What Makes Engineered Wood Flooring A better Choice Than Solid Hardwood Flooring?
Traditional solid hardwood flooring, as the name suggests, is made of solid wood throughout its thickness and construction. It is typically made from a hard and solid wood species like oak, maple, or walnut, and one of the major advantages is that it can be easily sanded and refinished numerous times over the course of its long lifespan.
Engineered flooring
Engineered wood flooring looks very similar on the surface, but it is made from a relatively thinner layer of hardwood which is bonded over a substratum of premium and high-quality plywood. It is somewhat less expensive than traditional solid hardwood flooring, but most types can be sanded and refinished only once because the top surface of the hardwood layer is relatively thin.
Solid flooring
Solid wood flooring comes in the form of long planks or boards, generally made of a hardwood species like oak, walnut, or maple. Of all the three wood species, solid oak flooring is the most popular. It is milled with tongues and grooves on opposite edges so that the boards can be interlocked to finish the installation process. It should be noted that traditional solid wood flooring is always nailed down to the subfloor, a process which requires some amount of skill. This type of flooring can be sanded down and refinished multiple times over its life because it is traditional solid hardwood.
Engineered wood flooring planks or boards look exactly like solid hardwood, but the construction of engineered wood features a relatively thinner layer of hardwood bonded over a high-quality plywood layer which lends the flooring very good stability. A good-quality engineered wood floor typically lasts 25 to 30 years, and it is both less expensive than solid hardwood flooring and easier to install. We shall into a few advantages of engineered wood flooring over traditional solid wood flooring.
Strength and Durability
One of the most important reasons for people all over the world to choose engineered wood for flooring is because of its strength and durability. As compared to traditional solid hardwood oak flooring, engineered oak flooring is much stronger, robust, and durable. This is because engineered wood is made up of different layers, generally three with an excellent strong core right in the middle. Intelligent design and construction of this type of wood flooring solutions offers strength to the overall flooring and can withstand regular wear and tear, be it in commercial or domestic environments.
Excellent Performance and Versatility
Engineered wood flooring when compared to traditional solid hardwood is much more practical and better in performance. One of the main issues with traditional solid hardwood flooring is that it gets easily damaged when it comes in contact with moisture or heat. Traditional solid hardwood expands and contracts as per the changes in temperature and moisture levels making it a terrible choice in areas which experience frequent weather changes.
Engineered wood on the other hand has been designed and developed keeping all the drawbacks of solid wood in mind. As engineered wood uses different layers of wood species, it is less susceptible to expansion and contraction due to the fluctuations in natural weather elements. This is one of the most pragmatic reasons for engineered wood flooring being preferred over traditional solid hardwood as it is unfit for environments with frequent temperature and moisture level changes.
Economic and Cost-Effective
Engineered wood flooring is pretty economical and price-effective when compared to traditional solid hardwood flooring solutions. Engineered wood is manufactured by using different varieties of wood species and unlike traditional solid hardwood, is not made out of a single trunk. This makes the production process relatively easy, cheap, and cost-effective.
Therefore, engineered wood is affordable by people of every economic stratum and one does not have to exceed their budget to afford high quality engineered wood flooring for their dream home. We have also included an infographic for your better understanding of engineered wood flooring. Keep reading!