bumping!

thanks! talked to both of these companies and they are going to help me out!

I answered your question. Your getting bad info and advice. Of course you can order solid but when you have a problem your going to post your complaints. The retailers get the complaints. They don't want to lose your business but they don't want complaints either. Of course you know more than the experienced installers in your area so all the best to you.

Of course you can do real wood in FL. Problem you will have is finding an installer who can assess your jobsite and design a solid hardwood floor system that will be successful. Expect to pay more going with a solid floor.

Engineered Owens Plankflor is an excellent alternative to a true solid; it will give you all the benefits of an unfinished solid with the better dimensional stability of an unfinished engineered. Expect to pay more for this also.

Then, of course, you could ditch the idea of genuine wood altogether and go with a quality vinyl wood-look plank floor. I have seen some incredibly realistic-looking vinyl alternatives in commercial establishments recently. Expect to pay as much as genuine wood for this also.

Boxers...where did you answer my post? what in the world does your post mean? i am confused by your seemingly angry response. I don't understand...

glennsfc: my local NWFA guy ALSO recommended the Owens product. He called it the rolls royce. i can't afford it but he recommended "HOWELL HARDWOOD" as a cheaper and good quality alternative. any feedback on that? here's that website....

Here is a link that might be useful: howell

You should not get any warping if you keep your house under air during the summer. The rest of the year is just like up north.

The sellers and installers only know what they deal with. Due to the hardwood forests growing up north, it might be hard to find down here. You may even want to take a road trip with a trailer up to Pennsylvania or New York and buy directly from a lumber mill. I bet that would be thousands cheaper and higher quality.
Weyerhaeuser is a lumber mill off the top of my head that sells to the public. Might even be worth while to have them deliver via a truck load.

The Hickory/Pecan trees are down here. :)

As long as you install a solid wood no lower than 10% moisture content, you should be just fine.

Do not acclimate the flooring to the interior heating season and the drier air associated with heating a home.

I'm also in Florida and have been told (more then once) by flooring sales people that engineered wood is suggested here because the sub-floors are usually concrete. Is this correct?? Thanks.

ML

Definitely use a flooring professional with experience and credentials to get the results you want.

Thanks for the link about Howell flooring products. Their fumed products are interesting, because not too many people do this process. If I understand it right, it makes light colored species like maple and birch dark like black walnut without the surface stain? This sounds like a good way to expand the uses of many N. American species.

Misti - I can understand why you'd want a 'real' wood floor. But do realize that engineered wood floors ARE real wood! They're just constructed in such a way as to handle changes in humidity better than solid hardwood does.

You may think of engineered products as 'less desirable' -- and I can see why you might. Some of them ARE lower quality than most solid wood floors -- thin wear layer, flimsy wood substrates, etc. Some of them ARE designed to be cheaper alternatives to solid hardwood. And some of them LOOK that way. But many of them AREN'T. They aren't engineered to save money; they're engineered to perform well in conditions where solid hardwoods won't.

You've spoken to several local retailers who all tell you the same thing: That solid hardwoods don't perform well in your climate. These folks know you're wanting to buy solid hardwood. They'd love to sell you something. They need the business. They know what you want them to say -- but they still won't say it... Ask yourself why not?! Are you the first person who has called them about solid hardwood? Has the idea never occurred to any of them to sell this little-known flooring product? Why won't they sell it to you?

So you'd rather listen to anonymous Internet posters who:

1) Aren't in the business (except Boxerpups) and may not know squat about wood flooring,
2) Don't live in your climate and understand your seasons,
3) May have a vested interest in selling you product, and
4) Won't be there if/when things go wrong!

Why would you do that Misti?
If you can't find a local retailer and installer who is willing and able to stand behind a solid hardwood installation, why would you even be willing to risk it?

It's a lot of money.
Can you afford to throw it away?
Be smart.

