Engineered Wood Floor FAQ

There are many questions asked by people who are interested in buying an engineered wood floor for their home. I have tried to cover and provide here answers to some of the most commonly asked questions regarding this beautiful flooring type.

Q. What exactly is engineered wood floor?
A. Engineered wood floor is has a core of hardwood or plywood and it has a top layer of hardwood veneer which is usually glued to the core base. The hardwood layer can be of any solid wood that is currently available on the market. So while it is hardwood from top to bottom, it has a great percentage of it, which allows it to offer greater stability when it comes to moisture and heat resistance, which are problems that hardwood is facing regularly.

Q. Is engineered wood floor laminate?
A. No, it is not. Laminate has a top photographic layer which shows the image of any material you want to have in your home, be it hardwood or anything else. However that is deceiving as when you touch it, you will realize that it is NOT real wood, while the engineered type is. Laminate is usually the cheapest of all flooring products, and hardwood the most expensive. Engineered is somewhere in the middle.

Q. How thick is the hardwood and how many layers does it have?
A. The top layer of the engineered wood is usually 0.6mm to 4.5mm or even more. It usually has 3 or more layers not including the top veneer layer. The more layers it has, the greater the stability. This means that it holds much better under adverse conditions such as moisture, water spillages, temperature changes, humidity, etc.

Q. Can engineered wood floor be refinished?
A. Yes it can, however it all depends on the hardwood layer thickness. If the top layer is thinner than 1/10", it cannot be refinished. Generally speaking, most hardwood surfaces are not refinished as it is quite costly and difficult to do so. If fixing of the damaged area needs to be done, it is removed professionally.

Q. What is the best way to install the flooring?
A. There are three main distinct installation ways: glue-down, floating and nail-down. Each uses a different type of wood plank thickness to work best. Glue-down uses 1/1" thick, floating hardwood flooring uses 5/8" planks and nail-down type uses 3/8" thick floors.

Q. Is engineered flooring the same with vinyl and laminate?
A. No. While laminate, veneer and vinyl flooring are oftentimes confused with engineered hardwood flooring, they are not the same. Laminate is using a photographic image as the top layer made of melamine infused paper. It is an image that can be resembling some wood. Vinyl is a good quality plastic that is formed to look just like wood, and veneer is actually a thin layer of wood that has a core made of any number of different composite wood products including fibreboard.

Q. Can engineered wood be made of any type of wood?
A. Yes. As long as the wood type is used for hardwood flooring, it can be also found in engineered wood flooring. Some of the most commonly used types are: engineered oak flooring, bamboo flooring, hickory and maple.
 

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