I want to install wide plank hardwood. Should I go with engineering

Engineering. Won't warp, and don't have to worry about re-staining/finishing it every few years. No one can tell the difference anyway.

>>1224251
Thanks. I've heard the same from two contractors so I'll go with engineered

Good luck finding it at that width. If you can, all the power to ya. I found it hard last time, but then I wanted 1/4" finish.

You should find one at an 1/8 for sure, but you'll never be able to refinish it if you desired.

They sell porcelain faux wood in that width fairly cheap. Wood is so nice though.

>>1224248
Engineered wood is basically glorified cardboard with a thin veneer of bullshit over it. If you get it wet (like the dog pisses on it while you are at work or a pipe leaks) it will bubble up and eventually disintegrate. If you scratch it you can't refinish it. If adds zero value to your home and it generally only lasts about 8-10 years before they start wearing through the veneer. Might as well get cheap carpet or vinyl at that point. Oh, and these companies basically never honor their warranties. They always have an out, like your floor being slightly unlevel or the contractor that installed it not being an 'official' partner with their company (IE they bought it from a retailer instead of from the company direct), that kind of shit.

If you are dead set on it because you are a cheap scrub, buy extra. It will wear out in your high traffic areas faster than in others. Once the veneer starts to go the only option is replacement. After 10 years you will never find a match for your old floor unless you somehow find NOS or, as I said, have extra. You will then need to pull out the worn out bits and pop it your replacements. One nice thing about the floor it is easy to install/reinstall.

>>1224251
>re-staining/finishing it every few years.
A good varnish needs to be redone every 100 years or so.

> No one can tell the difference anyway.
I can.

>>1224472
Fire those lazy ass contractors. Engineered wood is basically epoxy gussied up to look like wood. Might as well put in linoleum.

>>1224472

you're going to take advice from people who's job it is to install flooring for a living? they tell you to buy crap because they know you'll be back with business soon

Pro flooring installer here the choice depends on several factors the biggest one being cost. Depending on how wide of boards we are talking you may need to go with a method or instalation other than hidden nail tongue and groov flooring for solid hardwood. Anything wider than 6in and you will have to go with face nailed or screw and plug instalation which most flooring intalers are not willing and or capable enough to do. There are other factors like how much temperature and humidity change your house is subject to. Ask me anything il be checking in

Landlord here. Vinyl planks are the way to go. The Allure brand is what I use in all my rentals. You can get them in any color or design. They're waterproof, as easy to lay down as laminate, and they resist just about anything you throw at them. You can look to spend 1.70-2. 00usd a square foot, but you'll never have to touch the floor again for 20-25 years. I usually have my contractors put down a coat of Kilz on the subfloor just in case any water gets under the planks.

>>1224251
>literally creases where the boards meet
>can't tell a difference
>have to refinish every few years.

I guess if you're retarded.

>>1224613
What? Leave a gap for expansion at the edge of the floor and you won't have this problem. I'll admit that the cheaper engineered wood does peel at the edges, and the engineered wood with particle board under the laminate warps if water is left on it for more than 20 minutes.

I had a unit where tenants over watered their plant and the little bit of water that spilled permanently warped the boards.

Ultimately, vinyl planks are the best thing out there dollar for dollar.

>>1224518
>nything wider than 6in and you will have to go with face nailed or screw and plug instalation which most flooring intalers are not willing and or capable enough to do.

I did a house similar to this years ago. We basically planed down wide boards and face nailed combined with glue. Honestly, the installation was a lot easier than your traditional floor. A lot more plane'ing though. The only part that took real experience to do is sand the floor since it has to be cross-cut multiple times.

The edge go under the baseboard and at least a quarter inch space is given to account for expansion but that get's covered by the baseboard and shoemolding. You misunderstood though. Look at OP's pic. There are visible space where each board meets up. A traditional floor that has finish applied to it after installation has no visible lines between each board.

