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Engineered hardwood Flooring is designed to resist wood's natural tendency to change dimensionally over time. Developed for installation in areas with variable humidity levels, it is more stable than solid wood. Comprised of multiple layers of wood, cross-banded for stability, glued on a plywood base engineered floors are the future of our industry.
Unlike solid wood flooring, engineered wood floors can be used in a greater range of installation settings and may be glued, nailed or floated on a wide variety of sub floors. Engineered floors are excellent choices for radiant heat installations or where a floor is needed to span two differing subfloors like plywood and concrete. It is also a much better use of our dwindling natural resources as engineered flooring can yield up to four times the amount of flooring in comparison to a solid floor.
Engineered hardwood floors are real wood floors that are manufactured using three to five layers of different wood veneers. The sub layers can be of the same species, or of different species. The graining of each layer runs in opposite direction, which makes it very stable. This means that the wood will expand and contract less than solid wood flooring during fluctuations in humidity and temperature.
The top layer of engineered wood flooring consists of high-quality wood.
Engineered floors can be nailed or stapled to a wood sub floor, or glued down to a wood sub floor or concrete slab. This makes engineered floors ideal for slab and basement installations, but they can be used in any room in your home.
This type of flooring can be sanded and refinished, but not as many times as solid wood flooring.
Prefinished
With factory finished wood floor, the finish is applied in the factory, long before the wood reaches your home. While many options are available with factory finished floors, you will not be able to achieve the same level of customization as you can with job-site finished wood floors. A major benefit to factory finished wood floor, however, is that there is minimal dust and noise during the installation process.
Unfinished
A job-site finish is one that is applied on the job site, in your home. With a job-site finished floor, you can choose the type of finish to be applied to your floor, which will impact maintenance, as well as the stain, if any, and sheen of the final product.
Engineered floors are also available unfinished so that they can by sanded and finished on site to achieve a custom color.
However, because your floors will be sanded and finished in your home, your should expect noise, dust and some disruption to your home. In the past few years, many dust containment systems have been developed to help control dust and debris, so ask your contractor if one can be used in your home.
You also will need to allow time for the finish to dry on-site, during which time you will not be able to walk on your floor.
Engineered floors are more versatile than solid hardwood flooring, they can be glued nailed and floated other are designed to be floated only. They can also be used below grade because of their superior resistance to movement caused by humidity and in kitchens and bathrooms.
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