Let's talk hardwood flooring. Who's got them or has had them? Pros? Cons?

I've done them before when I was in real estate investment and did various surfaces from pergo to real hardwood (depending on budget/cost/etc) but I never actually lived on them to know what it's like. As weird as this sounds every house, for better or for worse, has been carpeted aside from your usual wet areas. We built this house about 7-8yrs ago and our carpet is starting to show it's wear in some high-traffic areas. In addition, if anyone has been following the dog saga of the new (a year ago) rescue DONE cleaning carpets of shit, piss, vomit, other random bodily excretions and that's the primary reason for considering ripping all this carpet out and doing some sort of hard surface for ease of maintenance. That doesn't necessarily mean it must be hardwood either and I'm also open to suggestions for materials as well as tips and advice on anything. Are you a carpet person who did hard wood once and now never will again? Post up your opinion. What about bamboo? I know that was all the rage years back but I'm not sure if it's gotten less expensive, better, proven to be trash, worse for some reason so chime in of you have advice regarding bamboo as well.

Let's have it. From professional installers to homeowners to contractors & sellers of product.... let's have us a flooring discussion! Weeee! [Flower]

If it were me I would do the tile that looks like hardwood. I have two big dogs and they scratch and the older slips on the hard woods we have. Plus you don't have to use high dollar cleaning supplies or have it resurfaced. More expensive to install though.

We had pergo floors in one of our homes and I wouldn't do that again if I could help it, it has an overall 'cheap' feel/sound/appearance. It was already installed when we bought the place so what was done was done, but I'd never willingly go that route.

We have real hardwood floors on the first floor in our home now and they seem to have held up well in spite of how long they've been in place.

I'm seriously considering going with a whitewashed pine floor in a room upstairs but haven't gotten too far down that road just yet.

My opinion is that if you've got kids and/or pets, then they're a necessity! We love ours. They can be a bit colder (obviously) than carpet, but all the other benefits really offset that little nit-pick.

Easier to clean, maintain, look better (imho), seem to increase resale/value (especially if real hardwood, that's what we have)...

I second the hardwood looking tile. I just did real hand scraped hardwood and we cant go more than 15 min without it showing dog prints. Its a very dark color, but i think the tile would have alleviated that issue. Other than the hassle of keeping them clean it looks 1000000x better than the old parquet checkering hardwood that was in there from the 80's.

What about noise? I'm worried a bit about echo & other harmonic type issues. Any negatives there from those that have hardwood or similar?

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Originally Posted by sellersm

My opinion is that if you've got kids and/or pets, then they're a necessity! We love ours. They can be a bit colder (obviously) than carpet, but all the other benefits really offset that little nit-pick.

Easier to clean, maintain, look better (imho), seem to increase resale/value (especially if real hardwood, that's what we have)...

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You nailed it! all the benefits of HW floor. I would add one more: it's better for allergies to have HW floor than carpet. I had mine coated with a commercail grade finish 10 years ago, and even with 2 kids and a dog they still look new.

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Originally Posted by Jer

What about noise? I'm worried a bit about echo & other harmonic type issues. Any negatives there from those that have hardwood or similar?

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Noise, echo will definitively be something to consider, but a good "noise trap" (like a rug in a middle of a room or a large fabric sofa) will mitigate this. I have HW floor in my living room/home theater room, and a large cheap rug did the trick to avoid the echo, and the main speakers have a "natural" effect.

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Originally Posted by ruthabagah

Noise, echo will definitively be something to consider, but a good "noise trap" (like a rug in a middle of a room or a large fabric sofa) will mitigate this. I have HW floor in my living room/home theater room, and a large cheap rug did the trick to avoid the echo, and the main speakers have a "natural" effect.

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That actually addresses my follow up question too then about theaters & A/V affects of hard surfaces v carpeting. We do have some larger area rugs/carpets too so maybe a couple more & some runners here and there will fit the bill.

if by pergo you you mean laminate (aka snap together) flooring, I would skip it as an option.
I have installed both hardwood and laminate as a DIYer. When it comes to home improvement, either save up and do it right or don't bother.
As for the benefits-location of the room in relationship with the rest of the house plays a factor in it too. I plan on pulling out the carpet in my 'front' room due to the very high traffic pattern but the living room will still have carpet for that lounging need.

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Originally Posted by Jer

Any negatives there from those that have hardwood or similar?

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Be careful of wearing some of the newer outdoor/approach shoes that have softer black rubber soles: they'll streak a hardwood floor and I've yet to find a way to get it off that doesn't take the finish off the floor.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ps20d6e78a.jpg

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Originally Posted by Jer

That actually addresses my follow up question too then about theaters & A/V affects of hard surfaces v carpeting. We do have some larger area rugs/carpets too so maybe a couple more & some runners here and there will fit the bill.

