Rumor ? ...Solid wood flooring cheaper than laminate ?

[Leifer]

Is this true ?
The rumor is....
..depending on availibility, some tropical wood flooring is being sold as solid wood, because it's cheaper to produce solid planks, than is a veneer laminate composite of the same wood.

In other words....until the wood becomes scarce in nature, its more profitable to mill planks of solid wood because the veneer and lamination process is more costly....despite the detriment to the enviroment (deforestation) ?

Is this true, or not ?

 

[JimD]

I don't know about manufacturing costs but I have used 5/16 prefinished oak that was only $1/bd ft.  It is made by Bruce and sold by Southeastern Salvage.  They buy odd lots of material so they run out of things all the time but if you know what you need and they have it, you can get a good deal.  You have to put it down with a different stapler than the 3/4 stuff but otherwise it installs similarly (it is tongue and groove).  It was solid oak.  My son is thinking of selling his house and I would recommend it to him.  He has worn out laminate now.  We used about 800 bd ft in my wife's house we sold when we got married in 2013 and I am confident it helped the house sell. 

 

[Kev]

I don't know the workings behind the market either, but you can get some very expensive laminated flooring here in Oz .. can make some of the solid wood flooring seem cheap by comparison.