Often confused with laminate, vinyl, or veneer flooring, engineered wood flooring is currently one of the most popular solutions for consumers seeking wood flooring in their home. In contrast to laminate and vinyl, engineered wood flooring actually comprises of two or more layers of real wood, with the top layer being the visible material, and the bottom layer providing the stability and support. Engineered wood flooring has grown enormously in popularity due to being typically cheaper to purchase and install than solid wood flooring, whilst maintaining an almost identical quality and feel.
One consideration to make when considering purchasing engineered wood flooring is that it is not suitable for installation in bathrooms or utility areas due to the heavy amount of moisture that the flooring would be subject to. It is however, easy to install using either a click, or a tongue in groove system, and nowadays is available in many different high-quality styles and grades.
Before you purchase your engineered wood flooring solution, there are a number of useful things to consider. First of all, a very important consideration to make is the grade that the flooring is given by its manufacturers. The grade refers to the quality of the wood throughout its layers. For example, a board awarded the grade of AB will typically have a top layer of top quality wood (A grade), which is visible to the user, and a slightly lesser quality layer (B grade) which will provide stability to the plank and not be visible to the consumer. Generally speaking, grade A – the highest grade – should be defect-free, or as close to it as possible, and any splits or small knots in the wood should be plugged or repaired with synthetic filler. As you progress through the grades of engineered wood flooring (the lowest being D), the quality will reduce somewhat, and the number of natural knots, splits and colour variations will increase. A ‘D grade’ board will most likely not have had any repairs or sanding done to it, as is considered as more suitable for back surfaces that are not visible.
Also important to consider when purchasing engineered wood flooring is the board size and the type of finish applied to the wood. Board sizes can vary significantly, and can make a big difference for some who is looking for a ‘chunkier’ aesthetic, or on the other extreme, for someone seeking a finer, more tailored look to their flooring. Be sure to take into account the board size and the quantity of boards in a pack when you come to choosing a type, since this will affect the overall price of the project. It is easily to think a certain board is better value per-pack without realising that it is considerably narrower and that each pack contains fewer boards, which would then necessitate more packs to cover your area.
Equally, when choosing a finish for your engineered wood flooring, make sure to choose carefully so that you are not disappointed by the result, and you achieve the look you are going for. Popular finishes include ‘Clear UV Lacquered’, ‘Handscraped’, and ‘Stained’, and are fairly self-explanatory in their respective qualities. A handscraped board will offer more of a rustic, natural quality, while a clear UV lacquer will provide a more modern, light feel. Choosing a finish goes hand-in-hand with choosing a décor style for your flooring, and both options should complement the other. As well as differing types of wood offering differing colour tones and grains, also bear in mind that different types of wood may be considered stronger or possess different qualities than others. Some of the most popular types of wood used in engineered wood flooring include oak, bamboo, walnut, ash and beech.
Topps Tile’s offers a wide range of high-quality engineered wood flooring, and offer expert advice on how to install and maintain your floor.
Engineered wood flooring comprises of multiple layers of wood, capped by a veneer of solid wood, which often varies in thickness, averaging around 5mm, but often exceeding 10mm depending on the quality of the product. The top layer is the part visible to the consumer, providing the look and feel to the engineered wood flooring solution. The various layers are secured together with special wood glue, resistant to deterioration and moisture damage.
There are a number of advantages to be found when choosing engineered wood flooring over, for example, solid wood; one of which being the fact that it is often considered more universal by nature, being suitable for installation on top of many different types of surface, including often tricky concrete floors. In addition, it is also considered more flexible and easier to install and maintain than many alternatives, due to being typically sold in easy-to-fit systems, and often coming pre-finished in the pack – meaning no further preparation such as waxing or oiling of the wood needs to take place. This not only cuts down on extra costs for finishing products, but also means that your flooring is ready to go, straight out of the box, saving you or your re-fitter costly additional labour time. Don’t forget however that this type of flooring is not suitable for installation in bathrooms or utility areas, where regular exposure to high levels of moisture may cause movement between the boards to occur.
Is engineered wood flooring durable? The simple answer is yes; and the better you care for the floor, the longer it is likely to last. Maintenance on engineered wood flooring is simple to carry out, and can be as easy as applying a quality laminate and wood cleaner ever so often. These specialist cleaners are neutral detergents that form a self-polishing film, highly resistant to wear and dirt that helps to both clean and protect the product. More intensive maintenance can also involve sanding down the surface or damaged parts of the wood. Bear in mind that there are only a limited number of times that manufacturer’s will recommend sanding down your engineered wood flooring. Typically, a professional sanding machine will remove anything from 0.25mm – 1mm off the top layer of the wood, and for the varieties of engineered wood that feature thinner veneer layers, this must be done rarely and with caution.