YOU CAN PUT HARDWOOD IN ANYWHERE IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR DOING BUT ENGINEERED IS MUCH MORE STABLE AND CAN BE REFINISHED 3 TIMES JUST LIKE HARDWOOD IT LASTS JUST AS LONG IF YOU BUY A GOOD BRAND LIKE MANNINGTON OR SCANDIA

Miss,

I live in FL and we put in Armstrong Valencia Series Engineered wood about 10 months ago. We love it. You can refinish at least 3 times but it wears extremely wear. It should be good for at least 15 years before it needs to be refinished.

The reason why you need to use engineered wood in Florida is because the wood is being laid on a concrete slab. That is too much moisture for hardwood. Even if I had the choice to go with hardwood, I would have still picked engineered wood.

I'd have to agree with the engineered route- I "had" to have "real" wood in my home (very dry climate) and was warned not to by pros...lo and behold shrinkage abounds (my own fault I suppose for not having a proper humidifier on my furnace). My dear little sister put engineered in (which, btw looked better than my "real" wood) and has had no problems whatsoever, same city. In my new home now and won't make the same mistake twice.
Also, if you do have a concrete slab, then you can't lay HW, nowhere to nail it down... you can get really nice engineered product and you'll probably thank those companies who steered you away from the real deal.

" * Posted by maddielee (My Page) on
Wed, Oct 14, 09 at 16:48

I'm also in Florida and have been told (more then once) by flooring sales people that engineered wood is suggested here because the sub-floors are usually concrete. Is this correct?? Thanks.

Yes, over concrete, engineered is going to be the best option. Solid over concrete, is real risky business, especially since Florida has extreme dew points, and concrete can easily be below dew point temperature.

Engineered flooring can be abraded and top coated more than 3 times.
It is when you want to take it back to bare wood, to change the stain color, or it is in terrible shape, that 1 to 3 times is the normal for most thin wear layer engineered flooring.
Now there are many thick wear layer ply constructed flooring(I don't call it engineered) that can be sanded to bare wood as many times as a solid wood can. The only draw back, is they act more like a solid board than a true engineered when you have extreme swings in moisture.

Look into Owens Plank!! Best of both worlds.

Sweeby,

Not everyone who posts on here is an "anonymous Internet posters who...may not know squat about wood flooring,..."

Some people who work in wood flooring retail have never personally installed a wood floor in their life and couldn't tell white oak from hickory unless it was written on the box.

Engineered is generally better than solid for concrete bases, but solid can work if designed well. Solid wood flooring also comes in 3/8" thickness and 1/2" thickness, which may be more suitable with a built-up floor over concrete.

No one source of information will have all the unbiased facts or all the unbiased knowledge on any subject. It is always good to plan ahead and read all you can before making the final decision. I also highly recommend looking beyond your local area for new ideas and new styles that you might find both interesting and useful.

I would never have come upon the last hardwood floor that I installed in 2005 had it not been for the wide variety of ideas, knowledge, and opinions available on the internet. I would probably just have bought another Bruce product at the local big box store. Not that Bruce products are bad, as we are happy with the engineered wood floor that I also installed in 1999 in our basement.

Sweeby,

Many of us who post here are flooring professionals who participate in this forum to give free advice to consumers looking for answers to questions about flooring.

Since we are in the business and respect the terms and conditions of this board, we are prevented from revealing much about our businesses.

Glenn/SFC

Agreed - There are some knowledgeable professionals (and knowledgeable homeowners) on this board who I did not mention -- Sorry about that Glenn & JRDwyer and all others who I did not specify by name.

But to the OP, we are all anonymous, and may not know squat about wood flooring -- "MAY" being the operative word. (Does she know Who's Who?)

When it comes right down to thousands of dollars of your own money, if you're planning on having someone local install, wouldn't you experts all recommend insisting on someone who will stand behind his work? And for areas with high humidity and slab construction, wouldn't you experts agree that an engineered product generally makes more sense?

