Shaw Engineered Hardwood

nfm

We are considering this flooring. In living areas only; not kitchen or bathroom. I'm hoping people who have had experience with this flooring installed on a slab would be kind enough to give me their honest feedback. After weeks of researching and reading and reading, I can't seem to come up with current reviews that talk about the flooring itself and its performance with any consistency. I'm almost ready to just give it up and replace the carpeting with carpeting. We won't be installing it ourselves. We are heading into our late 50s and won't be doing this again any time soon, so it's really our one and only opportunity to have wood flooring, if it's even appropriate with the slab. We have not had moisture testing done. We couldn't possibly spend the money this requires and have to pull it out and redo it in a year or two because it looks bad or fails.

Thanks in advance to any and all who can give opinions!

framer52

Here is a thread about Shaw:

Shaw Epic Engineered opinions?

framer52

http://www.hardwoodinstaller.com/har...ood-floors.htm

nfm

Thank you Framer. I did see that thread, and several of the replies are myself and another asking how someone's experience was down the road, with no responses, and a couple about T moldings not matching. I also saw the article on Hardwoodinstaller.com and wondered if it was current because it refers to them being a newcomer and I thought the Epic flooring had been around about five years or more and I know things can change. Perhaps I am mistaken about that timeline.

Honestly, since I can't seem to find glowing reviews anywhere, other than one here or there, I think I'm talking myself out of it.

Thanks again for taking the time to respond. I really do appreciate it!

woody4249

I have been in enough construction meetings to understand that engineered hardwood flooring have greater benefits over solid. I am basing this on Florida installations on concrete in hospitals and hotels. I am not familiar with Shaw specifically, but look for something with a 2 mm veneer face or better.
All these flooring have what is known as a "Janka" rating

http://en.wikipedia.orgwiki/Janka_hardness_test.

This will give you an idea of the different floor hardness /wear-ability.
Engineered flooring is less prone to moisture as solid hardwoods are. Moisture incurs cupping of the solid hardwood boards. If moisture is a potential issue, a vapor barrier is installed, then a pad and the floor floats on this.

In my opinion........way better than a carpet

Mike

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