What's the difference between engineered wood flooring and solid wood flooring?

Q:

What's the difference between engineered wood flooring and solid wood flooring?
A:

Unlike solid wood planks, engineered wood flooring features a substrate (or main section) made from thin sections of solid wood that are set in a cross-hatched pattern and laminated together. A thin veneer of solid wood (oak, maple, etc.) on top of the substrate provides the appearance of a solid wood floor. Because of its substrate, engineered wood flooring does not react as dramatically to changes in temperature or humidity, and requires less maintenance than solid wood.

That’s the official version of what engineered flooring is, the simply answer is that engineered flooring is plywood that has a thin veneer of whatever species of wood you want on the top.

There are many advantages to engineered flooring, here are a few:

• You use less wood then conventional flooring.
• It resists the natural process of shrinking and expending that normal hardwood floors go through     depending on the season.
• It will resist moisture, making it better suited for concrete floors in basements.

There are some downsides to it as well:

• It is more expensive to buy then normal hardwood.
• It is usually a thinner product overall, in some renovation scenarios you could have problems with transitions to other existing thicker material.
• A lot of engineered floorings top veneer is so thin that you can only refinish the floor once before you have to completely remove it and install a new floor.

Every year there are more and more choices in the engineered flooring market, allowing for greater choice and ease of installation. As a home owner you have to do your homework on what product will work for you.

Rob Abbott
Operations Manager
Village Builders Inc.