So, we are planning on replacing the floors in about half our house with engineered wood (living areas, dining room, hallways, and master to start). We have had about 6 different installers come out so far to give us estimates and to show us product. I have narrowed it down to about 3 that I am interested in working with.

Going forward, though, it will come down to selecting a wood and what they will install it for. This is where I am overwhelmed. There are so many options, and every installer has shown us something different. I am not looking for something high-end, but something fairly resilient (we have young kids) that will hold up reasonably well. As far as smooth finish or handscrped, we are on the fence, but we prefer darker colors.

If anyone has any suggestion on manufacturers or lines worth checking out, I would appreciate it.

Do you have an estimated on $/sq ft installed? I'm looking to do the same in the Dallas area.

All engineered flooring should be glued down. That said, we're looking at oak, hickory and birch. Trying to stay under $8.00/SF. We had a $7.50/SF hickory picked out, but then found a $6.00/SF birch that we really like.

Austinaggie: Are particular brands or lines that you are looking at?

As for the price installed, I have seen everything from the $4.50 range to $8.00+. That typically does not include removal of the existing floor, quarter rounds, t-molds, fireplace undercutting, etc.

Besides initial cost, I can't come up with a good reason to choose engineered over real wood. I recently had real wood laid in my house for under $10.00/sq ft. Guy who did it came from a TexAgs recommendation.

PM me if you need more info. Here's his website. www.dfwcustomwoodfloors.com

Thomas:


I would suspect that initial cost is the main reason people choose engineered over solid hardwood. You say $10.00 per sqft, does that include removal of the existing floor and materials for a sub-floor (if installing on a slab)?

Hickory = Shaw
Birch = Bausen Elbrus Canyon Ranch Collection

I'm tearing out 14 year old glued down oak floors and I'm getting tear out quotes of $1.60 to $2.80/SF from folks here in Austin.

Real hardwoods can be significantly more expensive than engineered floors. That said, there are many high end engineered floors that are more expensive than real hardwoods. It depends on what you choose.

I'm getting quotes in the $6.00 to $8.00/SF for engineered glued down floors. These quotes include everything (including taxes) and are for Hickory, Oak and Birch.

I am fond of the Earthworks product line. They make a great product. They are a little more expensive than others but well worth it in quality of material, consistency of finish, and color match between batches.

Few things to consider are the thickness of the product and the thickness of the top coat.

Examples:
1. 3/8" product has a 3mm top coat. This is a thinner product that gives you less margin for error. Any deep scratches or gouges are going to go through the finished veneer and into the solid surface below, leaving you exposed wood.
2. 5/8" product has a 5mm top coat. This is a much better and more durable product. Also, in theory you can sand and refinish the 5mm product and the 3mm you can not but I have never had to test that theory in the last 10 years so i can't say if it would actually work.

Prices are going to vary by manufacture, wood species, finish type, thickness of product, ect.

Edit: As far as solid hardwoods v. engineered woods go. THe prices are fairly similar. You can get a sand and finish 5" red oak, glue down, installed and finished for around $7.50/sqft. There are lots of high dollar engineered products. I personally like the engineered because you get a consistent finish, it is way less of a mess on install, and the time frame for install is a day or two instead of a week with sand and finish (install, sanding, staining, moldings, finish coats, ect.) Cost isn't as much a determining factor on the type of floor it really is a preference.

Best of luck and hope this helps you understand a little better.

[This message has been edited by DaybreakAg (edited 6/11/2012 7:21p).]

I have heard on radio home shows tht you never want to glue down wood flooring. It should be floating.

^
^

Incorrect when talking about wood flooring. Correct if talking about laminate wood flooring.

quote:

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You say $10.00 per sqft, does that include removal of the existing floor and materials for a sub-floor (if installing on a slab)?

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It was under $10 ($9.75) and they removed the old flooring and included all materials for a slab install.

Daybreak:

What do prices run for Earthwerks? Or I guess my question should be what would be a good price if I ask about it from installers?

Also, do you know anything about Somerset? What about Bruce Fontier (or Bruce in general)?

Thanks

I just recently finished a 4 week process of trying to pick out new wood floors for a house we recently purchased. We started out looking only at solid wood floors as our old house was built in 1926 and really liked the look of solid wood floors. The problem is if your house is on a slab ,like most are, then you have two options. Install wood screeds on the concrete which is normally 1x4's or 2x4's and then nail the wood floors to the screeds, or glue down the solid wood planks. The problem with the screed is it raised the floor level in your house by about 2"-3" and requires alot of work aroung the doorways and baseboards. With the glue down you can only install "Shorts" which are a maximum of 18" long and to us didnt look that great.

We decided to go the engineered floor route and have chosen a Hickory floor by Garrison which is the Time Inspired II. This floor has an Oil Finish rather than a polyurethane / aluminum oxide coating. From my research this allows you to more easliy touch up or repair the floor from scratches. My opinion is that it also give the floor a more natural look as opposed to a shine which you get with alot of poly coated engineered woods. This is just my opinion, but the floor we are putting in is around $10/ sq-ft installed. We removed all existing flooring and baseboards.

[This message has been edited by mpreisler (edited 6/12/2012 5:02p).]

jtraggie99,

Material alone on a decent line will run around $3.00/sqft- $6.00/sqft depending on what you want.

I am not very familiar with Somerset but am pretty familiar with the Bruce products. Bruce doesnt make a bad product. You see them in the big box stores alot (lowe's, lumber liquidaters, ect).

Thanks Daybreak. We had Bruce in our last house and were pretty happy with it, but I've read mixed reviews. We did not put the floors in that house, but I was told that was what they were. The price you mentioned is about what I was expecting.

Make sure you discuss the float and negotiate that out.

How much per bag, how much they expect to use, etc.
It is an easy way to pickup magin for the installer....they can mark them up quite a bit

They won't eat the float. If your slab is fubar they would get f'd. If they do eat the floor your finish could suck because they will spend minimal time on prep. Prep is the most important part for your floors to look and sound good.

I should have worded that differently....you want to be aware of and negotiate a price on the float and take that into account with their bid.

Daybreak or anyone else, what are your thoughts on Anderson? Based on what I have read, they make some of the best product around, or so it seems.

I have some estimates on Earthwerks and Anderson that I like and I was wondering how they compare.

Thanks.

Anderson is a very good product. I do quite a bit of volume with Earthwerks so I push that product more but you can not go wrong with either one.

Thanks. I appreciate the feedback.