Solid wood flooring remains a classic choice, but engineered hardwood is quickly gaining popularity among homeowners. With a real wood top layer and a strong plywood base, it offers both durability and longevity, making it a smart and stylish flooring option.
Whether you’re building or remodeling your home, you may have considered installing engineered hardwood flooring in some of the rooms. Before you take the next step, it’s important to know as much as possible about what to expect.
Today, we’re sharing eight key questions to ask your installer about this type of flooring, and how you can decide whether or not it’s right for you.
1. How Are Engineered Hardwoods Different From Solid Hardwoods?
At first glance, engineered hardwoods and solid hardwoods look very similar. In fact, many homeowners can’t notice the difference, even after comparing the two extensively.
That’s because the main difference is actually below the surface. Solid woods are just that — solid planks of wood usually derived from specific wood species, such as oak or walnut. Engineered wood floors contain a thin layer of authentic wood on top and bottom, but they also include those extra layers of plywood in the middle.
Depending on the manufacturer, there could be between five and seven layers of plywood in each plank of engineered wood floors. These layers will usually criss-cross in opposing directions to improve their structural stability.
Securely bonded below the top wood layer, this plywood addition helps strengthen each plank so it can resist warping, shifting, or expanding/contracting and look great for years to come. You can usually find engineered hardwoods in larger planks than their solid counterparts, so keep this in mind if you’re going for the rustic, wide-plank look.
Another difference to keep in mind? While you can purchase solid hardwoods finished or unfinished, engineered wood floors are almost always sold as pre-finished. Though you may be able to sand them down and restain them once or twice over their lifetime, you can’t complete that process as frequently as you could with solid wood planks.
2. What Is the Installation Process Like?
There are four different ways that your flooring provider could install your engineered hardwoods. These include:
- Gluing
- Nailing
- Stapling
- Floating
The chosen installation method will depend primarily on the condition of your subfloor. While solid hardwoods are mostly nailed into place in a tongue-and-groove format, you’ll have a little more flexibility here.
One aspect of your installation to keep in mind? With solid hardwoods, you’ll usually notice tight seams between the boards. This is because those planks are specially milled with tongues and edges on opposing sides, designed to create a snug fit.
As you’re comparing different engineered hardwood flooring options, take a look at the edges of each plank. Some will feature ones that are slightly beveled, which can put a little more space between the planks. Those groves can add an attractive look to your space, but they can also trap particles, so it’s important to know that they’re there.
Installation, and the attributes of your home, are important considerations of whether you will use solid or engineered wood flooring. If there is any doubt that the moisture levels in your home are a problem for a solid wood installation, contact a flooring professional.
3. What Is On the Top Layer of Each Plank?
If you want an authentic engineered hardwood floor, then the top layer of each plank should be made from real wood. This top layer is also called the “wear layer” and should reveal the natural beauty of real hardwoods.
By swapping the middle layers out for plywood, you can save a little money on the overall cost of your flooring project. However, don’t scrimp on this step if you want some level of real hardwood in your project. Otherwise, you could look into Luxury Vinyl Tile, which features a top layer that’s only designed to look like real hardwood but is actually made of a lower-priced vinyl material.
4. Was that Wood Flooring Made in the United States?
Flooring manufacturers that are based in the United States are required to follow strict guidelines around the types of chemicals and materials they use. This includes taking special steps to ensure that the glue used to hold the different layers of wood together is safe to be in your home.
While most providers throughout both North America and Europe avoid the use of toxic glues, it’s never a good idea to assume. Check to make sure that the adhesive in your product does not contain any dangerous chemicals, such as formaldehyde. While you’re researching these components, ask about the level of bonding that the glue will provide.
Premium glues will not only be installation-safe, but they’ll also create a more durable product. Lower-end (and lower-priced) products might sound fine at first, but you could deal with issues such as delamination down the road. This happens when the individual layers within your engineered hardwood planks begin slowly separating from one another, negatively affecting the integrity of your floors.
