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Engineered Wood on Concrete Slab

sweetbabyjames5
12 years ago

DH and I are getting bids on wood flooring for our new (old) house, which is on a slab. Every person has recommened 2 1/4 x 5/8 unfinished red oak engineered flooring in order to avoid adding a subfloor, which would then knock our doors out of whack etc. Will this have the same look as solid hardwood? Is white oak stronger than red (we have two little ones and a lab)?

In our old house, our solid wood floors held up tremendously well against our dog's nails. We had one room with (finished) pre-engineered wood that was scratched everywhere from his nails. Will the unfinished engineered flooring do better than what we had or is it just softer than solid wood?

Comments (2)

  • glennsfc
    12 years ago

    I've done these jobs and they look exactly like solid unfinished. White oak is slightly 'stronger' than red oak and, in my opinion, has a better overall look.

    Engineered wood seems to be slightly softer than its solid equivalent, even the sawn veneer types.

    If you want to avoid denting and scratching from your dog's nails, then you must keep its nails trimmed.

    You MUST have the slab tested for moisture content and then only proceed with your installation when any moisture issues with the slab are addressed and corrected.

  • inspector
    12 years ago

    If you get an unfinished engineered product that uses a sawn-cut veneer it will look exactly the same as a traditional solid wood floor. Do you know what finish was on your old floors that held up well? I'd suggest a water-based commercial finish if your contractor is proficient using them.

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