When talking about hardwood flooring, what do we mean when we say “engineered”? Many people have that wrong connotation when it comes to engineered wood floors. They would often regard “engineered” as something “fabricated”. The fact is that engineered wood floor is usually composed of one hundred percent hardwood. Every piece consists of three up to nine wood plies which are strategically bonded altogether through pressure and heat methods. Most of the time; the top layer or wear-layer is the visible wood species while underneath the surface layer is made up of more stable wood species like birch.
With this kind of composition, it will be easier and more convenient for you to install it below or at ground level, at the top of a concrete material; at a heat source that comes radiating, and any other types of hardwood covering like tiles and vinyl. With such things in mind; there is no wonder why a great deal of people in the United States take time to spend on engineered hardwood flooring to come up with enhanced homes and properties at a lesser price and similar quality.
Moisture Resistant
Compared to solid hardwood, engineered flooring is more resistant to moisture. This means that chances of expanding and contracting are less likely to happen with engineered wood floors. They are also distributed to in ready to install options; allowing buyers to have them installed immediately upon purchase. The fact that engineered wood is fully hardwood; one gets the benefits offered by solid hardwoods. In fact, the top layer of this kind of flooring has been cut using the rotary cut method. The sawn wear surface will result in a natural hardwood appearance. The rotary peel on the other hand is a hardwood layer (veneer) removed from the log with the use of a large lathe.
Durable and Long Lasting
Like any other types of hardwood floors, engineered flooring can actually last from thirty up to a hundred years depending on the wood brand being used. Keep in mind that there are certain engineered brands which can be sanded while others do not allow sanding. Generally; engineered floors with thin layers should never be sanded especially when they start to wear. When wearing of the floor takes place, what you just need to employ is to recoat it to prevent further damage. For those types of engineered floors that have three millimeters thickness and more, sanding is allowed from two to three times during its lifetime. By doing so, you will have the benefit of treating certain parts of the floor that need to be refinished to allow it to get back to its former look.
Can Be Installed Below Grade
Since many of the homes in the United States come with basements, the use of engineered floor is very popular. This is because such type of floor is constructed the cross-ply way. This is something which can never be achieved from using solid wood floors as they can only be installed on or above grades only. Additionally; the versatility of engineered wood floors is also great in the sense that they can also be installed on concrete and this again, is not possible with solid wood floors.
Excellent for High Rise Buildings
New York and other great cities in the United States are generally dotted with so many high-rise buildings. Many of these buildings are as high as thirty; forty, fifty, up to one hundred floors. Because of these; builders and contractors often choose engineered wood floors simply because it is much lighter compared to other types of flooring options such as concrete, solid wood, etc.
Can be installed over Sub-floors
There are times when homeowners prefer not to remove their existing flooring and because of this, their job is to look for wood flooring options that can be installed directly over their existing hard floor surfaces like ceramic tiles. This kind of problem can be easily shouldered with the use of engineered flooring option. Why is this so? It is because only engineered floors give the easy to install option to homeowners by means of the floating type of installation. Although there are other ways by which engineered floors can be installed like nailing, stapling, and gluing, a very popular form of installation for such kind of flooring is known as “floating” because literally, the engineered floors simply float on the subflooring. Many of the wood floor manufacturers today simply recommend nailing or stapling especially when using solid wood floors.
The Best US Wood Floor Provider
In the United States, Wood Floor Planet is a very popular name in terms of providing high quality wood floors around the country. They carry a myriad of engineered wood floor brands which are considered as the best of their kinds. Some of the best choices for engineered wood floor brands include Mirage, Kahrs, Triangulo, Indusparquet, etc. So for your engineered flooring needs, Wood Floor Planet is simply the best place to shop!