Good quality laminates/engineered wood floors or should I just go real wood?

Buffman · 3 Sep 2023 at 23:10

Does anyone recommend anywhere for engineered wood flooring with thick wear layer? (or real wood that's click style?) or good quality laminate?

Ive got LVT in other rooms with a supposed thick wear layer but to be honest it shows scratches. Also got some real beech parquet and it's not maintenance free and would worry about my pc chair scratching i. Don't want tiles as theyre cold

Its just for a small office so will have a roller chair on it... Possibly hardwood like oak would be better than beech that I also have.

Pic of old laminate rip out below I'm sure it was cheap but to be fair it was fairly robust

kaku · 4 Sep 2023 at 00:53

I put quick step laminate in my office and I've been happy with it. No scratching issues with the chair but it does have 'hard floor' castors that are slightly rubbery so YMMV.

sovietspybob · 4 Sep 2023 at 07:54

After having spent ages researching and a fortune having good quality (i think 6mm?) engineered oak flooring fitted, i'd just get laminate like Karndean if i was to do it again for smaller rooms and tiles in big areas.

Real wood is cool and all but it does need maintenance and you're always having to baby it, be it not being able to steam clean it or being careful not to scratch or dent it. And god forbid if you have a leak and get any of it wet

danlightbulb · 4 Sep 2023 at 07:59

Buffman said:
Pic of old laminate rip out below I'm sure it was cheap but to be fair it was fairly robust

That doesn't look like laminate to me, looks like engineered. You can tell by the tongue of the boards, laminate tongues are continuous not segmented like that.

Buffman · 4 Sep 2023 at 19:51

danlightbulb said:
That doesn't look like laminate to me, looks like engineered. You can tell by the tongue of the boards, laminate tongues are continuous not segmented like that.

Ah I didn't really know they're any different, don't think I've had laminate before and this seemed pretty good for scratches. Maybe I should have just kept it :O

danlightbulb · 4 Sep 2023 at 19:59

Buffman said:
Ah I didn't really know they're any different, don't think I've had laminate before and this seemed pretty good for scratches. Maybe I should have just kept it :O

You could probably have sanded it and refinished it once. Too late now. Take a photo of the end of one of the boards, soon tell if it's engineered, it will have at least 3 layers like plywood does.

tom_nieto · 4 Sep 2023 at 20:18

I’m hoping that we can get our engineered wood floor sanded and refinished once the kids are slightly less destructive! Real wood or parquet would be amazing as it looks good even with a bit of wear.

a1ex2001 · 5 Sep 2023 at 00:37

Buffman said:
Does anyone recommend anywhere for engineered wood flooring with thick wear layer? (or real wood that's click style?) or good quality laminate?

Ive got LVT in other rooms with a supposed thick wear layer but to be honest it shows scratches. Also got some real beech parquet and it's not maintenance free and would worry about my pc chair scratching i. Don't want tiles as theyre cold

Its just for a small office so will have a roller chair on it... Possibly hardwood like oak would be better than beech that I also have.

Pic of old laminate rip out below I'm sure it was cheap but to be fair it was fairly robust

Anything with a real wood top layer be it engineered or solid will mark, we had an engineered oak floor in our kitchen diner and it marked just like you would expect a wood floor to. Decent high wear laminate tends to be harder but nothing not even tiles are scratch proof.

I’d by engineered wood and accept it will mark wood with marks looks good it’s a natural material.