Is Engineered Flooring As Good As Hardwood

Which wood flooring should i choose.

Is engineered flooring as good as hardwood.

It is constructed with multi layers of wood. Solid hardwood generally has very tight seams between boards and there is a great range of colors and species than is found with engineered hardwood flooring. Engineered hardwood floors are suitable for installation on all levels of the home and over plywood wood osb and concrete subfloors. Below i show you the 6 best engineered hardwood flooring brands.

It is even permissible to refer to engineered wood floors as hardwood floors in real estate ads. If you ve already started reviewing your options in the hardwood flooring market then you ll be well aware that engineered hardwood flooring is an increasingly popular product. Let s learn about engineered hardwood. Upwards of 2 20 per square foot for engineered hardwood compared to upwards of 3 40 per square foot for solid.

Rather than being solid hardwood through and through engineered wood floors bond a relatively thin layer of true hardwood over a substrate of high quality plywood. Each layer is positioned in a different direction. Engineered wood looks just like natural hardwood because the surface is natural wood. This construction prevents the engineered hardwood from warping and bowing the way a hardwood floor might in moist areas.

Engineered hardwood construction has durable high performance qualities. Each one is reviewed and displayed to help you decide which brand to look closer at when choosing your next hardwood floor. Solid hardwood flooring boards tend to be narrower than engineered hardwood flooring. Better still it s competitively priced compared to solid hardwood flooring.

The main reason for this is the greater ability to handle moisture. The norwegian based european flooring company boen has some of the best engineered hardwoods around. As for those finishes aluminum oxide is the best from a durability standpoint and found on flooring in the budget and premium classes. Because of this process engineered hardwood flooring isn t affected by humidity as much as hardwood.

This gives the flooring good dimensional stability and it certain applications it is an even better choice than solid hardwood flooring. It doesn t shrink or expand which makes it resistant to warping and cupping. Solid hardwood is available in both pre finished and unfinished boards. Engineered flooring is mainly available prefinished for ease of installation but if you look hard enough you can find a handful of companies that offer unfinished engineered flooring as well.