Nowadays there is a wide range of engineered hardwood flooring to choose from. This type of flooring is manufactured with a basis of hardwood, high density fibre or plywood, whilst a top layer which consists of hardwood veneer is glued on the basis’s top surface. This engineered type of flooring offers better stability, especially in areas where either heat or moisture poses a threat to hardwood flooring.

This “engineered” flooring’s top veneer layer can be found in almost all flamboyant hardwood species. Whilst Oak poses to be a favourite for this type of flooring, there are a wide range of hardwoods available like maple, walnut, cherry, birch and hickory to name a few. Take a look at the variety of engineered hardwood flooring options, from which u can make your choice!

The Advantages and some features of Engineered Hardwood Flooring

•   Durability

This type of flooring can be purchased with a wear or veneer layer between 2 to 10 ply and it is advisable to buy the best quality you can afford with more plies. The top of the veneer level is real wood and it is possible to sand it up to three times!

•   Moisture resistance

Engineered hardwood flooring has a greater moisture resistance compared to natural wood flooring. This makes this kind of flooring ideal to install in bathrooms or basements.

•   Installed on concrete

Engineered floors are the best resolution if you want hardwood flooring directly on concrete. It offers great dimensional stability due to process of construction. Every ply sheet is pasted with glue and arranged in the opposing direction. Engineered hardwood flooring has the ability to contract and expand in high humidity conditions, which hardwood flooring is unable of. Once again the stability will be much higher with the more plies it has.

•   Installation procedure

To install engineered hardwood flooring, you can use either the floating floor procedure or it can be glued down. However, not all engineered merchandise is equally installed and specifications can differ. Some flooring can be glued directly or can just be stapled, whilst others can be floating. Therefore the specifications supplied by the manufacturers should be followed clearly. The most of the pre-finished engineered hardwood flooring comes at a limit of lengths of 42 to 48 inches, in comparison to the 72 to 84-inches, of the majority of solid hardwoods. The longer lengths have a clear preference with customers because it offers a more charming look.

•   A floating floor

This refers to an installing method rather than to a particular kind of flooring product. In this procedure, separate boards or planks are affixed to each other by snapping together or by utilizing glue. However it is not secured to the sub-floor which it covers. In comparison to this solid wood flooring is installed by nailing it down. The benefit of this installation process is that the floor is able to expand and move when adapting to the humidity in the room.

•   The Janka Test

This is a tool which measures wood flooring’s hardness. The higher it is measured by the Janka Tool, the harder the wood. It is an important factor to take into account when selecting the type of wood flooring. This will give you knowledge of the flooring’s resistance to indentations and scratches. So the traffic the room must handle must be taken into account. Woods like maple, ash, oak and hickory have higher ratings.

As previously mentioned Oak is a great favourite and you can see more oak hardwood flooring here