Engineered vs Solid Hardwood Flooring

There are two kinds of hardwood floors available, engineered and solid. Selecting the correct construction for your application will be influenced by the general levels of moisture content in the air and the type of subfloor in the room.

Solid hardwood floors can be nailed down to a wooden subfloor.A 3/4" floor cannot be glued, however one can glue or staple a 5/16" or 7/16" solid board.Solid hardwood floors are susceptible to high levels of moisture in the air, as well as drastic changes in temperature, which will cause the floor to buckle or bow. If you live in an area that experiences a high level of humidity, or the area is subject to drastic changes in air temperature within a short period of time, then you might want to consider an engineered hardwood floor.

Engineered wood flooring boards are constructed of multiple layers that are glued together. Engineered products generally have between 3 and 10 layers. The top layer is referred to as the wear layer. This is the layer that is stained and treated with urethane and or aluminum oxide. The top layer can be sanded and refinished from1 to3 times, depending on the thickness of the wear layer. Certain lower end engineered flooring products cannot be refinished, so do your research first.

An important aspect of this flooring construction is that the grain of each board is run perpendicular to the one above it. The resultant effect is that the overall construction is given dimensional stability from all sides. This will prevent the boards from buckling or bowing in areas subject to high moisture content. Engineered flooring boards can be stapled or glued down. For concrete subfloors, this product is perfect as it can glued directly to the concrete. It is very important to do a moisture test on the concrete floors prior to this kind of installation. Check your results with the manufacturers recomended moisture range. If you are above the range, you will have to explore a different alternative.

One of these alternatives is utilizing a floating floors construction. With this kind of installation, the boards are glued to eac hother in the tongue and groove and are not fixed to the floors, the result is wood flooring that floats. Always use a moisture barrier over concrete, this protects the floor from any moisture in the slab. Another good application for this type of installation is for uneven concrete slabs. By floating the floors, the low and high spots of the floors will not be evident. Note that for floors with uneveness measuring more than 1/2", it is neccesary to utilize a self leveling compound.

Hardwood Floors are now available with glueless technology. They utilise a similar system to laminate flooring and can be tapped into place without the use of glue. This type of construction has opened the door to the DIY market.