What Is Engineered Flooring

Alternative to solid wood.

What is engineered flooring.

The answer is engineered hardwood. Both floor coverings were developed as economical and versatile alternatives to that mainstay of flooring material solid hardwood flooring. Engineered wood flooring looks very similar on the surface but it is made from a relatively thin layer of hardwood bonded over a substrate of high quality plywood. Laminate flooring and engineered wood flooring are two obvious choices if you want a flooring that looks like solid hardwood but at a more affordable price.

How long will an engineered wood floor last. Engineered flooring is somewhat less expensive than solid hardwood but most types can be sanded and refinished only once since the surface hardwood layer is relatively thin. Engineered hardwood flooring is a product made up of a core of hardwood plywood or hdf and a top layer of hardwood veneer that is glued on the top surface of the core and is available in almost any hardwood species. The result is a locking plank system with actual hardwood with less cost.

Depending on the thickness of the veneer that tops the flooring the quality of flooring used and how well you maintain your floors engineered hardwood can last a lifetime. Like epic plus engineered hardwood shaw engineered can be installed above on or below grade. Shaw engineered hardwood flooring shaw s engineered hardwood core is made up of multiple layers of wood stacked in a cross grain configuration which minimizes expanding and shrinking. The best engineered hardwood.

Engineered flooring is typically between 3 8 to 3 4 thick whereas solid hardwood is 1 2 to 3 4 thick. An engineered flooring construction which is popular in parts of europe is the hardwood lamella softwood core laid perpendicular to the lamella and a final backing layer of the same noble wood used for the lamella. This is thought by many to be the most stable. Solid hardwood flooring returns a high resale value feels warm underfoot during the cold months and can easily be refinished.

These planks are man made with a top layer of solid hardwood with more layers of less expensive composite woods.