What is Engineered Wood?
Engineered wood flooring is a high quality flooring product providing a solid wood finish to your floors.
Sitting as an option between laminate flooring and solid wood floors, Engineered wood is made of several layers of real wood providing an excellent material that has huge advantages over other products.
A – The surface layer: a solid layer of wood, this layer can be finished in various ways to provide different colours and textures. It can be finished with oil or lacquered for a harder wearing option.
B – The core layer: this layer adds dimensional stability across the width of the plank, it can be made up of softwood, plywood or HDF.
C – The base layer: this layer adds dimensional stability down the length of the plank, and is often made of hardwood.
What are the advantages of Engineered Wood?
By crafting the layers of wood at 90 degrees to each other Engineered wood planks can add up to 70% more stability to the floor than a solid wood floor meaning no gaps or peaks during wet or dry seasons.
The top layer can often be sanded and refinished as required over the years, meaning a good quality Engineered wood floor can last for many generations.
A huge advantage of an Engineered wood floor over a solid wood floor is the environmental impact. To construct a plank of solid wood the tree must be cut in thick slices, whereas for an Engineered Wood floor the slices can be much thinner meaning a single tree can produce 4-5 times more flooring.
And this reduction in the impact on the environment is what makes Engineered wood so much more affordable than solid wood because less solid wood is required. All this whilst looking just as effective:
What should I look for in Engineered Wood?
1, 2 or 3 strips?
This number refers to the amount of solid wood strips used on the surface layer of each plank. For example, if each plank of wood is 30cm wide and it is a 3 strip system, each strip will be 10cm wide. A larger room can handle planks containing less strips (the effect is that the plank looks bigger) whereas a smaller room might benefit from a plank with a higher number of strips. Ultimately it is a design choice.
No grooves, 2-groove or 4-groove?
A 2-groove plank denotes a plank with a bevelled edge running along the 2 lengths only, whereas 4-groove describes a plank with a bevelled edge around the entire perimeter. Again, this is aesthetic, and depends upon whether you wish each plank to appear separate from the next or as one long plank up the length.
Floating or fixed?
A floating floor is where the planks are fixed together using a click system to create a large floor that is held in place by its own weight and gravity. A fixed floor can be fixed directly to the subfloor using either adhesive or hidden/secret nailing. Most Engineered wood floors are designed for floating with an underlay system.
When it comes to the installation of Engineered wood floors, there are specific requirements relating to the ambient temperature and humidity of the area, as well as the condition of the subfloor. These specifications will vary depending on the exact construction method of your chosen Engineered wood floor and the installation method.
An important point to remember is that Engineered wood floors are made from a living material, therefore they are still susceptible to moisture, and a damp test should always be carried out before installation.
At Grimley Flooring we thoroughly test all subfloors prior to installation. Talk to us today about the stunning range of Engineered wood floors we offer, along with matching accessories, to invest in your home and ensure the perfect finish.