Engineered Wood Floors - Low Humidity (hardwood floor, home, tile)

[Minnetonkamari]

Hello All,

We want to put engineered wood floors in our AZ winter home and are stuck on a concern. The floors we like the best have what is called "oiled finish" -vs- a more typical lacquer finish (be that shiny or matte). The wood veneer layer of the engineered planks are white oak with a washed stain and an oiled finish. According to the manufacturers, you need to re-oil the floor a couple times a year - it's more of a soft wax that you rub in. The advantages of the oiled finish, according to the manufactures, is that scratches are less noticeable and any serious scratch or gouge is easily repairable because there's no lacquer finish to remove and re-apply, etc. As we have 3 little dogs, the scratching issue is a big one for us. One good thing about the oiled floors is that they have a more natural finish that is already kind of distressed, so little dog scratches don't really register that much.

On a side note, we have a solid hardwood floor with an oiled finish in MN and we've had it 6 years and it looks great and we've never re-oiled them. We certainly have extreme weather up here but not the intense low humidity of AZ.

So, my question to the folks who are more familiar with desert climate and have lived in it longer than us, are there reasons we should consider lacquer over finish or visa-versa?

Thanks so much for any thoughts or suggestions!

MM

[jdahunt]

I stayed aways from wood floors because of having a big dog.

I was told that it would be less of a problem with bamboo since its so much harder.

[fennec2009]

Laminate is also better at resisting dog scratches. They have come out with some very nice looking laminate flooring lately. However, since your dogs are smaller, the engineered hardwood should probably still work fine. Their nails won't be digging in as much as a bigger dog.

Here's a great article about oiled vs. lacquered. Wooden Flooring Finish: oil or lacquer? Advantages and Disadvantages - Wood You Like - Natural Wooden Flooring

And about humidity's effects on flooring. Indoor Humidity and Its Impact on Flooring

I saw a lot more wood flooring when I lived back east. Out here, I see a lot more tile. Not sure if it is due to humidity issues but I'm sure it could be.

[Minnetonkamari]

Thank you for the feedback. Fennec2009 - many thanks for the links, I really appreciate that. I'm really torn by the choices. Someone else wrote me and suggested I go with Porcelain Wood-Look Plank Tile and I must say the pics they linked to were impressive looking. Argghhh, so many choices.

[jdahunt]

Its amazing what they are doing with tile now.....options galore.

[fennec2009]

I absolutely looove the wood plank tile. It's super easy to maintain, won't scratch, and looks so beautiful.

I have two dogs and my entire main floor is tile. It's so nice not worrying about refinishing or scratches, and it is much easier to clean. You can't really wet mop a wood floor.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

We also have a place in AZ and in MN. Additionally, we have two large dogs. We went with a hand scribed wood floor in a medium stained finish for several reasons. We went with a medium finish to blend in with the Arizona dust. With dogs, the key thing to look at is the wood hardness. For instance, hickory (what we went with) is a lot harder that say, oak. If somehow the wood gets scratched, the hand scribed distressed look blends right on in with your new scratch. With hickory and had scribed (there is a lot of topography) you won't see the scuffs.

We put the ENGINEERED wood on concrete and glued it down. It looks perfect and has stood up to the ultra low humidity.

I will say I had to ask the retailer a few times if the man made plastic wood was real or not. I went with the wood because I wanted the real thing but the good laminates are incredible these days.

DM me if you want my retail source. I don't think anyone can beat her price and she was superb to work with.