Engineered wood flooring

[Welderpaul]

I'm planning to do one of our rooms in engineered wood flooring once the wood burner is fitted. The sub floor is a screed over concrete floor, with underfloor heating.
We've also got a mad lab puppy that skids round the place sideways

Any reasons not to use it? pros/cons?

Cheers

 

[Blobber]

If the dog pees on it it may turn black! Some folks up the road had a mighty pricey floor done and it looks rubbish now, I blame the owners not the dog!

 

[Kayos]

Properly fitted it's the best option if you don't have "real" floorboards

I'm ripping the carpet up in the living room to go the same early 2025

 

[JOEPRO]

Engineered wood flooring is a great product. That is like plywood with a real wood verner on top. So once installed you can't tell that it's engineered or solid oak etc.

I have all types of floors in my house! Including living and dining room having been done in solid French oak. It is a very nice floor but the boards did and do cup / misshape depending on the seasons. Doesn't bother me and I understand it's a natural floor but technically it is an issue / drawback.

I also have oak engineered floors which I laid myself. They look every bit as good as the solid floor but have the added benefits of the engineered wood ply. Which means it's still as flat as the day it was laid by me around 6 years ago. It doesn't warp or cup at all really very stable floor and great appearance.

Personally having both types and also other types of wood flooring I will only be installing engineered flooring going forward.

 

[addjunkie]

With dogs Id go LVT. Moduleo do some very good wood look a likes…

 

[Smallfry]

Oak will turn black if it gets wet, but having said that, we laid it in ex bosses new furniture shop, so has commercial traffic and heavy furniture slid about on it. also has underfloor heating, and after about eight years still looks fine.

He bought unfinished stuff as we didn't want it too artificially glossy and slippery. We finished it with a couple of coats of two part "natural" sealer. Not cheap but certainly works. i would recommend it.

I cannot remember what the product was offhand, but can find out if you are interested.

LVT is a good option

 

[sg66]

I put oak engineered flooring in our dining room about 7rs ago, maybe longer, it's stood upto dogs and kids not so much really pointy things, it has a few marks in it now, it can be sanded and stained or oiled.

Put some even thicker stuff in our entrance at front door that's doing better.

 

[gaz1]

if you can put up with scratches in the wood surface from the dog and other stuff it will be fine if you cant then dont install it

the dog claws will scratch it

 

[brewdexta]

I've got solid oak over underfloor heating upstairs. It's been down 23 years and only a little cupping is evident, it's mostly flat. I coated it with Bona primer and 2 coats of Bona Mega and it's only just needing refinishing on the stairs. It's had dogs, kids, parties, furniture dragged across it and barely a scratch. Bona Mega is single pack and classed as heavy domestic or light industrial. Next time I will probsbly use Bona Traffic HD, it's two pack and used in heavy traffic areas like shopping centres, it will see me out

In the extension, I used oil instead of Bona Mega. It does bring out the grain a tad more, but only just, but tends to scratch more easily and is slippier. But, after a good clean it's easy to refinish.

I probably would go with engineered rather than solid wood next time. Solid has worked for me and I got it at the right price, I did have to redo one room as I underestimated expansion whe you turn off the UFH. I changed the orientation of the wood so the grain of the timber went with the longest dimension in the room, more joints but minimised expansion and it's been fine since.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

We went solid instead of engineered...I was worried about the top layer separating.

The engineered floors I've seen have looked the part...we went with hand scraped finish which hides damage very well.

 

[Hitch]

I put it down 7 years ago in the living room,pre dog.
Scratches easily, and a few marks from armchairs moving etc.
Also agree about the dog, edges of one bit by the door have a very slight stain from the dog not getting outside for a pee in time.
Its got a thick enough layer it can be sanded, and probably will in a year or two.

If you were strictly a shoes off at the
Door house with no pets, I think it would stay nice.
I'd probably go with a quality click vinyl or lvt given tge choice now.
did the hallway in click vinyl at the same time, that's stood up very well.

