When engineered wood flooring is better than solid wood.
Filed Under Wood Flooring | Leave a Comment
So you’ve made the decision to upgrade your home by adding wood floors. Smart move. Wood flooring not only makes your home more attractive, it can also add to the resale value if you ever decide to move.
Although many people assume that solid wood flooring is the best you can buy, that may or may not be true, depending on a number of factors.
First of all, let’s explain what engineered wood flooring is. It’s made by sandwiching together several layers, usually a veneer, a core, and a base. The veneer or top layer is the one you see and it can vary in thickness. Generally speaking, the thicker, the better.
One of the advantages of engineered wood flooring is that it’s easier to install than solid wood flooring. It can be glued down – which is essential if you have concrete sub floors – stapled, or floated. And it’s easier to saw and nail than many solid woods. If you want to install your floors yourself, they’re your best bet.
It can even be installed over tile or vinyl, as long as it’s clean and level. Check to make sure the moisture level is less than 4% first.
Because the grain of the core is perpendicular to the grain of the veneer, it’s actually more stable than solid hardwood. It warps less and is better suited to homes in high-humidity zones or for summer homes that are unheated in winter.
The best thing about solid wood is that if it gets worn, it can be sanded down and refinished. But people forget that even though the wood is ¾” thick, it can only be sanded down to the bottom of the tongue on the side of the plank. In most cases, that’s only about 5/16” thick.
An engineered wood floor with a veneer of 3/16” can usually be sanded three or four times. It should have a lifespan of 60 to 80 years.
Most engineered flooring comes pre-finished, which eliminates all the hassle of sanding and finishing your floors after they’re installed. With 3 -10 layers of urethane already applied, they’ll look good for years with proper care.
These days, you can find engineered wood flooring in virtually every wood, color, and finish. Even hand-scraped and distressed styles are available.
As a rule, engineered wood floors are less expensive than solid wood floors. But if you sell your home, prospective buyers will pay the same price. This is not true for laminate floors which don’t look like real wood.
Another benefit is that they’re environmentally responsible. The wood required to produce one square foot of solid wood flooring will yield approximately four times as much engineered product.
Read about other kinds of wood flooring.
Comments
Leave a Reply
