Affordable engineered parquet, is a 2.5mm wear layer sufficient?

Ok, you have helped me a lot. The thing with the 12mm thickness is also a good hint. And with a 2.5mm wear layer, you could at least sand it once, you probably wouldn't do it more often anyway. Regarding parquet in the kitchen: I have 2 acquaintances who have been living in their house for over 5 years and keep laying it in the kitchen. But maybe you have to accept the occasional stain. That's just how it is. I prefer to lay parquet and live with a bit of "patina" rather than vinyl. But that is certainly a matter of taste. Thanks again for all the opinions.

Nine years ago, we installed 3-layer parquet in the living-dining area. From Tilo with, if I’m not mistaken, a 2.5 mm wear layer and 12 mm thick. It was quite affordable at about €45/sqm. It’s not in the kitchen, but with 3 small children under the dining table and in the play area, it is still stressed. We are very satisfied with it. Will we ever sand it? I don’t know. We have some scratches and some chipped spots too, but nothing I would say looks unattractive. We would definitely choose 3-layer parquet with such a thin wear layer again.

I can report that I have since treated my parquet with [Fleckenreiniger für Parkett] and then oiled it with two coats of hard wax oil. The stains are almost gone. You can feel the wax as the top layer on the parquet. Sanding was not necessary. Nevertheless, the floor in the kitchen really suffers the most. But still in a way that everything can be fixed. I have 4mm oak parquet on birch multiplex. Execution “rustikal”. I have no damages (although things occasionally fall on it). I only have stains.

Great, those are a few more experiences, thank you very much. We basically have the parquet throughout the whole house, so I don't want to make the wrong decision there. If you only cover 1 or 2 rooms like that, then making such a decision is certainly easier and you can more easily make improvements or re-lay it later, etc. Thanks

We basically have parquet throughout the whole house, so I don’t want to make a wrong decision there.

I also have parquet everywhere except in the hallway and guest bathroom. It’s beautiful. I enjoy it. Whether your choice was "wrong" you will only see in at least 10 years. So don’t drive yourself crazy and above all, choose what you like. Don’t let the cheaper option accidentally also be the less attractive one. By the way, I was a bit "tricked" when sampling the parquet. The small sample floor in the store had far fewer knots than my floor actually has over the area. I believe they specially select nicer planks for the samples. So be prepared for a bit more character in the wood than you see in the photos or sample pieces. For me, it wasn’t bad, on the contrary. But I was still surprised because my floor overall looks different from the small sample piece.

A heavy knife, a Hot-Wheel, a jar of pickles - everything that falls to the floor, heavy and sharp-edged. Or even a small screw from a toy that gets under a box or a shoe. 2.5 mm goes through faster than you think. Our landlord was surprisingly understanding and referred on his own to the poor quality of the parquet.

I can only agree with that. In the old rental apartment, we partly had oak planks, partly pine. As soon as something heavy falls or even something light hits with an edge at an unfavorable angle, you get a dent, no matter which wood. The difference is just how big the dent becomes :)

Now in the house, we also have parquet all over the ground floor again, this time larch. The architect recommended it as harder than pine, softer than oak. But our children have already managed to put various scratches and dents into it after 3 months – I think we will definitely sand it down once they are a bit older. And then varnish it right away instead of oiling.

In the kitchen, however, the floor is actually not a problem at all (regarding water etc.).

Water should actually not harm high-quality well-oiled oak parquet, as long as you don't leave puddles standing for days. We haven't installed it yet, but after leaving a puddle on our sample for a day, you can't see any traces after wiping and drying it. Oil, of course, leaves marks more easily...