Heavy Traffic and Allergy Worries – What Floor Should I Use?

Q: Our house recently took on water damage. Some of our floor was wood (not sure which kind, not real wood) and we are going to have to replace it. I have many allergies and sensitivities. Also have birds in the house who don’t tolerate strong smells. I wanted to avoid glues, but also want a floor that is good for heavy traffic, fewer scratches, dents, and can be mopped. We also thought of putting wood floor in the bathrooms. Any suggestions for flooring I should be shopping for? Thanks.
A: When it comes to durability and avoiding chemical sensitivities, I would suggest looking into a laminate. Laminate is built to take abuse, plain and simple. Also, laminate is built for a floating installation, this means no glues or nails. You best bet to avoid worries of allergies would be to use a cork underlayment. Cork is naturally hypo-allergenic, meaning less worries for you! The other major benefit to cork would be its natural sound deadening ability, which will make your floor sound less hollow or “clicky” as you walk over it.
My suggestion would be to look into AC4 or AC5 rated laminate as these are built for much more traffic. Good lines of laminate which fit these standards would be Pergo Select, Quick Step Perspective or Eligna, and Westhollow South Pacific, True Natured or 12mm Handscraped. All of these floors are of superior design and look great to boot!
As far as cleaning is concerned, you won’t want to wet mop any wood floor, but rather use a microfiber mop and a cleaner which is lightly misted on portions of the floor then mopped. As far as a cleaner is concerned, avoid things like Minwax as they can leave a residue, but use cleaners suggested by your floor’s manufacturer or use the products made by BonaKemi (which is the best stuff in the industry).