The durability of engineered wood flooring also depends very much on the already mentioned thickness of the top layer, which can vary considerably. Generally speaking, a better quality board will feature a thicker veneer layer, giving the product a thicker ‘sandable area’ also; however, the type and quality of the wood also plays and important role, as do the number ply’s in the core. Again, with regard to the number of ply’s, a better quality board will typically comprise of more ply’s than a cheaper one, and the range varies from lower-end products offering 3-ply construction, to the top end boards featuring up to 9-ply’s.
Another important benefit to recognise when deciding whether choose engineered wood flooring over solid wood flooring is that they are suitable for use on top of increasingly popular underfloor heating systems. Solid wood is not appropriate for use with underfloor heating as many varieties of wood are considered unstable when being subjected to significant changes in temperature, and are likely to expand and contract more, causing movement in your flooring to occur. Engineered wood flooring doesn’t suffer from this problem since it’s a composite product and doesn’t react in the same way to temperature changes. This again adds more fuel to the view that engineered wood flooring is more versatile and better value for money than some of its alternatives.
Topps Tile’s offers a wide range of high-quality engineered wood flooring, and offer expert advice on how to install and maintain your floor.
Solid wood is exactly as it sounds, one piece of wood from top to bottom.
What is the difference between Laminate and Real Wood Floors?
Real Wood floors will age and mature with your property, this means that they will mark and dent more easily than a laminate would but this is part of the character of real wood floors and should not be viewed as a fault of the product. The shade of the wood surface will change with exposure to sunlight. Dependant on the species, it will either lighten or darken with age. The shade variation will only go on to a certain level and then cease. Any unexposed surface areas will eventually catch up with the colour differences once exposed.
Depending on the type of Real Wood floor (solid v’s engineered) it can sanded and re lacquered a number of times to prolong the life of the floor.
What is the difference between Solid Wood Flooring and Engineered Wood Flooring?
Each type of flooring has its specific use and choosing one over the other is dictated by your lifestyle and needs. Solid wood should be in a moisture-controlled environment. Solid wood (strip or plank effect) should be nailed down only and requires a wood sub floor. Solid wood can be glued to a variety of sub floor materials.
Engineered wood flooring consists of a multi-plied, cross-stacked backing with a real wood veneer (top layer of a selected species). Engineered wood flooring can be used on grade, above and below grade.
Engineered wood flooring is more dimensionally stable so it can be installed in areas where solid wood is not compatible due to moisture. Engineered wood (strip or plank effect) can be glued down over various sub floor. Some engineered woods (strip and plank ) can be nailed down which require a wood sub floor. Engineered woods can also be layed as a floating floor where the tongue and groove are glued together, but the floor is not anchored to the sub floor.
What is a “Floating Floor”?
Floating flooring is a flooring system laid down over a layer of underlay. So while the individual planks are glued together, the individual planks are not nailed or glued into the permanent floor. Instead, the planks form a system that “floats” over the layer of underlay. The underlay can be laid down over existing floors.
What is the required distance between the walls and the flooring boards?
When gluing a Real Wood to the subfloor an expansion gap of 15mm towards the walls is sufficient. With floating-floor installations for every metre of installation width the flooring requires a distance to the wall of at least 5mm, lengthwise an expansion gap of 15mm is sufficient.
Can I install the flooring using one pack after the other?
No, for a natural, harmonious looking installation is recommended to work with approximately 5 open packs of flooring and sort/choose the boards individually by colour.
How much wastage do I allow for?
Despite our strict sorting criteria and thorough quality control there may be certain material-specific peculiarities that customers come across during the on-site selection and installation process which may need to be cut out. Generally, we recommend adding 5% to the room’s sqm-total for cutting scrap.
Which kind of Real Wood flooring is right for me?
The range of choices is huge. According to personal taste and character of the room you can choose between different wood types, board sizes, surface finishes (lacquer-finish or oil-impregnation), surface structures (Antique, Distressed, Brushed), impressions (Block or Wideplank) and styles.
Does sunlight have any effects on the flooring?
