off topic--hardwood flooring

[Glenn Clabo]

Kirk...
Just to relieve your mind...We have a black lab and yellow lab...dark wood/light wood doesn't matter...fur get's swifered in few minutes. Much easier than you'd think.

[Chris Padilla]

Hey, Velvit Oil!! Thanks for posting that, Jim. I love that stuff....

[Rob Strause]

I vote for wood too. An by the way NOT prefinished unless its wax. I have wax floors in the Dining Rm and Foyer and they hold up better than you'd think and when they start looking tired, a good wax job brings them right back. Apparently that's what makes wax -finished floors popular in commercial applications. Pre-finished floors are fine, but I've observed in friends homes and my study, that pre-fin floors seem to scratch a lot and in applications like kitchens really haven't help up as moisture seaps through the cracks. Floors that are finished in place seal better and from my experience seem to hold up better in general than pre-fin floors. I know two people in my 10-year old development who've replaced the pre-fin wood floors in their kitchens and bathrooms. The builder used Bruce pre-fin flooring. Maybe not the best, but not bad.

I have a laminate floor from Wytex in my basement workout room and its a great lam floor. But like any lam, it doesn't compare in appearance to either of my wood floors, and scratches just as easily. Can't be refinished either. It wil last forever in the low-traffic room its in, but I don't see advantages in a high-traffic area in the main home.

Good luck with your decision.

Rob

[Andy Halterman]

Jeremy,

Sounds like you are getting hit with a hard sales pitch. I've been in the wood flooring business for about 12 years now and I can tell you we put lots of wood floors in kitchen areas. The problems I have seen in kitchens are overwhelmingly cause by leaking pipes or appliances. Rarely do we see real wear issues but that is not to say that they don't occur. Some families are just simply hard on floors. Kids and dogs do wear and tear just about anything, floors includes. The new prefinished floors usually have those finishes with ceramic particles (usually aluminum oxide, an abrasive, go figure) mixed in the brew to make it more scratch resistant. My experience is that the jury is still out on long term durability. It's only been about 6 yrs or so since this "trend" really got going. They needed to address durability issues some how and this is what we got. One other person mentioned the seams being the weak link. Heed that sage wisdom.

You have many options for site finished flooring. Two good stout finishes I would recommend are BonaKemi Traffic or Basic Coatings StreetShoe. Both are two part waterbased polys and they hold up very well to abusive folks. Glitsa and Synteko are good two part conversion varnishes that also are pretty durable. Moisture cure urethane is also good but I won't mess with it because it is VERY toxic. Wood species are also a consideration. For domestics, hickory, maple, and white oak seem to be about the top of the list for durability. Mesquite if you can afford it, is both stunningly beautiful and pretty stout too. Pretty much all of the more common tropical woods (jatoba, ipe, cumaru, etc.) will be very tough. They can be a real bear to sand because of their hardness as well as the fact the dust tends to irritate us gringos. I'd suggest talking to a few installer/finisher folks and see what they tell you. See if you can get some references for the types of wood you are interested in and go take a peek at their floors. You have as many options as your wallet can stand.

Buena suerte.

Andy Halterman

Getting ready to start yet another antique pine floor in Hendersonville, NC ™

[David LaRue]

BonaKemi Traffic is what I have on my kitchen floor. Virtaully indistructible. BTW I have a Kahrs engineered maple floor in the bathroom. My kids are constantly flooding the sink, playing with water, and I've come in an hour or two later with standing water still on the floor (and clean it up). It doesn't seem to phase it. Wood is the way to go!

On my Jotoba Braziain Cherry floor I have a urathane coating.

[Kelly C. Hanna]

I disagree...real wood is the floor of choice here. It has enjoyed a huge resurgence in the last 20 years...people uncovering the floors everywhere and refinishing them (which you can do more than once with the real wooden floors). Those who want you to have Laminate want to sell their product or want you to have the same thing they have. You would be much better off (children and pets, too) with the real wood floors. I would choose Oak in your situation.

[Tom Gattiker]

I have laminate (from previous owner). It behaves like plywood. There are areas that have gotten a little water damage and they show ripples due to the outer ply expanding and shrinkind at a different rate and direction that then inner core. Also in some places the outer veneer ply is separating from the inner core. This would be very difficult to repair, and, since the floor is glued down, very difficult to replace.

I agree that the finish is tough but once the floor starts to degenerate, you cannot repair or refinish.easiliy

This is after about 10 years, I'd estimate, of age.