Engineered or Floaring Floor

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Engineered hardwood flooring is made of wood, but it's not solid. Instead it is a laminated product like plywood, with a thin but tough veneer of real wood on top laminated to three to five layers of less expensive wood (or medium-density fiberboard) and bonded under pressure with strong glues. The grain of every other sub layer runs at right angles to the others, resulting in a remarkably strong (but less expensive) product. The cost is less because there is less hardwood used, its thinner profile weighs less and costs less to ship. This innovative product helps conserve forests by using less hardwood. It is sold in strips, planks, or planks composed of several strips joined. Multi-strip planks are the most common choice because installation goes more quickly. Engineered advantages Because of its construction, engineered hardwood brings with it a number of advantages over solid wood flooring. ■  Its laminated layers make it more dimensionally stable than other flooring and therefore less subject to the effects of moisture. You can use it above grade, at grade, or below grade. ■   Installation is easier-some brands simply snap together, others require staples, adhesive, or glue. Wider planks allow you to cover more floor area faster. ■  Engineered floors come prefinished with a tough varnish coat. You can install it in the morning and use it that evening. ■  Its thin profile (generally 3/5 inch thick) might allow installation in a kitchen without having to remove the old floor to get under counter appliances in and out. On the other hand ... There are some drawbacks, of course. Because the hardwood top layer is only ^ inches thick, it will withstand only one sanding and refinishing. (Solid wood can be refinished three times.) Assuming a refinish job every 12 years, an engineered floor will last 24 years, while a solid floor will be good for 48 years. (The thin veneer does not leave much room for error-sanding is a job for the pros.) Engineered flooring is manufactured with chamfered edges, which you might find somewhat more difficult to clean. But what does it look like? In general, you'll find the same hardwood species available in engineered floor as in solid wood stock-but with several (and increasingly more) additions. Manufacturers are adding exotic woods to their inventories because these woods offer dramatic design opportunities. The thin veneer makes the costly woods affordable and forests are not rapidly depleted. These woods offer design possibilities that are simply not available in domestic woods.