Replacing carpet with wood, engineered wood, or laminate (actually, probably not laminate)?

[MuffinMclay]

I need to replace the carpet in our sitting/dining room with something, but can't decide what. I don't like laminate, so have probably ruled that out, but can't decide between proper wooden flooring or engineered wood.

We are planning on trying to sell our house in the next year or so, so don't want to spend a fortune, but at the same time want it to look good in order to help sell the house. Also, we are all very clumsy and messy, have a dog, so don't want to wreck the floor before we sell the house. I'm wondering if engineered wood might be a false economy.

House a Victorian semi (albeit devoid of 'period features'), with dark wooden window frames, if that makes a difference.

Be careful about the finish whichever you go for. We have american walnut hardwood floors but they have a lacquered finish. They scratch really easily and because the laquer is sprayed on you can't touch it up without it showing up.

we have proper solid oak floor, tis absolutely fab, but it's not robust. No high shoes etc. Whereas in the kitchen we have laminate looking tiles and they are really hardwearing and an awful lot cheaper.

What finishes can you get that don't scratch, if not laquered? I'm totaly clueless about all this...

Not an expert myself since I just chose the one that best matched the furniture but I would go for one where the lacquer/varnish is brushed on rather than sprayed then if ever necessary you could sand down the damaged area and revarnish.

we are looking at this kind of flooring and the conclusion that i have coem to is that real wooden floors will look completely crap after a few months of hammering.
i absolutley refuse to nag or be stressed with people/children/dogs using the floor..i cant expect them to all levitate in order to preserve the finish can i.
There is some laminate, which looks like real wood BUT is for heavy traffic areas, can be mopped and will not mark easily.

i am shopping around for it as there are some cheep..CHEEP looking stuff and some brilliant looking stuff.

Real wood still looks good if old, bashed and worn in, IMO. Our wooden floor has a matt oiled finish, and although it has a few scratches and a stain where the dog peed and we didn't realise for a few hours, it still looks great (it is Ash, so has quite a big variation in colour anyway). We can also sand it down and reapply the oil ourselves, to revitalise it.
Is eco-friendly-ness important to you? A lot of the engineered wood is sourced from forestry in China/Russia etc which aren't sustainable. Maybe 'green' wood would be a good selling point for the future?

we have engineered wooden floors

very hardy,we are very rough with it,kids,dogs,stilettos etc.

would recommend

wasn't horrendously expensive dearer than laminate,cost a fortune to get it laid

Would refer 'green' wood, if possible.

really?!
that is good news, i just presumed because it is so soft that it would look rough quickly.
the other thing i cant be bothered with is stainign/oiling etc, just wanna wipe it over once a week with a mop.
also is easy to replace if you get fed up with it after a few years.

And, how long does it take to have this kind of floor laid? Do you have to keep off it for days?

Our stairs are in the middle of the room so that will be a key issue.

Not had in done (yet) but I was told they would do the whole double reception in a day

They did our double reception room in one very long day, 9 till 6, I seem to recall.. We had a finish put on and couldnt walk on it overnight then.(bit tricky that actually as was en route to kitchen)

Have you considered bamboo? There are some gorgeous finishes and shades, and of course it's very very eco chic. It comes in planks and is laid the same as a wood floor.

It should be in the region of 10-20 quid per square foot.

Ours took a day to lay, then it needed sanding (another day) and then oiling twice (another two days). The oiling was also produced lots of fumes, so it would be a good idea to stay away for a night.
Our wood came from a tree surgeon in our home town, and was then processed by a local wood suppliers, sanded by another local company, and sealed with Osmo oil.
It is as green as possible, but it probably cost us double what we would have spent using engineered wood, once we'd added all the different elements together. We were a bit by the final bill! Plus it took longer to do, which seemed a hassle at the time, as we couldn't use our lounge/dining room for several weeks while all the different stages were completed, so all our furniture was squashed into bedrooms/garage and so on.
Of course, now it's finished, it was all worth it, but I'd have to steel myself to do it again.

I like the sound of bamboo, and will investigate further.

Scotsgirl - don't like the sound of it taking weeks. We have to go through this room to get upstairs.

we have a bit of bamboo flooring and its nice, but it has a laquer finish and scratches look shite.

we have solid oak, oiled wood all over the place and that, imo, looks good a bit worn.

I have french oak and its fab not a shiny finish just matt, it has been used by the kids and friends dogs and has scratched big time, I would def go for top end laminate if your planning on moving if not engineered wood, but that didnt work out that cheap compared to the real french oak that we finally decided (we will be here for a while).

There are different laying techniques and some cost more than others depending on laminate/real/engineered.

I have a friend who emports the french oak and very very reasonable

Have you got a reclamation yard anywhere near you? If it's only one room (and not an entire house), reclaimed hardwood floorboards might not be too hard to find.

Reclaimed floorboards come up on eBay reasonably frequently.

have you had a look at what is under the carpet? could it be sanded down and painted at all?

Osmo oil is a hardwearing finish - have used it twice now.

If it's a Victorian semi, why not sand and oil the original floorboards, or get some reclaimed pine boards re-laid (then you don't have gaps).

IME old boards take the "knocks" well it just adds character, whereas new floors show every mark

How big is your room? You could have mahogany parquet for a couple of hundred quid. I bet that will look divine when it's been sanded and waxed.

Top end laminate like karndean, v-clik.

I had an engineered wood in my last place, birch (about £20 a square metre in Homebase on sale at the time). It scratched to shit and looked dreadful in six months.

In this house I have new pine floorboards, varnished, and even though they are terribly scratched and bashed, slicking on another coat of varnish is very easy.

ninedragons, that would entail some pretty labour intensive laying. trust me, i know. my dad and brother laid some at a time i lived at hom and worked nights. trying to sleep through that racket was painful

i second osmo hardwax oil. thats what we have.

and i love reclaimed floors.

Definitely no floorboards underneath the carpet, just concrete.

Room is approx 12m x 5m.

How big is your room? You could have mahogany parquet for a couple of hundred quid. I bet that will look divine when it's been sanded and waxed.