I am installing about 600 sqft of engineered click/lock flooring on the first floor of my new home, a rowhome in Philadelphia. I have a contractor who is installing the floor as part of a larger job so I am not concerned with ease of installation or cost of labor.

The reason we are doing click/lock is because the floor is going to be floated over a tile floor that was put in by the previous owner. I do not have the budget for solid hardwood floors, so I am definitely getting the click/lock engineered.

That being said, I'd like to get some feedback on some of the options I've found. I can't go any higher than about $3.60/sqft.

I am considering this floor from Home Depot for $3.39. It is listed as $3.58 online but my local store is selling it at $3.39. It has very good reviews and the customer photos look beautiful.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Home-Legend- ... ifications

I have a local flooring store who has Bruce Turlington 3" on sale right now for $2.39. At 600sqft that's a $600 difference which is huge, means I can pick nicer appliances in the kitchen etc.

Here is the Bruce Turlington I found on an online flooring site... same product they are selling in my local store. http://www.efloors.com/bruce-turlington ... _29183.htm

The Home Legends has a 55 year warranty and Bruce has a 25 year warranty. I believe the Home Legends warranty is through the manufacturer, not Home Depot, and Bruce is through the manufacturer definitely.

I am not willing to save $600 if the Bruce is an inferior product. It's so hard to get honest reviews but I'm wondering if anyone here has ever dealt with them or can figure out which sounds like a better product from the info online.

Alternatively, if anyone has a different suggestion I am open to ideas. I am basically looking for a light to medium tone hardwood, prefer 5" wide but 3" is okay, and it needs to be click/lock. Higher durability/hardness is better as I have 3 pets and 4 adults in the house and this floor will be high traffic areas.

The turlington comes in a standard t&g and a click lock floater. The link you put down is for the standard t&g not the fold and lock. Your going to pay more for turlington lock and fold than home legends unless the turlington is a cabin grade. at 2.39 a sf it sounds like cabin you cant even buy the first quality traditional turlington for 2.39 a sf. Thats below dealer cost on the regular and the lock and fold is normally a buck a foot higher.

Oops, you're right. It's this one http://www.bruce.com/hardwood/EAK00LG.asp

It is definitely lock and fold, and the local store is definitely selling it for $2.39. I don't know whether is cabin grade or not, but I know it is 3/8" thickness which is the same as Home Legends. Do they sell the same Turlington Lock & Fold product in two different qualities? If so how do they label them? If not, then this is the regular Turlington Lock & Fold so I guess it's a really good deal?

Bruce does sell the seconds under the "timberland value grade" is what they call it or it could be a tavern which is even lower quality than the timberland. If you look at the actually box it will have the same item number with a "TW" or a "T" on the end indicating its the timberland or the tavern. that price is too good to be true for the first quality. If it is the first quality I would snatch it up.

Hmm... I will have to call the store and ask then. Assuming it is the value grade or even the tavern/cabin grade, which of these 2 would you go with? Or is there a different floor that consistently gives good results? I feel like the engineered flooring is fairly new so there are no "tried and true" products but maybe there are and I just don't know! Any advice would be really helpful.

I buy Turlington all day long at 2.39

my guess id a retailer gets a better break than a contractor so they can
can sell it on sale at the same as contractor price.

its a decent product at best

requires installer attention and opens up easily.

there will always be gaps..not to the clothed eye....but they are there..(T&G install)

lock and fold another story..never installed it

I wouldn't expect any better with an HD product.

IM a displaying dealer with a showroom and we used to buy it .50 less just 9 months ago. They have gone up three times this year and have another increse coming next week. Id be surprised if anyone can get it that cheap who is not buying by the truckload.

First, I don't think either one is great. As mentioned above, they are okay.

It does seem that that these cheap click locks that HD has are super cheap and very low quality. The wear layer is super thin - almost like paper (look at it from the side) and the clicking mechanism not so great. I've had customers w/ sample who play w/ them and break them in the process, that's how cheap they are.

I know it has a 55 yr warranty, but that is meaningless and it wouldn't bank anything on that. Out of all the manufacturers I've worked with, by far, Armstrong is the best abt standing behind their warranties.

The turlington is probably a safer bet, but I'd say it's okay...and the best you'll get for that sort of low price range. don't even bother w/ any bamboo which may be similar in price but won't hold up at all.

Also, as mentioned above, the price does sound suspiciously low. I can usually get regular turlington a bit lower and I seem to recall the lock & fold being around $1 higher. Regular turlington is not lock and fold, so it will cost you more for adhesive and prob. not best for tile. I'd be more inclined to do a click lock. And, yes at end of month many prices are going up again.

Debbie Gartner aka The Flooring Girl
http://TheFlooringGirl.com
Westchester County NY