I'd go with site finish even if the finish might not be as strong (although it is still very strong) because if you ever in the future need to fix or replace a board you don't need to do the whole floor if the engineered wood you used is no longer available and you've used up any extra you had.

I would absolutely go with site finished, simply because of the greater repair/refinish-ability.

Site-finished, always. For me😊

Wow, I really thought more people would chime in suggesting engineered :) Thanks for confirming my and DH's hunches to go with solid hardwood.

We have 3300 sf of flooring to do plus steps so none of it is going to be inexpensive. However, I'm now seriously considering doing 4" white oak on the main level (2700ish sf) and and LVT in the upstairs bonus rooms (600ish) where our girls will have their bedrooms and bathroom. When they grow up and move away, the plan is for that space to become my hobby/craft area so it makes sense to have LVT there.

shead , White Oak is the number one choice. Red Oak is usually only used for flooring in home where its being added to existing flooring.

@Oak & Broad, I do like white oak :) We used red oak at our last house because our friend (who works for a hardwood flooring distributorship) gave us a phenomenal deal on it and on installing and finishing it. It was very nice but for only $0.50 more per square foot, though, I'd definitely choose white oak.

I would either do the hardwood everywhere or put carpet upstairs. I would not put LVT upstairs. Generally I prefer carpet for bedroom/bonus room type spaces anyway, and when your girls are gone you can always replace it with whatever you prefer for your craft spaces.

We have site finished scraped hickory downstairs and white oak upstairs. It holds up great to our kids and dogs. Can't imagine having anything else.

I think I would do hardwood on both floors. I don’t think the LVT is going to provide significant savings and fewer Different subs to deal with.

We put in engineered in our current house when we upgraded a few years ago. We chose it because we felt we could keep it in better shape with the dogs and kids. However we also knew that we wouldn't be spending more than 5 more years in our house and wouldn't need to worry about eventually refinishing them.
We plan on putting in on-site finished floors on the main floor of our current build. Since we will be there long-term, we want the flexibility to be able to refinish easily in the future. We're going to do carpet only in the playroom on the main level and all of upstairs in the kids & bonus rooms.

Generally I prefer carpet for bedroom/bonus room type spaces anyway, and when your girls are gone you can always replace it with whatever you prefer for your craft spaces.

My girls (twins age 12) would have carpet destroyed in about 1.6 seconds :/ Carpet would sure be a no go for them.

Definitely lots to consider!

As much in fashion as LVT is, I prefer a HIGH QUALITY laminate with a HIGH QUALITY acoustic underlay. With those two items you will spend the SAME amount of money as a 'decent' vinyl floor.

I would look at 12mm laminate (without an underpad attached) and then add in 6mm cork underlay. The two put together = 3/4". Which is PERFECT because solid hardwood is 3/4" thick. It will happily match the stairs, etc. And should you wish to add in 3/4" hardwood at a later date, you can remove and replace the floors with a 1:1 height replacement!

LVT does NOT like acoustic underlayment. It really, really, really doesn't. In fact it hates it SOOOO much (how much SJ?) that condo boards and HOAs do NOT allow LVP in their apartments because it is TOO LOUD.

In an upstairs area laminate + underlay will be a BLESSING. Trust me. I've seen the lawsuits between tenants in a building where the 'upper' apartment put in LVT when they had asked for permission for laminate + underlayment. The 'lower' apartment could hear every word being spoken in every room. It got ugly.

If you use a man-made product on an upper floor, PLEASE consider laminate + acoustic underlayment. It makes a HUGE difference.

Thanks for your perspective.

Engineered is required over a slab foundation. 80% of the US uses slab foundations. It’s far more stable in any location with wide variances in weather conditions. Which is 60% of the US. The areas that don’t overlap are small.

We are on a slab foundation. Stem wall. We have site finished wood floors throughout. They do require a good subfloor and preplanning for heights after subfloor

We are not on slab. We have a full basement underneath.

80% of the US uses slab foundations.

Could you provide a source for this statistic?

http://eyeonhousing.org/2014/10/what-foundations-are-built-across-the-nation/

In an slightly odd turn of events, we have decided to go with site finished 4" white oak on the main level and an inexpensive carpet for the stairs and bonus upstairs area. We talked with the local hardwood floor installer who can get us #1 white oak or red oak for $2.25/sf (maybe even less he says) so with his price would come to about $6.75/sf total with install and finishing. While carpet isn't my first choice for flooring, at $2.50ish/sf at a local flooring store, it's easily replaced in a few years when it's totally destroyed and helps us stay nearer our flooring allowance :) Win, win! I might still do a tile in our laundry room and hall bathroom even though DH hates tile.