5. How Thick Is the Wear Layer?
Many homeowners assume that a super-thick wear layer will automatically be more durable. While this can be true, it isn’t always the case. Yes, you may be able to sand these planks down and refinish them more frequently, but you may encounter other issues.
For example, thick engineered hardwood wear layers don’t typically do well with moisture. Similar to a solid hardwood plank, these might react more to changes in the relative humidity within your home. That means you may notice more expanding and contracting than you would with thinner engineered hardwoods.
6. Is This Floor Compatible With the Heat Source in My Home?
Before investing in an engineered hardwood floor, make sure that it will interact well with the heating elements in your home. The specific issue to understand is whether or not you can install the planks on top of radiant heat.
Compared to a traditional forced-air system, radiant heat doesn’t actually heat the air around you. Instead, these systems deliver heat to the various surfaces within your home, including your walls, floors, and ceiling panels. Then, that heat travels from room to room via invisible electromagnetic waves.
Some engineered hardwoods floors are not made to receive such high temperatures. This will depend mostly on the type of glue that’s used to bond the layers together, as well as the installation process used. While most engineered floors that lock or float over your subfloor are suitable for radiant heat, those that are stapled or glued in place might not be.
If you already have a radiant heating system in your home, then check with your flooring provider before the installation process begins.
7. Do You Offer a Warranty?
Your installer should be used to answering plenty of questions about hardwood flooring. This includes inquiries about product and service warranties.
Material-wise, most manufacturers will only cover any known and visible defects that may be present in your planks. These consumer warranties are in place to help you recoup the costs associated with defective flooring. Though this is a common practice for solid hardwoods, keep in mind that some engineered hardwood manufacturers may not warrant their products against potential structural or surface-based issues that may occur.
Before you begin an installation, always make sure you are crystal clear on the manufacturer’s warranty associated with your flooring. Then, speak to your installer to see if they offer a guara
ntee on their service, and what it includes.
8. How Long Should I Acclimate the Hardwood Flooring Before Installing?
Most types of solid wood flooring will go through a brief acclimation period of about two to three days. This time gives the moisture content (MC) in the floor time to acclimate to the environment in your home.
One benefit of engineered hardwood flooring is that you can skip this step. However, that doesn’t mean you can start using them as soon as you install them. Rather, you’ll need to make sure your environment is acclimated to them!
This means checking the humidity levels in your home to make sure they’re in line with your manufacturer’s specifications. Most will recommend that their products be installed in a space where the relative humidity is between 35% and 60%.
Your installer will know these recommendations and can share them with you. They can take a moisture reading of both your floor and subfloor and recommend next steps if required. This is where a moisture meter is absolutely necessary. The presence of excessive moisture can destroy your floor, and you need to be aware of the moisture content in your home before installation has begun, And while acclimation is important, do not let your wood flooring acclimate to the wrong moisture levels. Using a moisture meter, check the moisture content in your subfloor once ever 100 square feet of floor space. Look for areas with local moisture as well as high readings on the average. Your moisture meter should read no more than 12-14%. Not only that, but your wood floors should measure within 5% of what the flooring is for a narrow solid board. Wide planks and denser woods like Hickory need to be within 3%. This is whereation comes into play.
Should I Install Engineered Flooring Over Any Type of Subfloor?
Engineered flooring can be installed over almost any type of subfloor, whether it is cement, OSB, plywood or even particle board. When installing an engineered wood you have the option of nailing, stapling, gluing, or floating your floor. Use the installation method that best suits your subfloor, as well as the conditions of that substrate.
Shop Our Full Collection of Engineered Hardwood Flooring
From your kitchen to your bedroom, engineered hardwood flooring can create an elegant and timeless look in any room of your home. If you’re ready to transform the look, feel, and function of your house, then this is a solid pick that you can enjoy for years to come.
When you’re ready to start shopping for your perfect floor, we’re here to help. Feel free to browse our full collection of wallet-friendly engineered hardwood floors online. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to our team.
