laminate.

For one, the locking motion is you insert one piece at an angle, then press down on it to lock. Which is all well and good most of the time, but that system completely falls apart when you have to tuck the flooring under the trimwork around a doorway. You can dress the gaps around the walls with quarter round, but around a door, you need to get the floor under the trimwork. No way to get that locking motion right in those tight places.

The other issue is the long run in this application is over 17 ft. There is no good way to build up a 17 ft long section of floor, then lock the whole row in place at once unless you have about six people helping you.

I kinda like the idea of the engineered hardwood (i.e. veneer over plywood). Gives you the stability of laminate, but still feels like hardwood. But in this application, I really need tongue-and-groove, nail down installation.