Hi all! I am a first-time homeowner and looking for some help on flooring options. We tore up carpet in our 750 sq ft. condo and found parquet floors (we think they are original to the building-built in the 1950's), which we originally planned on refinishing. But then we found lots of water damage near the radiators and many loose tiles on the edges of the floor, so we cancelled the contractor who was going to sand and refinish.

My husband and I are about to buy a Ekowood engineered hardwood Merbau floor to float over the parquet. I love the darker finish instead of the oak parquet, but part of me feels a bit torn about covering up the old floors that may be damaged but have character.

I guess my question is, what will have greater resale value in 5 years? We will only be here for that long, and i am not sure what would be more sellable- the refinished parquet or a new engineered hardwood floating floor?

Thanks for any feedback!

 

As long as it is wood your not dropping the value, but the parquet may or may not add a little, depending on your area.

 

Hmm... not sure if the Wasshington DC area is big on parquets over engineered...

Can anyone explain how engineered hardwoods are different from laminates like Pergo? I realize the engineered can be sanded and refinished, as they are wood, but are they real wood on the top layer, or not really? I am still confused about that. The sample i have at home is so much nicer looking than a laminate floor, but it still seems so different than a solid hardwood.

Thanks all!

 

Engineered wood is basically the same cross-ply construction as plywood, with the top and usually the bottom too, being of the species, Oak, Maple, Brazilian Cherry, ect. In the begining, all the layers of wood in the cross-ply construction were of that species. They have seen the cost savings in using multi species in the core plies.

 

laminates like Pergo are a photograph of wood that is then glued to a pressboard substrate. ie: totally fake, never refinishable.

engineered hardwood is lots of thin layers of wood all glued together. more structurally sound than solid hardwood, but unable to be refinished as many times. ie: REAL WOOD, just not one solid piece of wood.

 

Back to the original question:

I would save the parquet.

I have a kitchen floor with nasty fake parquet tiles, with the nasty factory finish worn and scratched. You can't use a professional drum sander on that. We couldn't afford a floor I wanted, so I sanded the whole floor with a palm sander, stained and poly'd it.

It was worth it.