Engineered Hardwood Flooring

Q. What is an engineered hardwood floor?

A. Engineered hardwood flooring is a combination of both manufactured wood layers or pressed plywood and a top layer of wood veneer.

When shopping for engineered hardwood floors, you will come across tons of options and brands. As a customer, it’s your duty to find the one that has features best suited for you.

Finish: You can either buy pre-finished boards, or choose to finish them after they are installed. Along with a clear protective coat, all the pre-finished boards are available in all sorts of stain colors oak. You have an option of choosing from various shades with unfinished boards.

Plank Lengths: Floor boards are available in a box with lengths ranging from about 49″ to 12″. Make sure to ask the company for providing you options for upgrades on longer length boards.

Plank Width: The width of the plank simply depends upon the look you are going for.

Installation: Consider the specifications required for your engineered hardwood.

Floating: This is one of the popular methods of installation, where the boards tend to float above the subfloor. The best part is that floating floors are less prone to warping in comparison to glue down method.

Click Lock: This method involves joining the boards together as they are being installed over the subfloor. To make the installation easier it is advised to lock together the individual pieces in a special tongue and groove system.

Underlayment: This method involves lying a foam or plastic between the floating wood flooring and the subfloor.

Glue Down: This method simply involves gluing the boards directly to the subfloor, most likely concrete.

Engineered floors are considered greener because they use fewer trees for their production. Before you buy engineered floors, do not forget to ask the companies about the flooring’s environmental ratings.