Hello -- We are about to begin building a 3500 sq. ft. home near Hilton Head, SC with about 2,000 sq. ft. of engineered wood flooring. I'm so discouraged with hearing about floors that look awful after just a few months. We had solid wood floors in our previous homes that always looked great for a decade or more without needing to refinish ever.

When I go into the flooring stores, the people seem to have no clue about how to direct you to a quality floor. Yes, the look is important, but a bad quality floor can be a terrible waste of money and time.

So, I'd love to know of recommended brands and series of wide plank floors about 6-7 inches wide. The style of home is modern farmhouse/coastal or what is referred to down here as "lowcountry".

I have two dogs that are 35 lbs. who can end up running for the door. I try to keep their nails trimmed but they are never going to be short enough to not touch the floor. So I have to find a floor with a very durable finish.

Our builder told me to select a floor that costs $5.50-6.00 a sq. ft. preinstalled. Installation is another $2.50. Perhaps I need to go up in pricing since I'm seeing terrible reviews of big-named brands that would be in that range. I could go up to $7 or $8 range if needed. I like Hickory, White Oak and some exotics. Probably the most important though is a matte, pearl or satin-like floor that will be durable and not a nightmare like I'm reading about.

Thank you in advance for any recommendations.

-- Val

Val:

I don't know where most guys are. Pete spends a lot of time here. Always provides great input. Could be summer vacations.

In our phone discussion I believe I mentioned several times finish durability is about the same with the medium to higher quality brands. Some obsess over it far too much. They're all going to scratch, ding and dent.

Frankly you'd probably be better off going with a sand in place floor and apply an oil based finish. Many of today's prefinished hardwoods etch with scratching, or become more visible. The older types don't, or the ones prior to aluminum oxide and such.

Pete can probably help better than I on a good oil based finish.

Unfinished engineered hardwoods - maybe even a wire brushed one

Funny you should mention oil-based floors, since that's what I started thinking about last night. I came across a company called Garrison Collection and they have lots of oil-based floors. That way I could touch up the floor and I'm not adverse to doing maintenance. They seem to have thick wear layers as well. Do you have or anyone else have thoughts on Garrison and other oil-based engineered wood floors? I couldn't find anything bad about them but who knows...

Thank you so much for all of your help!
Val

Hi Val, I would suggest engineered hardwood flooring oil look finish but without oil maintenance.


Good luck with your project!

I always recommend a pre-finished floor that has UV cured poly-urethane for ease of maintenance. I also recommend a light brown color that will show less wear over time after it has been re-coated, which is thinking ahead 5, 10 or twenty years, presuming that you will still like the color that you have chosen in the beginning, because most poly-urethane floor finishes can be re-coated as they get worn and need another coat of finish for maintenance. You will never use wax over a pre-finished UV cured poly-urethane floor or another coat of finish may not adhere to the factory finish. IN this case, you are essentially paying for the surface and not expecting to sand the floor to remove little dents or nicks, so re-coating will make your floor as close to new looking as you can get.
I prefer the poly-urethane finish to the oil finish,so wear layer, "veneer thickness,"
is not an important concern.

Thank you all for your feedback. I've learned a lot about flooring the past week. I'm leaning toward the Garrison Collection Du Bois line. I hear good things about that line and it's in my budget. Thank you again for all your responses.