It does not. I would still recommend a floor protector for two reasons: one eliminate abrasion potential and two help disburse the weight to eliminate any potential issue

When you say floor protector, what do you mean? Those sliders that go under the furniture? or is there something else?

cindiw2 - we had an engineered wood floor for a number of years with a heavy hutch, dining table, etc. on it and never had a dent. It wasn't even a very good floor.

Floortech - our felt floor protectors on chair legs always attracted every pet hair (we produce lots of it!) in the house and stuck to the stupid pads. It required picking the fur off every chair leg (4 pads x 8 chairs = 32 pick-it-off operations!!!). Is there something better?

I was not considering engineered wood. I was considering the cheapest of the cheap laminate, possibly 6 mm. But anyway, at this point because of cost and other considerations (such as the fear factor with me when it comes to worrying about spills), I am getting carpet. This is SUCH a difficult decision. For me.

I'm curious, Cindi - why are you getting carpet if you are concerned about spills? We are switching to laminate for that very reason - keeping our carpet clean has been a major problem for me - I've gone through a lot of spot remover due to pet problems, food spills (we've had carpet in the dining room). With laminate I can just spray with water or water/vinegar and not worry about stains. Have you looked at the online stores? They might make good laminate more affordable for you.