Engineered Wood Floor For Your Home

The engineered wood floor has become increasingly popular nowadays after solid wood flooring has been pushed aside by laminates, linoleum and other materials for years.

The engineered wood floor has become increasingly popular nowadays after solid hardwood flooring has been pushed aside by laminates, linoleum and other materials for years. It is a nice comeback if you think that about 100 years ago wood was the only floor type available to the masses. Tiles and natural flooring were mostly used only by big companies and rich folks due to their very high costs.

Between 1950 and 1970 linoleum was the material of choice for the floor. I remember while I was growing up that our kitchen had a light linoleum on the floor. The material was good because it could hide nicely any blemishes and dirt.

Laminate wood flooring is another type that was used previously and it's still heavily used up till today. This is really a photograph of wood that is glued with some resin onto the fiber board. Many people might think that they're dealing with actual wood when they first see it in real life particularly if it is of a better quality material. One problem with this material is that the photo layer is easy to get worn down and then it needs to be changed to look nice again.

Some people actually have the notion that engineered wood flooring is laminate flooring and that is wrong. The two can not be further from each other in texture, material and quality.

Engineered floors have been first developed in the 1960. This type of flooring is finished wood glued onto several layers of woods. The nice thing about it is that it comes in several different finishes, wood types and thicknesses. It's actually more versatile than regular, traditional hard wood. It has been proven that the finish of the engineered wood lasts longer than the finish of the regular solid wood. And the best of all is that the engineered material is actually wood from top to bottom, it's the real thing.

One place it is not recommended to have engineered wood floor is in the bathroom, the laundry room or anywhere where humidity is present in the house. You can use it though in the kitchen and basements. This wood doesn't need to be secured to the subfloor, which means that it is way more versatile than the traditional counterpart. You can even sand it and refinish it several times, of course this depending on how thick the veneer is.

When you have an engineered floor in your house it will completely change the look and feel of your environment and you don't have to make any other changes at home for it to make an impact. Also let's not forget that this is cheaper than implementing hardwood flooring in the house and it is also much easier to install it.

An important benefit of having the engineered wood flooring at home versus laminate flooring is that engineered wood can actually be sanded once it is getting scratched. However you need to be careful with the sanding as it's not so easy as it seems, it can only be done a few times due to the engineered wood floor thickness, and it has to be done by a professional woodworker. Also you need to take care about moisture and about standing water on it as it can damage the finish easily.

You can actually install the engineered flooring as a floating floor, meaning that it's installed over any surface without having to fix it down with nails or any glue. You do need to lay down a vapor barrier on the surface that you are going to cover before installing the floor, however this way you will have a floor with practically no openings between the wood panels.

While it is not difficult to install an engineered flooring at home, for those who still struggle doing it, here is a quick Youtube video that shows you exactly what to do. Enjoy.