We've had hardwood in a kitchen with no problems, but we were committed to cleaning up every splatter & spill immediately. We had engineered hardwood in a city loft a few yrs ago. It was one big open room on the first floor. It was very hard to keep clean, scratched & dented easily. We have laminate in a condo where a family member is living. It is a commercial quality and easy to care for, but you can't let liquid sit on it.

Not too encouraging, am I? You got me when you said it's going to be a rental eventually. There's just no way of knowing how a rental is going to be treated. Has nothing to do with rent paid or income level. We once rented to a professional athlete & wife and they drilled holes in our beautiful hardwood floors.

Having said all this, I'd choose hardwood first, laminate second, and engineered third. I would also have something specific in a lease agreement about care & damages on floors.

I appreciate the reply, thanks. Is it possible that particular engineered floor was a softer variety than the hardwood floor? I'll be going with Brazilian Jatoba, which is one of the hardest.

Today I verified, I have 1/2" particle board on 3/4" plywood on joists sitting 24" apart. Sorry about the long-winded post!

I've been thinking about it over and over again, and I'm now thinking engineered hardwood might be my best bet, then solid hardwood, then laminate. Honestly though, I think I'm going to opt for one of the two real woods.

As I mentioned, water damage is my biggest concern, since this will be installed in the kitchen. From what I've read, it seems that engineered hardwood is much more water resistant than solid hardwood. Is this correct? If so, I guess that's my best option...

For the flooring prep and installation, I'm a believer in the old adage "Your final result is only as good as your prep work". I want to make sure my subfloor is ready to quietly support a long relationship with my finish flooring. I'll be doing all the subfloor work myself. I'm not sure if I'll install the hardwood floor or if I'll have it installed, but I'm leaning toward the latter for warranty purposes. As I mentioned above, I have 1/2" particle board, on 3/4" plywood, on joists sitting 24" apart. I've read that, with the wide joist spacing, for solid hardwood floors, it's recommended I lay another sheet of plywood or OSB to bring the total subfloor thickness to 1"+, correct?

When it comes to the installation, what are the big differences in nail down, glue down, and floating, when it comes to potential issues longevity, and performance of the flooring? Only the engineered hardwood can/should be floated, right? How can I quantify whether it'd be worth the substantial expense of pulling the particle board and laying down another sheet of subflooring for a nail down installation? I don't hear of glue down installations much, is that something I should be considering for my installation, or should I choose between nail down and floating?

It appears the cost for engineered or solid is about the same. If floating an engineered floor is anything like installing laminate, I'm pretty sure I could do it myself. Cost for a nail down installation is around $2.25/sq ft, or $1575, plus the cost of laying 700 sq ft of additional subfloor.

Another question! My bottom cabinets are sitting on the current hardwood in the kitchen, so I assume I have to remove them for the install? Any chance of not cracking my tile countertops?

Engineered wood is more resistant to MOISTURE, meaning small amounts of moisture that are present in the air or the slab or the crawlspace. Those can indeed ruin solid hardwood under certain circumstances.

Engineered is most definitely not resistant to water spills, which can cause permanent damage in minutes. Unlike solid wood it can't be sealed between the boards. It can't be sanded and refinished. It can't have boards replaced and seamlessly integrated by refinishing the whole floor. Etc.

If you really are going to rent the place out later, get "luxury" vinyl floor that looks like wood. Laminate has no redeeming qualities to speak of except that damaged boards are easy to replace.

I don't have any idea about hardwood floors. I thought of doing it but it seems to be very expensive and then I selected decorative concrete floors. I really liked its appearance and how it changed my room’s interior. It looks more spacious and clean now. It is from my friend I came to know about Floortex, Toronto and visited their office accompanying her. Good service and the products are also of high quality and variances.

I don't have any idea about hardwood floors. I thought of doing it but it seems to be very expensive and then I selected decorative concrete floors. I really liked its appearance and how it changed my room’s interior. It looks more spacious and clean now. It is from my friend I came to know about Floortex, Toronto and visited their office accompanying her. Good service and the products are also of high quality and variances.