Engineered Wood Flooring Explained

Engineered Wood Flooring Explained

Many people love to get solid hardwood flooring for their homes or workplaces but they are unable to get it due to some limitations. The good thing about engineered wood flooring is that you almost get the same thing while eliminating most of its limitations and that too at quite cheaper prices. In fact, engineered wood flooring is being used as an alternative to solid wood flooring now as it contains a layer of genuine hardwood on the surface while the rest is made of composite wood. So, you can enjoy the same aesthetics with engineered wood flooring even at places where you cannot even imagine installing solid hardwood flooring.

Manufacturing of Engineered Wood Flooring

Engineered wood flooring is manufactured with the top layer of solid wood fused with several other layers of plywood and which are then glued together under heat and pressure to make a plywood sandwich. This usually makes a total thickness of 3/8” to 3/4”. The good thing is that you will find dozens of wood species and new surface effects in engineered wood flooring giving a vintage look at quite reasonable prices. For instance, you will find a surface effect of hand scraped for a time worn appearance, wire brushed or distressed for a slightly rustic look and many more like this. And in fact with the developing technologies, most boards contain a factory finish which means you may use them as soon as they are installed.

Lifecycle of Engineered Wood Flooring

Generally, it is said that engineered wood flooring may last for a lifetime period having 30 to 40 years of lifecycle but it all depends on several factors. For instance, the life of engineered hardwood floor depends on how well you kept it or maintained it, the quality of flooring you selected and the thickness of veneer i.e. top surface of the floor. However, the top surface is an actual wood so its thickness is definitely lesser than the solid wood flooring due to which the top layer gets dull and weak over the course of time.

Important Facts of Engineered Wood Flooring

1.     It offers a good amount of resistance to moisture, dents and scratches. But make sure not to let your floor stay in contact with water for extended periods of time.

2.     Engineered wood flooring is DIY friendly so you may plan to install it yourself on weekends or in any free time as per your desires.

3.     It is dimensionally more stable than solid wood flooring as it is glued with the number of layers making it stronger comparatively.

4.     For cleaning, make sure to only use microfiber cloth for mopping and a wood floor cleaning agent to remove stubborn stains and dirt.

5.     You can install an under floor heating device which will not cause any damage to your main flooring.

6.     It adds a great value to your property so you can say whatever you are spending is a kind of investment you are making in your property.

7.     You may go for its installation even in kitchen area and basement where you cannot install solid wood flooring due to some limitations.