You mean the Enviro-Core stuff? Super stable, even when there's some moisture. The core isn't exactly HDF, but it's kinda HDF.and is super moisture resistant. It's their own creation My neighbor who does my wood floor installs says he's had no issues with it ever, and he likes the no callback bit! It shouldn't be used below grade, but then no wood should. It's a pretty good choice for slab on grade though.

Shaw calls it epic core but I think it's the same thing. They said it is more impact resistant than regular engineered flooring but deals with moisture about the same. But the rep also said that for either one with a reading over 3 and under ?(11 I think), their 3 in 1 glue will take care of it.

Another question. The salesman said Shaw Pebble Hill and Jubilee are the same thing. Anyone know if that is true or not?

I brought home samples of Pebble Hill and Sutton's Mountain. Same colors but Pebble Hill is very rough, lots of chatter and Sutton's Mountain is "hand scraped" but is pretty smooth.

Dh thinks the Pebble Hill is too rough. I wonder if it looks that rough when it's done over a whole room and if it's hard to clean.

I thought of another question.

Regarding pricing, do you get a price per square foot and then another price for installation, or is it usually priced together?

Unless you're just buying material, you're better off getting the bottom line price for the material, installation and anything else that's needed (shipping, trim, shoemold/quarter round, furniture moving, subfloor preparation, removal of existing flooring). Some sellers quote a low price per foot then inflate the amount of material needed.

I don't suppose Shaw would make and sell a problematic product but it has happened before. I'm skeptical of any product with a composite core but I do live in Florida where there's a lot of moisture. My preference would be to float one of these products so it wasn't in contact with a concrete slab.

I haven't talked to any flooring place who has done a floating engineered or envirocore floor and I'm afraid it would end up sounding like a floating laminate floor. Everyone has assured me that glue down is the way to go using this 3 in 1 glue. I hope they are right.

I'm not a huge fan of floating floors either but it's hard to overlook some of the good points.
No glue to buy or spread.
Easy to lay and easy to remove later.
Soft underfoot and easier on joints.

If you use one of the premium foams like Floor Muffler or Silencer the annoying tappy sound is reduced significantly.

Many people equate the noise with a cheap floor. I have floating wood floor in two bedrooms but don't know that I'd like it in a central living are that gets frequent foot traffic.