Before You Buy Hardwood

Natural wood flooring provides a room with a warm look. There are many types of wood flooring, engineered hardwood or solid hardwood. Each has its advantages and disadvantages depending on where it is being installed.

ENGINEERED HARDWOOD:

Engineered wood flooring is created by compressing two or more layers of wood in the form of a plank. The top layer (lamella) is the wood that is visible when the flooring is installed and is adhered to the core. The increased stability of engineered wood is achieved by running each layer at a 90° angle to the layer above. This stability makes it a universal product that can be installed over all types of subfloors above, below or on grade. Engineered wood is the most common type of wood flooring used globally. Engineered hardwood is more dimentialy stable as its not one solid board. Because it is layered, one layer of wood will balance out the other layers. By choosing engineered hardwood, you will also have the option of extremely wider planks.

SOLID HARDWOOD:

Solid wood flooring is milled from a single piece of timber that is kiln or air dried before sawing. Depending on the desired look of the floor, the timber can be cut in three ways: flat-sawn, quarter-sawn, and rift-sawn. The timber is cut to the desired dimensions and either packed unfinished for a site-finished installation or finished at the factory. The moisture content at time of manufacturing is carefully controlled to ensure the product doesn’t warp during transport and storage.