Laminate Vs Engineered Flooring

[arh]

Hi

I am looking to install flooring in the ground floor of my house. I did consider solid wood but have decided to go against this as it scratches and dents too easily. Also I have 2 young boys that would damage this floor very quickly.
Would I be better off sticking with Quickstep or should I consider Khars engineered?
I know that laminate is not real wood, however, it seems to be much better with kids. Is engineered wood as soft as solid wood?

Exisitng floor is mixture of concrete and floorboards.

Thanks.

 

[WoodYouLike]

did you have a look at the sticky?

 

[ghost32]

Hi i'm interested in this aswell and after quickly reading the sticky it doesn't actually say what is better suited and where,
I'm just about to finish my hallway and i'm was going to buy solid wood oak flooring.
But after speaking to a friend he said he would suggest to go with a brand called Pergo as solid wood will mark/ scratch quite easily where as this stuff wouldn't...

What in genreal is the rule of thumb when it comes to choosing the type of flooring you want to use?

 

[WoodYouLike]

What in genreal is the rule of thumb when it comes to choosing the type of flooring you want to use?

1) Personal taste
2) Budget
3) Real wood, wood-engineered among them, will add value to your home - plastic melamine laminate won't (it is a copy, albeit sometimes a good copy, of wood, never the real stuff)
4) And then there are 57 other reasons why real wooden flooring will always outperform, outlast, and always looks better, than any other floor covering available.

But the I'm prejudiced

 

[ghost32]

So you would recommend real wood?
personally i'm not too bothered about price
all i'm concerned about it that the stuff lasts and doesn't get all dog eared and scratched 5 years down the line...
If it mean spending a little more in the beginning then it' on with that..

 

[WoodYouLike]

Definitely real wood!

 

[ghost32]

Thanks ok real wood it is..

are there any places i should stay clear of? I mean are b&q real wood not as good as homebase... for example?

 

[WoodYouLike]

cheap offers, stay away from them. And if possible have a close look at any sample boards they might have on show.

 

[ghost32]

ok thanks

sry one last thing then..
what about this?
http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wc...&partNumber=466481&Trail=searchtext>OAK+FLOOR

 

[WoodYouLike]

"Random lengths x 123mm width x 18mm depth."

The random lengths of these products always makes me worry you end up with too many short lengths i.e. too many joints which can make your whole floor unstable.
Best is to check the actual randomness before you buy