Engineered Flooring: Hardwood for the Educated Consumer
Engineered flooring is one of the best ways to put quality flooring into your home. Engineered hardwood flooring is “real” hardwood, made from 100% hardwood, but because of the way it is constructed, it is a perfect option for concrete subfloors or floors that are below grade. However, as more homeowners become educated about engineered hardwood flooring, it is gaining momentum in all other applications for the home.
Engineered flooring has a unique advantage in that it is very dimensionally stable. The reason engineered flooring is dimensionally stable is because of its multilayer construction. With engineered flooring there are typically a minimum of three layers of wood that make up the board. Higher quality engineered flooring products will have a minimum of five layers. Each layer in an engineered flooring product runs in an opposing direction from the previous layer.
Since each layer in engineered flooring runs in an opposing direction the board or plank can not expand and contract against itself. Since hardwood traditionally expands and contracts which causes buckling and warping, engineered flooring is a wonderful option for the homeowner to avoid such situations.
Engineered flooring generally comes with long warranties on the structure of the product. The warranties on engineered flooring can extend as long as the lifetime of the product. Typically the warranty on engineered flooring states that the product will not buckle, warp twist or bow.
In addition to the construction of the product, engineered flooring products are most often pre-finished. If an engineered flooring product is pre-finished it means that the product had all stains and sealants applied in the manufacturing facility. This allows engineered flooring finishes to be much stronger and more consistent. These finishes also allow engineered flooring to be installed much faster.
High quality engineered finishes can have aluminum oxide in them. Aluminum oxide is the second hardest substance next to diamonds and allows engineered flooring products to be very scratch resistant. Some engineered flooring products have Teflon in the finish. The Teflon engineered flooring makes the product very easy to clean. Some engineered flooring products can be cleaned with a simple solution of Windex and water.
Although there are many advantages to engineered flooring being pre-finished, some engineered flooring is sold unfinished and finished on site. The one specific use for an unfinished engineered flooring product is when it is used in a home that has traditional solid sand and finish flooring. The unfinished engineered flooring product can be finished to match the floors in the rest of the home. Engineered flooring allows basements in older homes to have the same look and feel as the other levels of the house.
No matter what type of flooring project, engineered flooring has proven to be an excellent choice for home improvement.
