There is a wide range of engineered flooring today; from the popular click-lock engineering floors to high-pressure engineering floors (HPL), the selections can be overwhelming.
However, not all engineered floors are equal; the challenge is to select the best quality engineered flooring that will suit your preferences and budget.
We love its consistency and the variety of shades, textures, and graining. So, what other qualities make engineered wood floors stand out?
Benefits:
- You get the look and feel of the much beloved solid wood flooring. That’s without the limitations of natural wood.
- Engineered floors come in wider and longer boards. Engineered floors size is usually wider than 5 to 6 inches, and the widest boards come 10 to 12 inches wide with corresponding lengths of 7 to 10 feet. You can also have custom widths and lengths if the project requires it.
- A wide range of selections makes it easier to find an engineered floor that will work for your project. And the upside is you get attractive flooring patterns such as a parquet or chevron wood floor that is hard to come by with hardwood since it usually expands or contracts easily.
Top Brands of Engineered Flooring
Tips to Know:
- Engineered wood flooring typically comes with 5/8 or ¾ thickness; if you’ve got a thinner engineered floor, you might have a substandard engineered floor.
- The best quality engineered flooring should have at least a 9-ply backing and best with an 11-ply core made of Baltic birch.
- The standard width of engineered flooring is 3” or 4” width.
- A good quality engineered wood floor should have a 1-2 mm wear layer. The thicker, the better, so you can resand it as often as possible.
- A wear layer of hardwood made from beech or cherry are great option.
- A solid sawn in the method of cutting your engineered wood floor gradually releases moisture, thus having a more stable wood flooring.
- You can improve the wearability of your engineered floor by having five coats of high-durability polyurethane.
- Don’t accept an engineered floor if the supplier does not disclose the composition of your wood flooring.
- Choose a backing layer with the same specie as your engineered wood flooring for consistent expansion and contraction. It is best to note that engineered floor does not expand or contract much compared to hardwood floors.
- Acclimate your engineered floors for the wood material to adjust to the humidity and temperature of the room. Place your engineered floors unremoved from the box for at least three days or more. When storing vertically, make sure to stagger your boxes to allow air to circulate between the stacked boxes.
