (20 years ish) I'm 59 - 20 years I won't be able to see what it looks like. Can add area carpets for aesthetics, but can eliminate the trip hazards of area carpets as I age in place. Engineered hardwood seemed to have the same cons as hardwood, but cannot be refinished over and over again - thin layer of wood. I decided to replace the carpet with LVT, I am doing one room at a time as I renovate, but am very happy with my choice. I bought Downs H20 from Cloister's Flooring America. It is waterproof and is manufactured by Coretech for the CCA Family of flooring companies. Same product, different name at each company website. Different price at each store (store not company level, two different Flooring America franchises had 2 different prices). Difference from highest price to lowest price was a difference of $2.00 per sq ft - I was covering 2000 sf, so this was a substantial savings. I loved the franchise I picked - Cloister's Flooring America. Other franchises really pushed the professional install - Cloister's seems to cater to the DYI folks (Owned by a Mennonite family). For $75.00 they send one of their installers out for 2 hours to teach you how to lay the flooring and they will rent you a tool kits that has everything you need to lay your floors. I bought one box of each of two colors and could exchange the one I didn't pick when placing my full order. I also got an additional $500 off because I hadn't placed my order yet and they called because they were having an anniversary sale. I hadn't called because I had a heart attack and was in the hospital when I got the call. They gave me the $500 off and told me I could call when I was home and feeling up to ordering even though the sale was just for the week. They even helped me with the layout plan. Told me to use graph paper and tracing paper. I drew out my floor plan on graph paper and traced the outline of the flooring pattern on the tracing paper. You place the tracing paper over the floor plan and move it around until you have a placement that doesn't leave you with little 2" strips anywhere. You do have to be exacting in your measurement and drawing of the floor plan and lay out enough pieces to get exact measurements for your tracing. I didn't find this method on the internet anywhere - most have you plan from the center of the room, but this worked out really well for me....See MoreWood Warp Question-Help!!
Comments (2)I assume the subfloor is wet. The storm was a big one and we were hit hard with heavy (constant) wind/rain for days. It is plywood I believe subfloor on top of concrete slab. Hydroscout said they were not worried about mold because its not an issue until you hit 20% WC in the wood in our area. (But thats why I was concerned b/c MY reader was saying over 20%) The house is concrete block frame on slab so luckily we are typically in good shape with mold even in this humid area, but wood floors are touchy here and I'm trying to get a jump on it!...See More
sheila0
last monthlast modified: last monthMany thanks for the helpful comments! I have good news though - we no longer need a new floor because my husband miraculously found parquet boards to replace a ~6 x 11 area. Before I posted this thread, our contractor and a couple of flooring places had told us parquet was no longer available. Now our only problem is figuring out if we have white oak or red oak.
I have some awful pictures to show. Unbeknownst to us the flooring subcontractor installed small, thin parquet that is not even flush with the original floor. They were supposed to install matching parquet. This will be ripped out and replaced with parquet that matches the original, and the whole floor refinished. Haven't decided if we will stain it, but we don't like the yellowish color that I think comes from the polyurethane.
Two new sample slats are in the last picture. This particular parquet is not my favorite, but I do find the gaps and flaws to be somewhat charming. It is glued to concrete with old black tarry mastic. If money were no object I would rip this out, put down a 3/4 inch subfloor and replace the entire ~1,000 sq feet with oak or hickory strips, but that would cost probably 20 - 25K.
Norwood Architects