Yes, any kind of wood will change its colour over time. During this process light-coloured wood types are not necessarily going to get lighter, dark wood types however will get darker. Every wood type has a characteristic aging process of its own and will react in its individual way.
What is the maximum load a Real Wood flooring can bear on a single point?
With very large loads (e.g. pianos, aquariums, storage heaters and the like) we always recommend gluing down as the installation method of choice.
Can Engineered Real Wood flooring that has been installed as a floating floor be sanded and resurfaced?
Yes, but be aware that every sanding process will take off about 1mm of the flooring’s wear-layer. Try not to use very heavy sanding machinery as the big weight of these machines may lead to the creation of “sanding waves”
How do I care for my oil-impregnated Real Wood floors?
Use Wood-Floor Soap for regular maintenance cleaning. Use a vacuum cleaner for lacquer-finished floors and damp-wipe only if needed.
Should your Floating Real Wood Flooring be installed under kitchen appliances?
In the kitchen, you should install the flooring under kitchen appliances, but be very careful when you slide the appliances over the floor. We recommend covering the flooring with something such as a spare rug to protect the flooring when you’re moving the appliances.
Are there methods that make it possible for ALL stains to be removed from Real Wood Floors or is it sometimes impossible for some stains to be removed?
Most stains don’t penetrate more than the sanding will remove. However, if you have a severe water stain, you may not be able to remove it.
How much of an irregularity (drop or rise) can there be in an existing sub floor before installing your Real Wood Flooring?
You can have a drop or rise up to 4mm over 2 linear metres.
Do Real Wood Floors increase home value?
Absolutely. Real Woods floors are recognised as one of the highest quality floors available and would increase the value of your home.
I am installing a Radiant Heat Floor System involving poly water tubing set in gypsum concrete that would be my sub-floor. Can your products be used with this type of floor heating system?
This installation is okay as long as the tubes don’t touch the wood. You also would have to use a laminated underlay vapour barrier between the concrete and the floor.
Can your Real Wood Flooring be installed over Linoleum and be used on stairs?
Real Wood flooring can be installed on the stairs, however it can be slippery.
You can install our floating Real Wood flooring over linoleum if the linoleum remains sound and tightly glued to the original sub floor.
Is there a type of Real Wood Flooring (e.g. Maple v’s Oak) that is more durable or longer lasting than another?
There isn’t much difference between Real Wood flooring wood types. The only negative on oak is it’s a rather porous wood, but it is a very hard durable wood, as are maple and beech. White oak is slightly harder than red oak. Your choice will really come down to aesthetics.
My concrete floor has a few low spots in it and I was wondering what to use to solve this problem?
Most building materials suppliers have a concrete levelling product. We suggest levelling any areas that are more than 3/16″ in variation. Make sure you use the underlay with a DPM before installing over concrete.
Do you have to install your Real Wood Flooring under existing cabinets?
Ideally, the Real Wood flooring would go under the cabinets. You can, however, cut around the cabinets if removing the cabinets would cause undue complications. Keep in mind, though, that if you were ever to change the cabinets, you could have a problem if the new cabinets weren’t the same size as the old cabinets.
Is it possible to install a Real Wood as a floating floor over concrete?
Real Wood floor is designed exactly for this kind of application. It requires an underlay with a DPM over the concrete floor. The floating floor system can go directly over that.
If there were a crack in the concrete, would it cause problems with a Floating Floor installation?
We recommend that any cracks in concrete be filled with concrete filler and sealed prior to installation. If it’s just a hairline crack you can simply cover the crack with duct tape. Keep in mind that underlay with a DPM must be installed prior to laying down the floor.
Important note prior to installation: Relative Humidity should be maintained a 40-55% prior to installation and throughout the life span of the floor.
15mm expansion gap must be maintained around the perimeter of the floor.
Real Wood Flooring FAQs brought to you by the flooring experts at Wood Flooring 2U
If you would like any further information on solid wood flooring, engineered wood flooring, laminate wood flooring or advice on how to install a wooden floor, please don’t hesitate to get in touch, our knowledgeable team would be more than happy to help.
Engineered Wood Flooring is somewhat different from Natural Wood Flooring. Natural Wood Flooring is made from natural wood obtained from different types of trees like Bamboo, Beech, Cherry, Maple, Oak, etc. Engineered Wood Flooring, on the other hand, is part Natural Wood and part Plywood. It is made by using 1/16″ to 1/8″ of finish wood on top and unfinished plywood underneath. So what is inside does not matter, the top surface is100 percent genuine wood. Engineered Wood Flooring is the latest trend in the market and is an innovative and interesting substitute of Natural wood Flooring. Natural Wood Flooring is prone to warping, discoloring and cracking when exposed to extreme temperatures, whereas Engineered Wood Flooring is durable and easier to maintain.
