Hello All,

I'm new to this forum, so please forgive me if I leave out information or sound like a complete novice here.

We are purchasing our first home, settlement coming this week. Before we move in, we are contracting with a local flooring company to install hardwood floors in the entire main level of our house, plus stairs and upstairs hallway. I'm particularly fond of walnut floors. I absolutely fell in love with Mirage Knotty Walnut, but they do not come with a friendly price tag.

Instead, we are going with the Somerset line of Walnut floors: http://somersetfloors.com/pages/charact ... ut.jpg?v=2

The problem is, we can't decide between the 4" solid or the 5" engineered.

Some info on the house:
(1) We live in the suburbs of DC (Northern Virginia to be exact).
(2) Square Footage for wood floors:
-Main: 1554
-Upstairs Hallway: 122
(3) We are not using the same walnut on the stairs. We'll likely have to get oak and then stain to match.
(4) We were quoted the same 21K for both 4" solid and 5" engineered which includes $2/sqft labor. There is existing ceramic tile that the homeowners did themselves (no underlayment) in the entryway and kitchen/breakfast areas. Pink carpet everywhere else... and I mean everywhere.

Any and all advice to make this decision easier would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

A couple more comments:

- I prefer a wider plank, but not at the expense of a lesser quality product.
- I do realize that there is some expansion risk with solid, wide plank flooring, so solid 5" is not currently an option for us.

I'm completely lost with these two options. Any/all advice would be immensely appreciated.

Thanks, again!

Wannabe:

I don't know what you want to hear.

Maybe this is some comfort. With micro beveled floors you won't see the common dry heating season gapping as much as one would with a sanded and finished floor. I'm only talking about minor movement, and not the horror stories we often hear where the home wasn't ready for the actual installation.

Other issues with solids are cupping, which I'm sure you've heard.

It's all a matter of having everything in sinc (relative humidity) and maintaining it. But don't obsess over three or five days of either extreme as an example. Most people think the RH should always stay in the manufacturers recommended range. That in itself is hard to do.

It takes time for problems like cupping and gapping to show.



3/4 Inch Engineered Walnut

I always tell my clients to get the best. However everyone has a budget so perhaps do it in stages when affordable instead of all at once. I prefer the wider plank myself, as wide as it's made.
If one takes all the precautions as in proper acclimation with meter testing, a good humidification or de-humidification system and sub-floor testing, crawl space and basements included in the HVAC system there shouldn't ever be a problem,.

Thank you, Ken, for your response.

Honestly, I'm not quite sure what I was looking to get back as a response either. I guess, I was hoping that one was a clear choice over the other among the experienced or professionals in the flooring field. I would say that 5" is aesthetically more pleasing than 4", but at the same time, I've read that the wider you go, the greater the risk of a low quality products (e.g., wood has been steamed to hide variations in grain found in lesser grades and pass it off as premium).

Solid hardwood flooring has been around for ages. It's reliable. Engineered wood has improved along the way, but it hasn't been around long enough to know for certain how it'll hold up compared to its solid counterpart.

Perhaps my question is more about the brand itself. Is Somerset's solid more reliable than its engineered products? Vice versa? I also wish I had examples of pictures of finished rooms with both 4" and 5" options. It's hard to envision what they'd look like on a larger scale.

I apologize for the rambling. I'm about to drop a large sum of money on this and just want to make sure it's worth every penny.

Thank you again!!

Thanks, Floormeintucson!

I guess that's my question - which is best? The wider engineered option at 5"? I wasn't considering the solid 5" because of cost - maybe that's what you referring to by saying "do it in stages". I don't think doing it in stages is really possible at the moment. We have two very young children and it's hard enough to get flooring done this time with us living in the home.

With pre-finished flooring you are paying for the surface. If you like the way the engineered flooring looks, and they have the same finish, it will stay more flat under all the conditions that you will find in your home and be the best value.
Don't get solid just because you can sand it more times. With a modern finish you can always add another wear layer without sanding. If you like the color, you may never need to sand the floor in your lifetime.
Carefully open a box and spread the product so you can compare where you are purchasing it. Sawn veneer will be better looking than peeled.
Remember, if you are installing flooring in both upstairs and downstairs surfaces, you will need to install the same flooring on the steps, if you like to have the steps safe. There should not be any difference in riser height between any of the treads or nosing, more than 3/8ths of an inch, according to code.

Hi Pete. Thanks for such a helpful response. I believe Somerset's engineered products have a sawn face/wear layer.

Could you elaborate on the stairs, though? Why do I need to have the steps be the same as the upstairs/downstairs flooring? Is this purely for aesthetics? or is it a safety factor as you mentioned? I believe the risers are about the same height all the way up, but I'd have to take a tape measure to it to be absolutely sure.

Adding height to up and downstairs floors will make the risers change height at the top and bottom. If you add to the steps also, the height will be the same as it always has been.
The stairs passed inspection when the home was built I would guess, for safety
When building a new house or adding on to an existing house, you need to pass an inspection if you need a building permit. A contractor will know when a permit is needed.