Welcome to AboutHardwoodFlooring.com!

Choosing the Best Hardwood Floors for your Home

Engineered Hardwood Flooring  

Some people will tell you that engineered hardwood floors are not real wood.  However, engineered hardwood floors are indeed wood floors that are made of three to seven layers of sealed laminated wood with the top visible layer consisting of the desired species of hardwood such as oak, maple, teak, reclaimed hardwood, etc.  Engineered hardwood floors have an advantage over solid hardwood floors, because of how the many layers.  The multiply layers of engineered hardwood flooring are positioned in such a way that they provided better stability than that of solid hardwood floors.  This means that engineered floors will not swell or contract as much as the solid hardwood floors, making them perfect for installation over dry concrete and below-grade. 

Today, countless homes are being constructed with their main floor position on concrete slabs.  This makes it nearly impossible for many people to enjoy the warmth, style, and atmosphere of solid hardwood floors as solid hardwood floors cannot be installed in areas that have high humidity, on top of concrete slabs or below grade as this will cause the wood planks to swell or cup.  

Engineered hardwood floors are more resistant to cupping and shrinking because of how it is constructed.  They consist of two main elements, which are the core and the top layer.  The core is constructed of 3 to 7 stacked layers of medium or high-density fiberboard, or plywood.  It is because of this design, engineered hardwood flooring has the ability to counteract the effects of humidity by allowing each individual board to expand and contract without warping or cupping.  In fact, the only drawback engineered flooring has is its thin top layer.  This thin layer means they can only be refinished once.