Engineered Hardwood Flooring - What You Need To Know

When remodeling their homes, many homeowners prefer laminate flooring and hardwood flooring such as exotic hardwood floors; what they don’t know is that engineered hardwood flooring can be better in terms of ease of installation.

Laminate flooring, though it seems similar to real wood flooring, is actually not a real wood. Thus, engineered hardwood flooring may just be the perfect choice between laminate flooring and hardwood flooring.

Unlike laminate flooring which is also a popular choice, engineered wood flooring is real and solid wood. Laminate is just a melamine-infused paper on the top and wood chip composites on the bottom. This only means that this is not exactly what you call real wood. Engineered wood floor is real wood. It is actually a sandwich of finish wood measuring 1/16" to 1/8" on top and non-finish plywood on the bottom. Thus, you are looking at 100% genuine and real wood here. You might ask why there is a need for plywood underneath. The middle layer of plywood is actually a 4mm wear surface laid crossways to the layer of hardwood floor finishes, providing additional strength to the wood flooring.

Engineering flooring is available in different options. However, the most popular are the hickory, oak, bamboo, and maple. Another good thing about engineered wood flooring is that it comes pre-finished. This means that it has already been sanded and sealed. As soon as you install the flooring, you can directly and immediately walk on it. In contrast, unfinished hardwood must still be sealed, and this requires the clearance of everything for a few days and waiting time before it can be used.

Engineered wood flooring also has advantage over laminate in such a way that you can sand the engineered wood after dings and scratches develop; however, engineered flooring can only be sanded no more than 3 times but even this still depends on how thick the finish layer is, so make sure to check with your manufacturer first after you install hardwood flooring.

Engineered hardwood flooring also works well in area with light moisture such as basements, kitchens, and bathrooms. However, it should not be used in wet areas that often have flood. Nevertheless, no wood floor product can really be used in very wet areas. It's better to choose concrete, tile, vinyl, or other non-organic product.

You might ask how to install engineered wood flooring. This also makes engineered wood flooring advantageous because it can be installed with different methods. Compared to solid wood which must first be nailed to a subflooring, engineered wood can be nailed down to the floor, glued down, or can also serve as a floating floor. To be nailed down to the floor, the thinness of the engineered wood requires nailing in order to enhance stability. You can also glue down 1/2" thick floor and for the floating floor, 5/8" planks are needed.

While engineered hardwood flooring is more expensive compared to the laminated flooring, it provides better long-term value because you can periodically sand it to revive its wood grain and get rid of the scratches, thereby bringing back its original beauty and sheen.

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