 

[daleyd]

We have engineered wood flooring put down probably 18 years ago. The whole of the downstairs is done in it, apart from an extension we had done 8 years ago - we were recommended it on the basis we live in an old stone property with no damp course and direct to earth floors (albeit with concrete underneath) - we spoke with a few companies at the time and they advised against solid wood due to possible warping issues in our place. It was actually more expensive than solid wood planking.

It’s stood up superbly, but one reason stood out in particular…

October 2023 we got flooded. The water came up through the floors, so bizarrely was crystal clear! It was about a depth of a couple of inches throughout the whole house, and was there for about 12 hours before it drained away.

I’d resigned myself to the fact that the floors would have to be replaced, but it dried out and has stayed completely flat throughout.

Got quite a few scratches now in the living room so will look into getting it sanded and re oiled at some point but I wouldn’t hesitate to use it again.

 

[frank horton]

under floor heating plus a dog....I'd be going for wood look alike tiles.....
some real good ones out there.....
were going that route in the next week or so......just over 20 euros per m2.......tiles are priced very reasonable here unlike the UK.....
our 3 dogs n 4 cat dont make a mess toilet wise but fluff is another thing.....easy to clean ceramics.....
had real wood floors in France, never again with dogs...

 

[Mikey D]

I had it down for about 20 years iny old house , got it from Costco prefinished , just glued the tongue and groove joints and clamped it together. So it was a floating floor ( I'm not sure the recommended way to fit it now ? ) new skirtings fitted after so the expansion gap was covered ..
Still got a couple of packs left that I'm gonna use as a window board about 18" wide .
Did get a bit worn and discoloured where I used to leave the patio door open , the rain blew on there but was open so the dog could access the garden .
Could of sanded and refinished it no problem tho ..
Definitely recommended

 

[angellonewolf]

ive got wood in the kitchen as we had a leak that damaged the floor we put down looks a but damaged now after a few years plates dropping ftc


the older ac5 floor we put down looks as good asthe day it was put down nearly that was 10 ish years ago even where the dog bowl is where she splashes it about when drinking still looks good

 

[RichardM]

I'd give the puppy a softer floor until it settles down a bit and stops racing around.
Our dog took four months to recover from a strained shoulder from jumping out of the car (he now has a ramp).

 

[dobbslc]

ULTRABOND ECO S955 1K

One-component, solvent-free, (according to TRGS 610) sililated polymer-based adhesive with a very low emission level of volatile organic compounds (EMICODE EC1 Plus), for all types of parquet. Where to use: Bonding solid wooden floors or pre-finished multi-layered wooden floors of all types and…

www.mapei.com

I used the predecessor to this for a solid oak floor layed on screed about 4 years ago, very happy with it and it's not moved at all.
You need to prime the screed first.
Agreed about mad dogs skidding around on wood flooring, I've basically banned poorly trained dogs from the house after one nutty dog spent the afternoon bombing round the place although the floor was fine I was cringing.
If I did another floor I'd probably use engineered wood instead of solid now I know better but ours has been fine.

 

[Gareth J]

Lacquered is supposed to be more resilient to water damage and a harder finish than oiled. But oiled is easier to redo/top up/patch. Swings and roundabouts.

My folks had some in a kitchen for a decade or so, around the sink did start to look tired. But they didn't maintain it much and, as it's a reasonably decent natural surface, it kind of doesn't matter.

Where are you thinking of getting it from; anything looking good value? Am considering redoing a room here.

 

[dave h 2]

Beware of excessively good value.
Used some Chinese solid oak once - it never stopped expanding sideways. Laid with 1/2" gap all round, come summer it's jammed against the skirting and heaving so cut another 1/2 off. Repeat the next summer and the next when I ripped it up for engineered. £18 a pack down from £35 can't think why.

 

[Welderpaul]

Thank you for the comments chaps, all good.

Engineered flooring is looking like the winner then. The dog is 7 months old, and is mellowing. The only mad time is when she gets 'Need a poo zoomies'. Hopefully that's stopping soon too

The Bona products look good @brewdexta - I'm keen for a matt finish though. Did you go for matt? Is it actually matt?