Engineered wood vs laminate vs wood effect tiles

[Londonmummy66]

We are converting our garage into a music studio and need to decide on the flooring, I want a wood effect - which would be the most suitable and which would be cheapest? Is engineered wood worth the extra expense?

The room will have a number of large instruments in but only the harp is heavy. We are not going for underfloor heating so that isn't a consideration

I really like engineered wood (and have it in our house), but will you be lugging heavy pieces of equipment around? If so, you might be better off with something less prone to scratching.

The instruments will be going in and out so anything that might get scratched is probably not a good idea.

I have wood effect, and absolutely hate it.
Had a private company come and fit it for me. When the guy came initially with all the samples I said that I wanted engineered wood / real wood topper.

He basically convinced me that wood effect would be just as good, and on his samples I agreed and thought it was lovely.
In real life when it is all over the floor it feels cheap and plasticy under foot. Yes, it doesn't scratch, but it also doesn't feel "solid".

Go for engineered.

I can't wait to replace mine one day.

Thank you - is that in a main living area? I have original solid wood floorboards in the main house - this is really just a working space so I'm wondering if the feel would be as annoying then?

We got this for a similar area. It actually looks pretty good and we put an underlay to cushion it further (also an area with heavy stuff to move around!).

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08L3Y57KW?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2&th=1

Thank you - is that like lino?

@Londonmummy66 it's the play room, hall way and dining room.
I think if it was in a room you weren't too bothered about then it would be ok. It's definitely hard wearing - scraping of dining chairs etc doesn't seem to bother it.
It's just purely the feel of not feeling "solid" for me.

@summerlovingvibes thank you - its the scraping that worries me the most so it looks as if it would be a good solution. (And its cheaper than engineered wood)

Yes. It's slightly cushioned (we added more cushioning) and looks pretty good. Also warm underfoot, not sure if that matters!

Thank you

vinyl cushioned flooring is likely to get torn if you’re moving heavy things over it. Engineered wood with a slightly distressed finish is great - we’ve had wood effect laminate (awful, cheap, echoey and just plain nasty looking) and now have engineered wood which is warm underfoot, very durable, easy to maintain and much cosier all round. DD has wood effect tiles - similar to engineered wood (but cheaper / more durable) and works well with underfloor heating.

I think LVT would work well for you.

@Soontobe60 I think it depends on how you move things around! Ours has been fine and hasn't even dented. Mind you my advice is rather skewed by being a cheapskate 😁 We do have engineered wood flooring indoors, but I'd never fork out that much for a garage. Especially if thre is any chance of damp.

I have porcelain/ceramic wood effect tiles. They’ve been in a heavy traffic area for ten years, not a mark on them. The only downside could be the acoustics. It’s another hard surface. LVT might be better.

We had a vinyl floor in our last house that was much more robust than the usual. The brand was rhino floor. It was very stiff in comparison with most, and very robust.

Why not go for solid wood? Then at least you can sand it back if it gets damaged. Have you looked at bamboo flooring? It’s cheaper than other wood options and very durable. Otherwise I’d go for engineered wood and just accept it will get scratched. I love the wood effect ceramic but very cold and echoey, not good for acoustics in a music room and I’d only have it if combined with underfloor heating.

Thank you everyone - I was concerned about acoustics with tiles as well and although I imagine they'd be pretty hard wearing I do worry about them cracking if a concert harp came down hard on them. As its not a main living room area I am reluctant to shell out for actual wood as it is expensive (and most of the bamboo I've looked at has warnings about taking shoes off and using felt furniture pads to avoid denting which isn't going to be great with heavy instruments. So I think it is the cost of engineered wood vs the feel of vinyl planks. Does anyone who has both have a view on durability?

I would have said engineered wood for main areas but not for converted garage room. Some of the heavy vinyls are good but I would avoid one trying to look like wood as they tend to look tacky,

Good well laid vinyl looks nice. Be sure to get one thick enough and with good underlay although as acoustics are important perhaps ask in a musical instrument shop too.

I know a couple of people with Floorify wood effect LVT and it looks really good - much better than Karndean and various other brands I’ve seen. That would be my pick for you.

We have wood effect tiles in our kitchen and I really like them but I wouldn’t have them without underfloor heating as they’d be freezing half the time, especially in a converted garage.

With any kind of “wood effect” vinyl or tiles, you really need to shop around as some are way more realistic than others (often the more expensive ones unfortunately!!)

Here's a couple of pix of the vinyl flooring I sent you a link for (I'm not the Amazon reviewer who raved about it, as I keep meaning to leave an online review but haven't got around to it yet)!

The main photo (taken before the skirting boards were added) was taken on a sunny day and the picture looks rather pale. The true colour is more like the other photo, of a corner when we were in the middle of putting up skirting boards.

In my view it's an outdoor room for activities and we don't focus on the floor as much as we would in, say, the living room. But it looks good to me, the overall effect is nicer than I was expecting for lino.

Nine square metres cost us just under £120 and it was delivered very quickly (postage free).

Thank you @Beachtastic - it does look good.

@minipie that does look good - how can I resist installing flooring called Teddy Bear....