Are the stairs enclosed or open? How much would it cost to get hardwood on the stairs? Carpeted stairs don't add value like wood stairs but that is only important if you actually see the stairs

We are rural so “adding value“ isn’t really a concern. The steps aren’t seen, either, as they go up to the bonus area and down to basement off a side hall not visible from any public space.

We absolutely love our the 4" site-finished white oak we put in in a recent reno (medium-dark stain, oil-based poly). It's beautiful, such a better aesthetic than the beveled engineered stuff, and is holding up well. We're planning to have kids soon, so expect they'll see a good bit of wear and tear over the next 15 years or so. We consider this our forever home, so love that we can always refinish them 10-20 years down the line, or if we do move sooner we love knowing we've added good value with this choice.

Carpet would never be an option for us due to my husband's allergies. We have bare wood stair treads and all hardwood upstairs and well a down, and it's not an issue for us at all.

@shead, it is not an either/or between engineered and onsite finishing. I am planning to get an engineered floor — that will be supplied with the raw white oak top layer (to the thickness I specify) and it will be finished on site. There will not be bevels between the planks. I can specify the quality of the wood of the white oak (character grade or less knots — I’ve forgotten what all the grade levels are called). It is my understanding that if I want boards over 3 or 4” wide, the engineered boards help prevent cupping, curling and etc distortions. The humidity in the house also needs to be controlled. Although I love the look of really wide planks, I understand that people have more problems with 10” and wider boards so I plan to stay around 7”. There are various companies that offer this raw wood engineered product. The color of the white oak varies from where the trees are grown so that may impact your choice (and mine). I haven’t yet decided on what sealer (or stain) I’ll use — the installer will provide samples on site. If I go with Bona for the sealer, I also plan to use the Bona water-based protective coat (leaning towards 3 coats of Bona Traffic HD as the installer uses that a lot and is not as familiar with the similar quality Loba product). The installer also uses Rubio Monocoat; I haven’t researched that yet to see how it compares to Bona. So far, I haven’t heard a downside to taking this route — if there are any pros out there that think differently, please let me know.

@mtpo, how much does the 7" unfinished engineered cost per square foot? Being located locally to a hardwood floor manufacturer is helping us a ton on pricing. Like you mentioned, though, wider widths are more prone to cupping and curling which is why I'd stay with the 4" width instead of going wider. I do love the look of the wider but 4" seems to be a good "timeless" width.

it’s hard to do a real price comparison unless you are comparing equal quality products. I don’t know how to define the quality of the plywood itself (which can differ), the quality and thickness of the oak (I’m getting 5 mm) but haven’t decided on amount of knots. I‘m coming out around $3.50 per sq ft plus labor on one product and a little less by a different manufacturer on a similar product (this will go up or down for less or more knots)— and stair labor is quoted separately. Sorry I cant give you better info yet — I haven’t gotten firm quotes because I haven’t firmed up my choice. A big part of the price will be the cost of the finishing material (Bona Traffic HD is expensive) and labor.

What will the floor be on? Mine is on cement and i’d never do site finished on cement.

@cpartist, Advantech subfloor with I-joists as we have a full basement underneath.

The finish oak layer on engineered wood flooring can be as thick as that on what people call “real wood.” If you get a thick enough oak layer on the engineered floor, you can refinish it — once or twice — depending on the thickness.

So much of how the floor looks depends on the color. The 4” wood white oak will look really nice if it’s finished well. I think deciding on the finish will keep me awake for at least a few nights! 😬

@mtpo, it's so hard to choose a color. I've always tended to go a medium brown tone like Provincial and Medium Brown. I'm sure I'll end up with some mixture of those on our floors as I'm a sucker for it. I do love the look of lighter wood floors that is trending now but I'm afraid I might grow tired of it after a while :/

@cpartist, why would you not do a site finished engineered white oak that is glue down on a concrete slab that is properly prepared?

@mtpo How did your site finished wide plank engineered floors with square edge turn out? Contemplating this rout for our main floor and stairs...hursthardwoods with a rubio monocoat finish.