flooring help

9 years ago

We recently purchased a new vacation/retirement home. It came with laminate flooring in the open kitchen/living area. Our brand new refrigerator had a drain pan leak while we were away. The moisture soaked through the laminate like a sponge and completely ruined most of the kitchen floor. We are supposed to be getting paid from the store/manufacturer for repairs, but because so much of the floor needs replacing we are thinking of just paying the difference ourselves to replace it with something other than laminate. We really would like solid wood, but the house is on a slab. Of course there is always the possibility of water issues in the kitchen which is why we are thinking of getting rid of the laminate. We were really surprised at the extent of damage with the laminate. I don't *think* solid wood would have been that badly damaged or spread that far out from the refrigerator. We don't want tile or vinyl in the living area, but since it is all open it needs to be the same in both rooms. Any suggestions/experiences? Would engineered wood be as quick to damage as the laminate was? How is bamboo? I've read it's quality varies greatly depending on the particular product.

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Comments (4)

glennsfc
9 years ago
A solid wood product would be more likely to survive a water event, than would an engineered wood product.

Why go with wood? Vinyl and vinyl equivalent sheet and tile products have come a long way as products which provide both realistic-looking patterns and long-lasting durability.

Then, of course, you could go with a natural wood product and employ sensor technologies to instantly report water events.
Hollyclyff
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks glennsfc. I'll have to look into the possibility of a water sensor. We would rather have solid wood, but we've been told that we would have to use engineered wood because the house is on a slab. We have vinyl in the bathrooms and it actually looks nicer than I expected but it's so cold and hard feeling on the cement - OK for the bathrooms, but we don't want that in the living room. I know any kind of wood floor would experience damage from water, but it was how far out the damage spread that has us re-thinking the laminate. The water wasn't on the surface of the floor that far out, but just soaked into the laminate from underneath at least 8 feet from the refrigerator. Don't know if engineered hardwood on plywood rather than mdf would be as bad or not. We're going to try and talk to some flooring people tomorrow and see what they have to say. I guess we just had some bad luck to have a new refrigerator leak on a new floor. Such a PITA.
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glennsfc
9 years ago
Engineered with a plywood construction is a much better choice than those with MDF cores.

If you opt for a glue down install, make sure the slab is tested for moisture emission and that an excess level is dealt with properly before the wood is installed.
solidhardwood.us
9 years ago
we recently installed Solid Hardwood (Cumaru from Peru), Our hometown is in Miami (lotsof moisture), our experience on that have been great, no problems at all with all readings.
We bought the wood (real solid hardwood) straight from the source which save us a TON of money (1900 sq ft aprox. 5500) and also we've done the deck on the house (1000 sq ft aprox 5000). Very happy with the quality of the product comparing with the distributors and wholesalers in my area this was the best choice ever.
We found information that might help you understand the Do's and Don't s on Solid Wood.
Check the link and will help you a lot

Thanks

http://www.hardwoodinfo.com/articles/view/pro/28/241

Here is a link that might be useful: Installing a hardwood floor over a concrete slab