Should I go with Engineered Hardwood or Laminate flooring?

If you can afford it avoid the Laminate, is just glorified laminated newspaper. If you are going to shell out good money you want something that is going to last and look good for years to come. True hardwood floor is available in all price ranges.

Not to agree with the durability but you should know Laminate floors are constructed in 2 different methods called High Pressure Laminates (HPL) and Direct Pressure Laminates (DPL). The High Pressure Laminates involve a 2-step process that fuses and glues the components together. The Direct Pressure Laminates involve only a 1-step process where everything is fused together at once. Without getting too much in the details the High Pressure Laminates cost more to produce and generally have higher wear ratings.

I had laminate, I hated it. It's noisy, scrathes easily and not a durable as I had been told. Make sure you have a good reputable installer with whatever you choose. You get what you pay for.

There are two ways to look at it.
What does it look like new?
What does it look like in ten years?

Assuming you do a little homework and find an engineered floor at a price somewhat competitive with laminate, I don't see how there's any real comparison otherwise.

The engineered natural wood product (1/8" wear layer) over plywood substrate is incredibly durable and good looking initially because it is REAL WOOD.

In ten years, you may have to refinish the engineered product but the good news is: YOU CAN. You cannot refinish the laminate floor. Period.

If you live where you are likely to get sand tracked in, like we do here close to the beach, the finish will wear out on either floor. But you can re-vitalize the top layer of the real wood.

I went with laminate from Costco because it was relatively inexpensive, easy to install because they snap together in an interlocking fashion (did it all myself), and anything looks better than the awful vinyl flooring the house (now 9YO) came with. Could not justify the cost for hardwood because of the upfront costs and I knew we would not be in the house forever.

I did the dining room, kitchen, downstairs bathroom and pantry closet (all connected). Took two weekends total. One drawback is the fact that if any water forms between the boards, the edges will swell up a bit and form a slight peak. But replacing it is pretty easy. It's just a matter of removing the baseboard and then popping the boards back up. Just make sure you keep a few spare boards on hand.

That said, I did have to redo the bathroom since water leaked from the wax ring and got under the laminate. Went with a long, telescoping plastic ring the 2nd time around. Problems solved.

hardwood all the way, better quality and looks much better.

I have a little experience here, and a very different perspective developed thru this experience. First,if you have a raised foundation (plywood sub-floor) you can use solid wood flooring; which often costs equal or less than good engineered wood flooring. Second,the only engineered flooring worth money will have a minimum 1/8 inch wear layer and it should be solid sawn. There are a few exceptions to this rule. A sawn wear layer is real like a real piece of wood flooring would be and is laminated to a plywood backing. Unfortunately, most engineered pre-finished flooring has a peeled core veneer wear layer; which is code for cheap, porous, open grain plywood. Think cheap tract home plywood cabinets. Don't be enamored of warranties-- they are prorated, never cover the damage you actually might do, and are only sales tools. Manufacturers know your not likely to be in the home more than 5-7 years which means you won't ever have a legitimate claim. There are good pre-finished engineered floors out there, we do business with Mirage and Eco-Timber among others. Do not expect to get good advise from Lumber Liquidators-- if their staff knew what they were selling and the correct answers to the myriad of relevant questions they wouldn't work there. Same is true for Home Depot. Call a small mom and pop store/contractor, or call me and I'm usually happy to guide you into my shop! If you find a good local flooring contractor and he doesn't sell product, you can find good buys at the box stores, but only on in-stock items. Special order items will cost you just as much as your specialized/neighborhood flooring contractor, usually more. Never hire box stores for labor-- your probably not lucky enough to have that work well.
Now for a little philosophy. Cheap engineered, overly trendy wood floors and plastic laminates usually end up in a landfill pre-maturely. Laminate is obnoxiousely loud and alot of it looks dirty too easily because of it's texture. Think dogs nails clicking on hollow plastic. As previous comments suggested, it will not recover from moisture damage, it is just ruined. Think timeless design and craftsmanship that lasts-- that is value. If you cannot afford long term value simply paint or stain your sub-floor. This works for concrete and plywood. You can use stencils for creative license and I've even seen cool paper mache'(sp.?)designs.
None of this will mean a thing to you if you still value maximum sq. footage for minimum price, and if that describes you-- a heartfelt thank you is due from the defence industry.

amiller333@comcast.net

If you've got a dog, go with laminate. Thank me later.

According to my wife, a realtor, for resale value go with engineered hardwood or the real thing