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Yes. sound trap, they really work. sometimes just moving a sofa a couple of inches in one direction will totally change the acoustic of a room with HW floor. When I was much younger I used to deliver an setup pianos in Paris: No carpet (and often no elevator...), we had to move the damn thing and the furniture around all day to find the right mix....

We did the pergo wood in our kitchen. It is just alright. Not as nice as the bamboo in my parents home. We have tile in the back portion of the house, and plan on doing the same fake wood floor in the living room as well. I plan on keeping my house as a rental though, and I won't be able to charge more rent for real wood.

I agree with the large center rug idea.

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Originally Posted by hatidua

Be careful of wearing some of the newer outdoor/approach shoes that have softer black rubber soles: they'll streak a hardwood floor and I've yet to find a way to get it off that doesn't take the finish off the floor.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ps20d6e78a.jpg

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Tennis or handball (like a pensie pinkie) Also you can use a clear rubber soled shoe.

https://sp.yimg.com/ib/th?id=HN.6080...90796&pid=15.1

We have laminated, NOT PERGO (they are the low end) use throw rugs and carpet sections for sound reduction. Been looking at the cork style flooring also.

We have cpt in the house. I hate it. With three dogs, in the mountains, keeping it clean is a constant chore.

I'm looking at bamboo flooring. Throw some rugs (with no skids) in strategic places and call it good.

I like real hardwood but don't think it will hold up well to dog claws and winter muck. Most of the "fake" wood floorings look fake.

Have you considered cork?

Hardwood is a great flooring choice IMO. If you have high traffic areas, you can plan on having it sanded and refinished every ten years or so, but otherwise it wears well and is easy to keep clean.

Bathrooms and mud room all had carpeting when we bought this house and I've since ripped it all out and replaced with tile. I'm not fast, and it takes it's toll on my knees, but in wet areas, tile is a great option.

In the basement we ripped out the carpet and put in laminate. I have plenty left over in the event of water or any other damage. It is easy to replace.

With hardwood, you can always go with area rugs or wall to wall over top. We once had a house with the most hideous 30 year old carpets. Underneath was some of the most beautiful hardwood and it didn't need any refinishing at all. Over the long haul, I believe hardwood is the best flooring option.

I plan to do tile in the floors of kitchens & bathrooms but that's a project for another day. I always planned to upgrade vinyl floors, counters as well as the tile the builders installed so that's going to happen too but may wait until next year or the year after since it looks good and has no issues yet. Right now I want to focus on this carpet situation as it's a pressing need. I'm looking at bamboo options right now and I've seen some options that look pretty cool. I still don't understand why it hasn't come down more in price since the materials to create it are so much more readily available. I had hoped that it would maybe come down more in cost by now but it seems it's still going to run around the cost of hard wood +/- depending on quality, shade, etc.

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Originally Posted by Great-Kazoo

Tennis or handball (like a pensie pinkie) Also you can use a clear rubber soled shoe.

https://sp.yimg.com/ib/th?id=HN.6080...90796&pid=15.1

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-must go find tennis ball, thank you!

I had Bellawood hickory in my last house and it held up well to two sons and a GSD. New house doesn't have any yet but it will. I cannot stand the laminate ones. I prefer tile for anywhere that will see any amount of moisture, kitchen, baths, entries, etc.

I did a distressed hardwood, when it gets scratched I just use a mahogany marker to cover it up. the only tile I have in the house is in the hall, kitchen and baths

Our hardwood has held up well to 4 dogs (2 of which are border collies), and lots of mud, dirt, etc. that they bring in.


Sent from my fat fingers using Tapatalk

I did pergo at my old house since it was my first home and wasn't worth putting in anything nicer. It's held up great to roommates, pets, and now tenants. Very worry free and easy to install. But, how "real" it looks depends on the type you get and how good you install it. Making sure to not line up seems, no gaps, etc.

In our house now, we have the pergo too. The prior owners put it in and I don't mind it. Again, it's very worry free and I like headache free stuff. If I ever had to replace it, I'd find another hard surface of some kind to put in. I like carpet in the bedrooms but prefer non porous flooring everywhere else. This house would allow me to upgrade the flooring a bit and get my money back out of it.

Dark floors=paw prints, foot prints, dirt, etc showing.

Lighter floors=hides a lot more.

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Originally Posted by Dave_L

I did pergo at my old house since it was my first home and wasn't worth putting in anything nicer. It's held up great to roommates, pets, and now tenants. Very worry free and easy to install. But, how "real" it looks depends on the type you get and how good you install it. Making sure to not line up seems, no gaps, etc.

In our house now, we have the pergo too. The prior owners put it in and I don't mind it. Again, it's very worry free and I like headache free stuff. If I ever had to replace it, I'd find another hard surface of some kind to put in. I like carpet in the bedrooms but prefer non porous flooring everywhere else. This house would allow me to upgrade the flooring a bit and get my money back out of it.

