Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - Can you paint/stain laminate flooring?

My husband and I are going to remove our carpet and put down laminate wood flooring. We already have laminate wood in our front entry, but we will be adding the new flooring to the dining room and family room (on either side of the front entrance). Although we have not purchased anything yet, I doubt we will be able to match the finish exactly. I was thinking about painting or staining a design on the floor in the front entry. That way, any color variation in the two floors would be less noticeable. I know this can be done for hardwood floors, but is it possible for laminate wood floors? If so, what would I need to do? Thanks!

Refinishing a laminate floor is not at all practical. Because laminate flooring is a fairly new product to the American market you may be able to find a match... that is if you wish to find a match. The entry or foyer of most homes is quite small and because of that you might consider including the entry with the other flooring that you have planned. Laminate flooring takes a beating in an entry and a welcome mat of some type is reccommended to ward off grit, sand, other abrasive material that gets stuck to shoes and then knocked off by a hard flooring surface.

Laminate floors are a picture of wood grain adhered to plastic that has been adhered to some type of fiber board. What we are talking about is fake wood. They coat the picture of the wood over with some type of finish that they will swear outlasts the earth. In 10-20 years, you have a product that ends up in the dumpster. It can not be refinished. Go with solid hardwood floors. No substitute. Hardwood lasts over 200+ years or more. It can be sanded 7 or more times. Engineered (3 or 5 ply floors) will last 30-60 yrs. They are great on concrete below grade because of engineering stability for moisture/humidity. In other words, don't substitute something that is not real wood unless it is below grade on concrete. If you buy a high quality hardwood with a finish guarantee of 25 yrs+, you will have no problems. Educate yourself in order to defend yourself against the marketers and sales reps out there. Buy something that will last.

Now I'm thoroughly confused. I've been told that you can ONLY install "hardwood" floors (the REAL wood) in houses with basements. Because my husband and I have a house that is on a concrete slab, we can only install "engineered" wood flooring. (So we've been told by "experts") I'd rather have real hardwoods, but is it possible to install them on a concrete slab? Are "engineered" wood floors the same as "laminate" wood floors? I was under the impression that "engineered" wood floors actually have a thin layer of wood glued to a composite core.

Please help me to understand. Thanks! :)

Hardwood floors can be installed on concrete above grade. They are not recommended below grade in basements. That is where the engineered wood products can go. Engineered wood products have a thin layer of wood veneer glued to usually 3 or 5 layers of plywood. If shopping for engineered wood, don't go with less than 1/8" veneer. Most of these products tend to be glue or staple down products. They are more dimensionally stable (less expansion/contraction due to changes in temperature and humdity). Depending on the thickness of the veneer layer, they can be sanded 1-3 times. I have read life expectancy is 30-60 years. Solid hardwood can last 200 years or longer.

Go to http://www.hardwoodcouncil.com and under "Tips & Techniques" you will find an article on installing hardwood on concrete.

Go to http://www.floorsearch.com and read their "Flooring 101 Guide" to learn about the different types of floor coverings.

The National Hardwood Organization says to accept no substitutes for solid hardwood!

National Hardwood Org. sez accept no substitute for hardwood floors and the Ford dealers say accept no substitute for a Ford. 12 pole sez "Laminate floors are a picture of wood grain adhered to plastic that has been adhered to some type of fiber board. What we are talking about is fake wood. They coat the picture of the wood over with some type of finish that they will swear outlasts the earth." And the statement is mostly false! Below grade installations of laminate are risky be carful. I'm sure 12 pole is passionate about a product that 12 pole produces and sells and thats great but, 12 pole you really should either learn more about what you see as competition or try to be a little more candid.;-)

Fred, you have taken what I said out of context. I am not a fan of laminate floors because they are "fake." Why buy something fake when you can have the real thing? They do have their place, though. They are a relatively new product in our market place. Research indicates there tends to be a 50/50 satisfaction rate. I am not a fan of engineered wood floors, but they have their place, too, especially below grade on concrete. If you go with an engineered wood product, get a good one with a minimum of 1/8" veneer and a good warranty. I am well researched in these flooring products because I sell them for a living.