I have been looking at hardwood flooring the last few months. Nevelle makes hardwood flooring that clicks together. I checked it out by buying a box of it and putting it together at my home. It was easy and the boards come in 4 difference sizes which makes it easy to stagger each line. It is beautiful. The one i checked out was french oak nougat. This can be installed only one way, as a floating floor. You have to use an underlayment over the concrete. Nevelle is located in Riviera, Florida. You do have to check the moisture level in the room. It has a 50 year warrenty. I am considering putting it in my home office. Home depot carries it. It is 5/8" thick. You do have to keep it away from water so your kithen would not be advisable. I have not decided yet because a real estate agent said it would not bring up the value of my home. I don't agree with her. You do have to try to maintain a certain humidity level with this but that would true in many states. I do not like the engineered wood because it scratches to easy and usually has a 15 or 25 year warrenty. Make sure you are carefull because I have caught a few sales people in lies. Make sure you buy what you want not what they want to sell you. Honesty is not a virtue in Florida. Try to find an honest installer because they will work with you.

Being this post is 8 years old, are you asking a question or offering advice?

I have lived in Florida since the late 70's and have put solid wood down on concrete slabs in 3 of my homes. I have also used engineered wood in one home. The solid wood ALWAYS out performed the engineered ... ALWAYS. Recently, I had a slab leak in my current home. The solid oak swelled and the engineered wood peeled from the top layer. I had already replaced the engineered wood in my kitchen because of moisture which caused mold. When the insurance company replaced my entire wood flooring, the wood flooring guys kept telling me that I should use engineered wood, for all the reasons you all are hearing. I chose to use solid wood again (which they were not happy with and said they couldn't guarantee it) but here's the thing.... when they removed my engineered wood, it came up very easily. When they tried to remove the solid oak, which had dried out and was fine, they had to saw thru the wood to the concrete EVERY 6 INCHES ... and it was still hard to get up. When they kept trying to tell me engineered was "better", I said, "You guys keep telling me that, but from what I SAW and EXPERIENCED, I'm going with solid wood!" I chose this time to put solid hickory down as it it harder than oak. My floors are beautiful and I absolutely love them. They are glued to the concrete and even the longer boards have done well. You can put them down yourself if you have time and Lumber Liquidators has great wood. So does Floor and Decor.

"You can put them down yourself if you have time and Lumber Liquidators has great wood. So does Floor and Decor."

Yikes!!

Every job is and will be different. What confuses me is the humid issue...always has. We run our AC eight months out of the year in SW Florida. Humidity usually stays in check. 45-55% in my showroom and at home. Cooler months arrive, the doors go open. Winter humidity in Florida is tame.

Problem with many is they go to the same place over and over again. Home Depot first or folks that focus on carpet, tile, vinyl and laminate. Most want to sell what they have and not going in a direction they know very little about. IE: solid hardwoods.

Either direction, anything is possible, but for more peace of mind, higher quality engineered hardwoods are the answer and not the $ 3-4 stuff. Naturally it has to be installed properly...even the cheaper stuff. The dealers mentioned by grace...um...well, they work for those that have limited budgets for the most part or simply don't know other options.

People go on vacation and generally don't run their AC in an empty house for 1-2 weeks. Power goes out from hurricanes. Anyone telling you real hardwood is the answer in Florida (particularly South Florida) is the one trying to sell you something.

I was told the same thing when we moved to Florida in 1982 Then I went to several flooring places and they agreed !

After all the humidity and the heat comes in from the ground up doesn’t it? So it makes sense that they will warp

The flooring have a special moisture barrier adhesive to put engineered flooring down on concrete. several flooring manufactures mandate you use that type to ensure there is a barrier unde the floor. It has granuals mixed in with the glue. looks like sand in my opinion. This maintains that the floring is not touching the concreate to transfer any moisture. There and also complete moisture barriers you can coat the slab with to prevent any moisture from coming up through the slab and into the wood. Sealers like drylock , Kryton and othere waterproffing sealers. So the answer is yes you can put down real engineered wood flooring over a slab just follow those steps. We have done thousands of them with no issues.