Dark floors=paw prints, foot prints, dirt, etc showing.

Lighter floors=hides a lot more.

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A buddy of mine (member here) did hardwood floors in his new place and chose a really dark wood. It looks great but that was his advice too as it shows all dirt, dust & scratches a lot more. I think we'll stay with a lighter color for this reason as we tend to be a bit lazy as it comes to housekeeping.

I did strand bamboo in my current house. We did it ourselves. We are currently are under contract on a different house and have ours listed. We will be doing hardwood in the new house as time goes on.

With the bamboo, make sure the material gets plenty of time to acclimate before installing. I did two floor jobs for friends and relatives using Lumber Liquidators Morningstar brand and it shrank. Even though manufacturers instructions were followed to the letter. I also think it is wearing poorly. Neither party is award winning house keepers but it should look better. Both parties are still happy with it but I think it looks like shit and will not do bamboo again.

Lobbed from my electronic ball and chain.

We have what looks like light maple in the dining room. Everywhere else is the cheapest builder's grade carpet around. We want to upgrade to wood floors.
We have cats. The nightly mad scramble does leave small mark, but they're easily dealt with.

Light colored wood looks more home-like, IMHO.

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Originally Posted by buffalobo

With the bamboo, make sure the material gets plenty of time to acclimate before installing. I did two floor jobs for friends and relatives using Lumber Liquidators Morningstar brand and it shrank. Even though manufacturers instructions were followed to the letter. I also think it is wearing poorly. Neither party is award winning house keepers but it should look better. Both parties are still happy with it but I think it looks like shit and will not do bamboo again.

Lobbed from my electronic ball and chain.

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Agreed. I opens all our boxes and let air dry for about 2 weeks before installation.

As far as wear, I've had one room installed for 4 yrs. did my boys room before he was born. Really no wear in opinion in 4 yrs.

We have engineered bamboo (with some type of "hard coating on it) on our main level, I installed it in 2007. It still looks good but our two 70 pound labs have scratched it pretty badly. We are considering something pre-finished we can install ourselves that will hold up to big dogs- not sure what that would be yet.

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Originally Posted by Tinelement

I did strand bamboo in my current house. We did it ourselves. We are currently are under contract on a different house and have ours listed. We will be doing hardwood in the new house as time goes on.

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So you wouldn't do bamboo again?

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Engineered bamboo new vs. now, about 8 years of a 130lbs lab

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Originally Posted by jslo

Attachment 42641
Attachment 42643

Engineered bamboo new vs. now, about 8 years of a 130lbs lab

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Ewe, that didn't seem to hold up too well.

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Originally Posted by jslo

Attachment 42641
Attachment 42643

Engineered bamboo new vs. now, about 8 years of a 130lbs lab

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Wow! Mine's not that bad but doesn't look like the new stuff anymore either.

What would be a large dog resistant hardwood?

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Originally Posted by nogaroheli

What would be a large dog resistant hardwood?

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Hedge. But I don't think they make floors outta that.

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Originally Posted by Jer

So you wouldn't do bamboo again?

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I would do it again.

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Originally Posted by nogaroheli

We have engineered bamboo (with some type of "hard coating on it) on our main level, I installed it in 2007. It still looks good but our two 70 pound labs have scratched it pretty badly. We are considering something pre-finished we can install ourselves that will hold up to big dogs- not sure what that would be yet.

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I also have 120lb Saint and did have 130lb Greater Swiss Mountain dog (he died 2.5yrs ago). Bamboo is in great shape.

I really like the vinyl plank. The engineered wood products are junk, the only reason I installed them is that I got them for $0.33/sf.

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Originally Posted by hghclsswhitetrsh

Hedge. But I don't think they make floors outta that.

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Speaking to this....

No hard wood in front of doors the dogs frequent.

Or eating areas.

Hard wood in bedrooms, kitchen, and family rooms. Tile everywhere else.

We used Traffic Master vinyl wood flooring. I have pictures but it's only been a year so it pretty much looks the same. If you do tile, get a commercial scrub brush on a solid wood broom handle (the thicker the better) and it will make cleaning a breeze. Having cleaned tile floors hundreds of times in restaurant kitchens, a stiff brush will make it a snap in a residential home.

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Originally Posted by Tinelement

I would do it again.

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I wasn't sure what you were saying when you said you'd do hardwood. I guess you were lumping them all in the same category as in hardwood v carpet but I wasn't sure if you meant you did bamboo this time but in the next place you wouldn't and would opt for hardwood instead. Just clarifying.

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Originally Posted by Tinelement

Speaking to this....

No hard wood in front of doors the dogs frequent.

Or eating areas.

Hard wood in bedrooms, kitchen, and family rooms. Tile everywhere else.

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You did hardwood in the kitchen?