Every job is different. You need to scrutinize where the flooring might cause height issues and evaluate whether it's acceptable to you. This is typically at doorways and cabinetry.

Both methods have ways of dealing with moisture so that would seem to be a distraction from the height issue.

Have you had a local contractor come out and let you know what is typically used with success?

Yeah we have met with 2 different ones. The one I think we are going with really prefers the screeds and add the traditional wood floors ( the look we like) saying it will last forever. The other was more on the engineered side. While I would prefer the look of the traditional white oak, I don't want to lose height and have to adjust our doors. I just hear stories in Houston about even with a good moisture barrier, people still have issues with glue down.

Llister319, I am in the same position - looking at white oak with screeds - here in Houston. My home, a 60s ranch, has screeds now (but no tar!), the red oak floors have problems and we need to replace.

Did you go with tar and screed with white oak - were you satisfied?

Thanks

Terrible installation practices with guaranteed issues.

Solid wood floors would have been my preference if I had built this house, but I didn't and even if the builder had put in wood, they would have only put it in a limited area -- that was the practice at the time. I still wanted solid wood and an oiled finish and talked to a guy who would do it, but I had recently redone my kitchen, raising the counters 2 inches for a tall family. Dealing with doors would be an annoyance, but losing the height we just paid a good bit to get in the main workroom of the house was not an option. We've had a floating engineered wood floor over a vapor barrier without problems. We're just outside of Houston. I think the quality of the work matters most. We might replace this floor because we did the downstairs only and are now looking at changing the upstairs and can't match it. If refinishing versus replacement is the issue, it is even more disruptive to refinish when you are living in a home than to replace a prefinished floor. I get the longevity of the underlying product, but you almost need a house built for that or renovated to accomplish it.