My Hardwood Looks Like Laminate??

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khq0660

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A few years ago I had Triangulo engineered Maduro Chestnut put on my lower level. At the time, an installer or two looked at it and called it "laminate", and since, some guests to my house have referred to my "laminate" flooring. I just had an installer come to give me an estimate for putting the same flooring upstairs and he looked at the Triangulo already installed and called it "laminate". Why does my engineered hardwood look like laminate to everyone? Is there something I could do to make it look more woodlike? Thanks.
 
They might be calling it laminate when they mean engineered. I think the words get interchanged fairly often just like the words vinyl and linoleum........ 2 totally different products.
Area rugs or runners, especially the "oriental rug" style might make a lot of difference if you don't already have them. I wouldn't be insulted if someone referred to them as laminate.
 
Thanks for the encouragement. I can see the installers making this mistake, but my guests wouldn't know the difference between engineered wood and solid wood, so I would think they would just say "hardwood floors" instead of "laminate", unless they thought it was laminate. It's pretty discouraging. I paid hardwood prices and do the extra hardwood work and precautions and get a laminate look. :(
 
download.jpg
Can you post a photo ?
 
Thanks for the encouragement. I can see the installers making this mistake, but my guests wouldn't know the difference between engineered wood and solid wood, so I would think they would just say "hardwood floors" instead of "laminate", unless they thought it was laminate. It's pretty discouraging. I paid hardwood prices and do the extra hardwood work and precautions and get a laminate look. :(
Pound it with nails, screws, scratch it with an awl, beat it with a chain and smear some stain randomly and burn it here and there. I hear distressed wood is the trend. :eek: Not much you can do I guess. I suppose the wood is finished so nice it looks too perfect?
 
I purposely got the smooth finish because I was afraid that distressed and hand-scraped would be a passing fad. Maybe that was my mistake. I don't really know what the problem is. But, I can't afford to pull it up, so I'm stuck with fake looking hardwood.
 
Yeah those real glossy finishes can do that, especially if the lengths are fixed instead of random. If you have enough veneer on the surface you can sand and finish it. Pull a vent or check a left over piece to see if there's enough meat on top to S/F.
 
Yeah those real glossy finishes can do that, especially if the lengths are fixed instead of random. If you have enough veneer on the surface you can sand and finish it. Pull a vent or check a left over piece to see if there's enough meat on top to S/F.
There is some wear layer for sanding, but I think I'll hold off a few years until it's scuffed up and needs a fix for that. Actually, the pieces are random sizes. It just doesn't show in this photo. It looks like they put all of the long pieces on one side of the room and all of the shorter pieces on the other side. Maybe if the guys that put it down and mixed up the lengths more when they installed it. If you think the glossy finish is part of the problem, maybe one of the Triangulo recommended polishes will change the appearance some.
 
Do you have an idea what might make my floor look more like real wood, if the polish isn't a good idea?
 
Screen it and put on a new finish. Screening does not take it all the way down to the wood. Nick would know better.
 
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Screening With a 80 grit screen will scuff it up so you can apply a new coat ..
We used Big Machines to sand the bowling Alley's , and we only took off a 1/8 th of wood when it was all said and done ..
 
Does the flooring have a micro bevel? If so, I'm wondering how screening would look after the fact?
..if it doesn't have a micro bevel , then .....never mind. :D
 
Does the flooring have a micro bevel? If so, I'm wondering how screening would look after the fact?
..if it doesn't have a micro bevel , then .....never mind. :D
I don't know enough to tell if it has a micro bevel and I couldn't find anything about it in the specs.
 
Not to worry , Screening is not going to go near the bevel if you have one .. You have to get down to bare wood for it to effect the edges ..
 

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