Hi Ya'll:

Fred. Patricia is entirely biased on what she suggests and I don't blame her as the website is based in the heart of inexpensive quality hardwoods..looks like alot of prefinished stuff though. Here I thought they were selling some quality hardwoods, though I'm not familiar with Medallion.

kellyandmike,
You are correct in most of your assumptions. Laminate is a coating or veneer. It can be plastic or wood. The engineered wood floors are usually a veneer covering using real wood. Most consumers don't understand the difference between laminate and engineered floors. Blame it on the manufacturers marketing departments. Some mfgs refer to their engineered floors as laminate, when they are actually a wood veneer. I would suggest to stay away from a laminate that is an actual plastic covering. It will scratch and possibly seperate from the under-surface if gouged hard enough. Speaking of scrathes, both enginerered and solid 3/4 inch flooring will also scratch and dent. When Dupont makes a corian veneered floor covering that's not $100 a foot I may buy it. But I undersatnd corian can scratch also. They will all scratch and dull with time.
A quick question for twelvepole: really, how do you nail 3/4 wood flooring to a concrete slab?

Go to http://www.hardwoodcouncil.com for a tips on hardwood installation on concrete above grade. The flooring is not nailed to the concrete. Thanks Fewalt for further clarifying the difference between "laminate" and "engineered" wood floors.

This is a forum. I asked a simple question. I'm not going anywhere else except to fantasy baseball stats for tonight.

Kelly and Mike, I'm sorry if I've contributed to the confusion that "12 pole" and "few alt-ernatives" are spewing. I might suggest that you do a little research at sites such as iFloor.com and others that offer a broad base of product knowledge. You are clearly considering a hard surface and appearantly a wood or wood look. Veneer and laminate are both terms used to describe the top layer of a multilayered panel as used here. Each has charactistics that are different while being produced using similar methods. Both will scratch, one has a written warrantee against normal scratching, normal is key. One has a written warrantee against fading, one has a written warrantee against wear. Only one can be refinished, is that something that is important to you? Look at different assembly systems some are permanent and some allow for being moved or easily replaced. Most manufacturers of engineered and laminate flooring have web sites that offer claims of the manufacturer but more importantly they state the warrantee. Check out these web sites. If you wish to know the brand names of each to facilitate finding those web sites you may send me an e-mail and I will respond with names. I have nothing for sale here so there will be no solicitation and my e-mail address is most available.

I contributed no confusion. I actually was the only party to explain what the differences are between laminate and engineered wood floors. And since most enginnered wood floor manufacturers are fairly new in this country, warrantees have yet to be proven. I've read too many horror stories concerning moisture damage. In that case then, I wouldn't care if it had a fantastic warranty or not, it would still be one big hassle. I've researched and researched, and I think I'll replace my 24 yr old vinyl with a new vinyl flooring.

fewalt
To lay a wood floor over concrete first you have to lay a subfloor---plywood subfloor. You attach the plywood subfloor to the concrete floor with concrete nails. A power nailer for this purpose is best to use.
Carol

Carol,
That's what I assumed, - Thanks

Don't hold your breath for a Corian veneer floor product. Corian does scratch, that is why it is not recommended for floor applications or as an alternative to ceramic tile. It is just too soft. However, if it were harder (more scratch resistent) you could not cut and shape it with normal woodworking tools like a table saw, router, etc.

It is a trade-off between workability and hardness.

As to TwelvePole's answer about installing hardwood flooring over concrete, it is great that she took the time to insert a link for other forum visitor's that need more information about this. It is not about Fantasy Baseball distractions, it is about providing in-depth information that can help the greatest number of visitors to the forum.

[Edited by arkayassoc on 05-07-01 at 01:35]

Thanks Rick,
Problem is, 12pole sends too many people to other sites when a simple answer would have sufficed. Carol's reply/answer was excellent, short and to the point. Those are the type answers which are appreciated the most.
And I know Corian scratces fairly easy and is easily worked with woodworking tools. I'm an avid woodworker and would love to do some Corian, - problem is you can't buy it over the counter.
The fantasy baseball remark was a just a lil' joke.

You apparently do not like links, but since I do not know where you live, this link will tell you where you can buy Corian, depending on inputting your state and then city.

http://dealerechannel.com/bin/ShowMap.cgi?dealer=BathKitchenAndTile&store=Greenbank&site=DK

As to 12pole's links, a simple answer may have satisfied you, however, there may be many other visitor's that want more than a simple answer. Just perhaps, 12pole's links may have helped someone else.