The construction process of Engineered Wood Flooring is different from that of Natural Wood Flooring. In Engineered Wood Flooring, a thin layer of hard wood is laid on top of a thick layer of plywood. The top layer is suited to be walked upon as soon as it is laid down as it has already been polished. The top layer is real wood hence it needs to be polished regularly so that it does not lose its luster. There are different species of Engineered Wood Flooring. A few of them would be:
Hickory Wood- Hand scraped wood gives your home a timeless feeling. Maple Wood- Maple Wood gives an elegant finish to whichever room it is applied in. It is most suitable in living rooms and dining rooms. Bamboo Wood- Almost all Bamboo Wood Flooring is engineered but it “Green” and cheap. Oak Wood- Oak Wood is reddish in color and is inexpensive and the most popular type of wood used for flooring.
Engineered Wood Flooring can be sanded if it develops scratches or dings. There are various disadvantages of Engineered Wood Flooring as well. First and foremost, if the sanding of this floor is not done by a professional, then the life of this floor can get drastically reduced. The sanding of Engineered Wood Flooring should always be carried out by an expert. Secondly, Engineered Wood flooring cannot be sanded more than 2-3 times. If it is sanded excessively, it tends to lose its luster and sturdiness.
Engineered Wood Flooring is moisture resistant and can be suitably applied in areas with maximum moisture like kitchens, basements, bathrooms, etc. Though it can retain moisture well, it is advisable not to use Engineered Wood Flooring in basements that tend to flood frequently or in children’s bathrooms as they are also prone to flooding.
Engineered Wood Flooring has many advantages over Natural Wood Flooring and Synthetic Wood Flooring. If you want sturdy durable flooring that offers the same feel and luster as Natural Wood Flooring and which is inexpensive and durable, then Engineered Wood Flooring is the one to choose.
London Flooring Supplies Ltd.- One of the leading company tproviding high quality of Wood Flooring for commercial and domestic use. You can buy wooden flooring from our online website :www.londonflooring.uk.com.
Engineered Wood Flooring – A Great Alternative To Solid Hardwood Floors
Engineered wood flooring has been one of the great innovations in flooring to hit the market. Engineered hardwood is not made from solid wood. It consists of several layers and only the top layer is the actual hardwood that you always dreamed of having for the floors of your home. The layers underneath are specifically designed to give you maximum wear and tear and they give you practical flooring for just about every room of the house. Engineered wood flooring has advantages over solid hardwood that make it very attractive.
For one thing, engineered wood flooring is not as costly as solid hardwood flooring. The other layers of the engineered hardwood flooring are plywood or high density fibreboard. They are molded together under high pressure in a factory setting. Engineered hardwood floors will not expand and contract as solid hardwood does with changes in humidity and temperature. You can install it over just about any type of existing floor and by following special instructions you can install an engineered floor over radiant heat sources.
Engineered wood flooring in one of the most versatile choices that you can make when it comes to flooring in your home. It has many practical applications. You can install it over an existing concrete floor or one made with inferior grade wood. You can glue or nail it down and there are also forms of engineered hardwood floors that are glueless, forming a floating floor. It is an excellent choice in areas where there are drastic changes in temperature and humidity. However, engineered wood does not perform well in rooms of the home where there is an excess of humidity and moisture, such as in bathrooms or mudrooms.
One of the major reasons that many homeowners choose engineered wood flooring is its fantastic price. You have the same look and texture of hardwood, but it seems as if you are getting the hardwood at a wholesale price. Engineered hardwood floors are easy to install and the instructions are clearly printed inside each carton of flooring. You do have to make sure that the subfloor is clean of dust and dirt before you start so that any small pieces of rock won’t work their way up through the flooring.
In the line of engineered wood flooring, you can get various types of wood, stains and finishes. You can also choose prefinished and unfinished hardwood, but if you are looking for an easy project, then it is best to go with prefinished. This way when you have the engineered hardwood flooring installed, you don’t have to bother applying any stain or finish. You can just sit back and enjoy your engineered wood flooring.
Find out about Wood Flooring at Peter’s Website Wood Flooring Explained, all about Laminate Flooring and lots more about laminate and hardwood flooring
