Laminate floor and engineered wood

Try to find a product that matches appearance and thickness, there are lots available.

If your stuck and the new product is thinner you can always shim the floor adding luan or whatever to make up the difference

You are probably going to live with your flooring decision for many years. Price is always a factor, but the cheap laminate will look even cheaper nest to a real wood floor. You may want to re-think what you are contemplating. The labor is going to be the same, so why cheap out and live with second rate material for a long, very long time?

There are transition pieces that can go between the two floors. You may have to alter one to take to two levels properly but walking on a 1/4" or

Any thickness difference will have to be made up with a transition strip of some sort. You don't want a lip between the two floors. Look at the material to see what's available. You might have to have something made soecifically for the application.

We redid our halls and kitchen/dining room last summer. We were just going to replace the vinyl when a cow-orker showed me a sample of bamboo he put down. Bamboo ended up being cheaper (less than $3 material and $2 labor per sq.ft.) and looks far better. The stuff goes down so easily I might do another room or two myself this summer (an excuse to buy a floor stapler ;-).

I was very happy with the materials, service, and shipping from: