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Engineered wood flooring is an exciting alternative to solid hardwood flooring. Even though flooring companies would loudly protest at this description, engineered flooring basically is a sandwich of finish wood and plywood. The finish wood is what you see and walk on. The plywood underneath comprises 80-90% of the floor.
But it's the plywood that distinguishes engineered wood flooring from solid hardwood. Each ply runs perpendicular to its adjacent ply, giving dimensional strength to the sandwich. This means that engineered wood flooring stands up well to areas with light moisture--basements and bathrooms.
Another great thing about engineered wood is the range of installation options. The thinner varieties can be nailed down; the thicker kinds can be installed as floating floors. Floating floors are the great boon to do-it-yourselfers—now even available in the click type system ( historically only available in laminate flooring) . As long as your existing floor is level and stable, you can install the floating floor right on top.
Engineered wood flooring's greatest weakness is its thin top layer. Remarkably, this 1/16" to 1/8" finish layer can be sanded. But only once or twice. Three is pushing it. In any case, it is strongly recommend you seek the advice of a reputable flooring company before sanding. Unlike solid hardwood, deep scratches and dents in engineered wood cannot be sanded out.
Each engineered wood board consists of three or four layers of real wood, which are fixed together in a cross-ply construction. This means that it is more stable than one solid piece of real wood and will withstand varying temperatures more effectively than solid wood.
Floors Direct has a range of 3-strip and full plank designs in both narrow and wide boards. The veneer on the top is 3-6mm thick depending on the range. Floors Direct’s engineered wood flooring comes in a range of lacquered and hand scraped finishes.
Did you know?
Engineered Wood is re-sandable like any solid wooden floor and has the dimensional stability of a normal engineered floor.
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