>>1224622
Meant to link >>1224616 for the last part.


The edge go under the baseboard and at least a quarter inch space is given to account for expansion but that get's covered by the baseboard and shoemolding. You misunderstood though. Look at OP's pic. There are visible space where each board meets up. A traditional floor that has finish applied to it after installation has no visible lines between each board.

>>1224622
Thats the "micro bevel edge" they put on all prefineshed wood floors engineered or otherwise it prevrnts thete from being a lip between boards without having to sand.

>>1224491
>glorified cardboard with a thin veneer of bullshit over it

This guy knows. I will never understand when I go into a job, the home owners want this shit and my boss doesn't tell them that they are morons for putting down something more expensive than carpet that will last half as long. The only thing I think is good to install is LBT vinyl plank flooring in bathrooms as a cheap alternative to tiling ceramic.

Plus when installing this and seeing that any amount of force can crack the 'wood', people should buy a box and try breaking each piece over their knee and do the same with real wood. Its pretty easy to see which is better.

>>1224706
I prefer vinyl planks over ceramic. There's no grout to seal with vinyl and it's much more durable to impact from things being dropped on it.

The absolute best is the vinyl peel-n-stick squares. When tenants fuck those up, I can take a heat gun to it and just replace each individual square in a few minutes instead of ripping up the whole floor.

>>1224248
>>1224491
>>1224612
>>1224616
>>1224706

So point of order, he's not talking about particle board flooring, he's talking about what is essentially plywood flooring. Some of the better manufactured engineered hardwood flooring CAN be refinished (once), the top ply is 1/8" thick.
Engineered hardwood, because it's plywood, shouldn't need as much concern given towards expansion, because plywood is dimensionally stable. I will agree that delaminating is a risk when it gets water damage, but odds are with a real hardwood floor it would cup like a bitch under the same conditions.

engineered hardwood flooring, NOT Laminate flooring, laminate is shit. Same trend of plywood furniture not looking as nice and being much cheaper, but still sturdy when well designed, but particle board with a thin veneer crept in because people couldn't tell the difference until the piece of shit table/desk snapped in half.

Vinyl isn't bad, but it tends to be slippery/sticky and not feel as good. Some of the better ones are pretty nice and textured though. Ditto tile, although fragile to dropping things, you have to regrout, and it's colder when you walk. For comfort, I like wood + rugs, but that's just me.

For a rental, a vinyl floor makes sense because it's cheap, decent, and will need to get replaced from scratches anyway, but so would a hardwood floor if it was subjected to shitty tennants. Or carpet, or tile etc. And the difference in comfort/feel is only felt in bare feet/socks, so it won't affect how easy it is to rent.

Orrr you could go this fully diy route:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmRYKrfQjuk

something like $2/sqft?

>>1224248
Just a word of caution on engineered wood.
Make sure it is sealed properly. There used to be products that if they got wet they fell apart.

>>1226021
Vinyl planks feel alot like real wood on your feet. They're almost identical in texture to laminate flooring. Perhaps an upper class individual can tell the difference, but I charge 900-1100usd a month for rent, so I'm not dealing with the upper crust.

>>1226021
>>1226050
Oh yeah, the nice ones that are textured are pretty good. I'm not a huge fan of the ones that are flat. I agree that laminate flooring is total shit.
But my point was that he's talking about engineered hardwood, which is plywood, and feels like real wood, not laminate, which is shit and feels just like cheap vinyl but it's less durable.
I agree, for a rental vinyl is better. and it's not a huge difference, vinyl planks (not the rolls) are pretty good, like a 7/10, while engineered hardwood and hardwood with rugs are a 7.5/10.

The biggest difference is that it's too slippery to use socks and too sticky on bare feet because it's a dead flat surface, while wood has a grain that gives traction for socks and little vacuum breaks so your bare feet dont stick. The vinyl that has texture fixes a lot of that.