How to choose Engineered Wood Flooring

An engineered wood flooring is difficult to differentiate from solid wood flooring. Both these types of flooring bring the natural look of wood to your home, but engineered floors are easy to install and less expensive as compared to solid wood. Engineered wood flooring is composed of two or more layers of wood in the form of a plank and it has a wood veneer on the top. Depending on the flooring quality it has different range of thicknesses but is normally from 1/4″ to 5/8″, although you might find thickness of even 3/4″. Under the veneer are many layers of wood which are glued together to form a base which is a plywood-sandwich type.

These layers tend to run at 90 degrees to each other for the purpose of stability which makes them less prone to any movement caused by the factor of humidity.

Cost of Engineered Wood Flooring

Different specialists of engineered flooring offer different prices. You need to do your research well and also ask around to make sure you are given the right price quote. Where engineered flooring is concerned you can say you get what you pay. The cheap ones are made up of extremely thin top layers of wood. The price also depends on the type of wood you choose. If you can, choose quality hardwood like cherry, beech or maple because they will last longer and they don’t show dents like oak. On the other hand oak engineered wood flooring is the most common one and it’s much cheaper then cheery or maple. The type of wood you need to choose also depends on your preference and style. Besides which, a well-experienced specialist in engineered flooring will be able to advise you which wood will work best for your home. Different styles in the interior require different woods.

Engineered Wood Flooring vs. Solid Wood Flooring

There are many people who choose engineered wood floors with the multiple effects like ‘aged’ or ‘sun bleached’ and that is the biggest advantage of engineered wood flooring in comparison to solid wood floors. Engineered wood floors can also be applied on different types of existing floors like concrete, which might not be so with solid wood. Solid wood flooring should only be installed in parts of the home above grade and only over plywood, wood or oriented strand board sub floors. Besides this, engineered floors are available pre-finished, and they don’t require any tacking announce lacquering, waxing or even oiling. That is, the floor, once laid, is ready and you can walk on this. Engineered wooden floors have enhanced stability, which provides slightly more resistance to everyday wear and tear and also to buckling or rippling. Compared to solid hardwood floors which are more prone to shrinking or expanding based on humidity levels. Also, engineered wood floors are more resistant to moisture and offer a bit more stability than solid hardwood floors.

Engineered Wood Flooring vs. Laminate Flooring

Laminate flooring may look like real wood, but that’s actually a photo of wood you’re standing on. This nothing else than a paper image embedded in resin, glued to fiberboard, and coated with a protective finish. A surface embossing mimics wood’s texture. Laminate flooring is same thickness as engineered wood flooring and you can lay it over existing floors also. The downside is that once a laminate’s top coat wears away, it’s ruined and it can’t be refinished. On the other hand, engineered wood flooring and solid wood flooring can be easily refinished.

Tips from engineered wood specialist

As mentioned earlier, a well reputed and experienced specialist in engineered wood flooring can help you out with some basic things when it comes to engineered wood like:

The correct finish

There are different finishes available in engineered flooring, like the ‘brushed’ which can highlight the grain texture, to ‘distressed’ which can give a vintage feel to the wood. There are companies which offer beveled edges to the boards. You have different surface treatments like Matt lacquers, which give the board a natural look, oils which can bring out the grain, and satin lacquers which can add the sheen required and also increase the durability. When choosing your engineered wood flooring be sure to check out all of offered finishes because with engineered wood the sky is the limit.

When not to use engineered wood flooring

Engineered wood flooring is avoided for bathrooms despite the resistance it has to movement which is caused by moisture. A bathroom is one place where this will be exposed to moisture and puddles of water constantly. For bathrooms only acceptable flooring are tiles and if you want to learn more about bathroom tiles check out our article on How to tile a bathroom floor.

How much to order

Ordering engineered wood flooring requires specifications which are best decided by a professional. To get the area of the room you wish this flooring for, you need to multiply the length by width which can give you the area in square feet. You need to order a little bit extra keeping ‘wastage’ in mind.

Looking for specialist in engineered flooring can be easy if you search online and go through the different reviews in order to find the best choice. You also have the option of asking around and find out from neighbors and friends the best possible specialist for the engineered wood flooring in your home. All things considered, engineered wood flooring is the best solution for your home because it gives you variety of wood types to choose from, variety of finishes to choose from, it’s cheaper and more resistant than solid wood flooring and it’s much more durable than laminate flooring.