Hi. I'm thinking of taking up the old crappy cheap laminate in my living room. It's about 240 sf I believe. I'm wondering though how much more expensive hardwood is over laminate? I see some laminate going for $2.50 or $3.00 sf, isn't that about the cost of some hardwood or bamboo? Is there much difference in cost install wise? I'm thinking of having either HD, Lowe's or someone install it. Also, I'll most likely go with laminate if hardwood's too expensive. I'd like to stay under or around $1500 installed and I would suppose that may rule out hardwood and maybe even laminate? Finally, what are some good brands of laminate. Is .99 sf laminate good? I also don't want any of that cheap Chinese bad stuff either with the offgas stuff by Lumbar Liquidators.

I repaired the leak, but not before my oak floor boards cupped and curled from water getting under them. These are oak floors from the 1960's, if that matters. Anyhow, I removed the entire section in the hallway where the water had collected the worst and 3 boards from the center of each effected room (3 bedrooms) to help dry it out. It's been several months since the leak with me running a dehumidifier and the central AC regularly and the boards are still cupped some but everything looks dry as a bone. I planned on sanding and refinishing them pretty soon. So, I think I need to test the moisture content in the floorboards before I proceed with refinishing. Thats my main concern. I dont know what kind of moisture meter to get, nor what moisture content reading is good or bad. Anybody have any advice? Thanks.