Engineered Hardwood Flooring - pros, cons, install, & cost. None can deny the appeal of a hardwood floor. It has a long tradition of luxury, and a timeless beauty. Installing a hardwood floor is also expensive and difficult.

Columbia Hardwood Flooring offers a beautiful variety of options - from species and color, to plank widths and finishes, as well as installation.

Those looking for that classic look and feel might do well to consider engineered hardwood flooring. When determining whether or not to invest in engineered wood flooring, here are the essentials to keep in mind.

Engineered Hardwood. Unlike conventional hardwood, which comes straight out of a tree and into your home, engineered hardwood is a more complex product that consists of several layers. The outermost is a hardwood veneer, a thin slice of wood (less than 1/8. The inner layers are made of plywood, high density fiberboard, or hardwood. The core layers make the product more stable than regular hardwood, while the outer veneer surface adds beauty and authenticity. Engineered hardwood is different than a hardwood laminate because the surface is made of real wood.

While laminate has a core of high density fiberboard, its surface is basically a picture of wood (or any other material, for that matter). Laminate is less expensive than engineered and solid hardwood, but has a different look and feel due to its make up. Pros: Engineered hardwood flooring is designed to reduce the moisture problems associated with conventional hardwood. Its layers block moisture and provide added stability to your floor. Engineered flooring will not swell or warp, making it very low maintenance. Environmental Advantages of Engineered Hardwood. Choosing engineered flooring is considered more environmentally- friendly than traditional hardwood for a few reasons.

Veneer is sliced rather than cut with a saw. This process produces no sawdust, which means that all of the tree’s wood can be used. The sawdust produced making hardwood boards is wasted wood (and adds up to a significant amount). Hardwood trees grow much more slowly than the trees used to make engineered flooring cores. Because more surface area is produced making veneer, installing traditional hardwood uses many times the amount of slow growing tree. This makes the replenishing time much longer. Engineered Hardwood Flooring Cons.

There are, in actuality, very few principle drawbacks to this type of hardwood flooring, but this doesn’t make it a foolproof project or even the right floor for every application. Comparable to solid hardwood in terms of cost, engineered floors are still considerably more expensive than laminate, tile, and carpet. Some manufacturers try to cut corners by using fiberboard or oriented strand board that may compromise the stability of your floor and, at the very least, will result in an inferior flooring product. How To Install Car Alarm In Your House Diy there.

Choosing between solid and engineered hardwood flooring is an important decision. Learn about both wood types to find out which one is right for you. Engineered Hardwood Floor vs Hardwood Floor comparison. Hardwood flooring consists of sawed planks from natural hardwood timbers, like oak and maple, and is sometimes. How To Install A Dimmer Switch On A Double Switch Light. Toronto Location moved to new larger Location on 36 Gordon Mackay Road Toronto, Ontario M9N 2V6 Phone: 416-784-0064 Fax: 416-784-5766 Email: info@bramptonhardwood.com.

Is The Floor Worth It? Engineered flooring is definitively easier to install, in fact, some handy homeowners are even enticed into installing their own engineered floors. It’s still a major project with big financial implications,  so don’t over- reach on your home improvement skills. Even for the majority of homeowners who hire a flooring contractor for the job, you’ll save a hefty sum on installation, which is important given that most engineered flooring is more expensive than solid wood.

High- quality engineered floors (thick veneers, quality substrate) will usually cost somewhere between $8 and $1. How much extra money this costs and whether cheaper installation offsets this price often depends on the type of wood you’re choosing. With an exotic or even highly- coveted hardwood, such as maple, engineered flooring is likely to be cheaper overall. For more common hardwoods, solid wood flooring may be cheaper overall, although it will still take longer to install.

Need to find a pro for your engineered floor? Find Pros. My hardwood floor which is polished and colored at the factory is loosing the top color in front of a large window in my kitchen. I thought these factory finished floors were supposed to keep their top color always. What can I do to bring ” life” back in this area. It only has specks of the original color on some of the planks. I had thought I might need to replace the slabs that had lost it top finish.

Do you have any suggestions for me? Be very careful with engineered floors! We had them installed two years ago Rodenbaugh Floors, Allen Texas) the installer took readings that were dry due to a 3 year drought. One, make sure what you buy in samples is exactly what you receive before installing. Too many times the flooring is not the same. Two, always use a moisture barrier (rolled plastic about 6. If you’re reading this and thinking a floating floor or simple click and go floor is simple, trust me, it is not.

GLUE THE FLOOR DOWN WITH QUALITY GLUE. You’ll thank me later. And, lastly. THE WHOLE FLOOR!

Walk around the rooms over three days (7. Too often, people open a box and get to it only to have ugly boards in the middle of the room and other boards popping because they were unfit for installation. Laying doors is not that difficult. Yes, you can do it yourself, just do it right. Learn as much as you can and forget about short cuts. They will only cause problems later on.

Hope this saves someone. Our floors LOOK beautiful but they snap crackle & pop! We are still fighting with “Century” to fix the problem.

They have sent all the experts out including the manufacture rep & no resolution yet, it’s been a year & we need some “sound” advise from someone that won’t be pointing fingers at each other! Help! I disagree with the statements about laminates being almost impossible to scratch. My house is 5 years old, and my floors are ruined from our dogs’ feet. We keep them groomed, of course, and one only weighs 8 pounds. I am looking for some kind of flooring that is indestructible, looks ok, and is easy to care for.

I’m thinking about heading out and finding an abandoned barn, taking the wooden beams and gluing them to the floor. It’d be easier to clean, at least. We had to b travel a lot and left house sitters and potty pads for our three dogs but the lack of routine caused them to use the potty pads more than usual and the laminate us ruined in the areas that the dogs missed the pads or urine ran under the pads. I will probably replace the whole floor so the new will match. I am looking at the vinyl planks because of the dogs. Susan and Polly, for active dogs low luster tile is best.

If money isn’t as mush an issues stone is great because it is a consistent color and texture throughout and scratches or chips don’t mar it’s appearance. Good luck finding out even the most basic facts with a web search. I didn’t have a dehumidifier at first.

The boards’ sides started bowing up and the finish wrinkled in spots. They flattened out when I got a kickass dehumidifier but some of the wrinkling was permanent. So if you don’t have good air conditioning, I don’t know.

We dance tango and the family room floor is covered with spiral scratches. I’m sure dog claws would do a number on it as well. Everywhere else looks great, though. Also, the floor seems very water resistant. THe entire process was definitely less $ than actual wood, especially if you want an exotic wood. I have a 6. 0 pound dog, will the engineered floor hold up to her claws.

Moving to first floor condo that was originally a school so it is very old bui. Iding. I want to remove carpeting and put engineered hardwood flooring over the concrete .

One installer wants to use floating and another wants to use glue? Obviously I do not want any squeaking so what is your opinion? Thanks for any advice. Where I live, engineered flooring is at least $1 a square foot less than solid hardwood flooring.

Hardwood Flooring & Installation . Stronger than Solid wood, Engineered Hardwood is less likely to expand or shrink from humidity changes.

Available in a variety of stains, plank sizes, species, and finishes. See Engineered Hardwood Flooring.