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Engineered Floor vs Solid Wood

Engineered wood flooring vs solid wood flooring, which is best? The answer has and continues to be an ongoing battle, among many experts!

The face solid wood and engineered wood may look the same. Regardless, there are differences that you should be aware of.

Both solid and engineered wood floors offer benefits and disadvantages.
With both there is a wide selection of styles and colors to choose from.

Use: Engineered Floor vs Solid Wood

Solid wood flooring can be installed on grade and above grade, but not below grade.
Solid wood performs best in a moisture-controlled environment.
Engineered wood flooring is more dimensional stable. Like solid wood floor it can be installed on grade or above grade.
While solid wood floor cannot be installed below grade, engineered flooring can.
Engineered flooring can also be installed in many areas where moisture prevents the installation of solid wood. When moisture is a problem, the advantage goes to engineered flooring.

Installation: Engineered Floor vs Solid Wood

Solid wood strip or plank, installed with nails or staples will usually require a wood or OSB subfloor or underlayment.
Glue down solid wood can be glued over a variety of substrates.
Engineered flooring will also require a wood or OSB substrate, when nailed or stapled down.
Glue down engineered flooring may be installed over a variety of substrates.
Some engineered floors can be installed as a floating installation, where solid floors cannot.
If you need a floating floor, engineered wins this battle.

Heat and Moisture: Engineered Floor vs Solid Wood

Solid wood planks expand and contract with a change in temperature and relative humidity.
Engineered floors will also expand and contract but not nearly to the degree of a solid wood floor.
With both floors, moisture related expansion and contraction is primarily in width. The change in length is usually minimal.
Properly manufactured, engineered wood flooring is constructed with cross ply contraction. Each layer of ply is staked with the grain running in the opposite direction. The plies are laminated together, which helps to prevent expansion and contraction.
Some engineered floors are plied with woods of different species and densities which may not be as stable.
When installed in a high moisture environment, the expansion-contraction advantage, goes to a properly constructed engineered wood flooring.

Long Term Performance: Engineered Floor vs Solid Wood

For long term performance, you may sand and refinish a 3/4″ solid wood floor as many as 10 times. You will find the original solid wood flooring in many houses that are over 100 years old.
With an engineered floor, you may be able to sand it once. Many engineered floors cannot be sanded.
Solid wood flooring wins in the battle over engineered floor vs solid wood.

Engineered Floor vs Solid Wood Quick Comparison Chart

Characteristics
Fastener or staple installation
Floating installation
Scratch and dent
May refinished
Reacts to moisture
On or above grade install
Below grade installation

Solid Wood
Yes
No
Yes
Up to 10 times
Yes
Yes
No

Engineered Wood
Yes
Some
Yes
0 to 2 times
Less
Yes
Yes

Wood Flooring Grades the Beauty and Ugly

There are different wood flooring grades (be it on room or shower) offering a variety of characteristics to wood floors. There is beauty and there is ugly in wood flooring. These perceptions can be the same wood flooring grades and the same pieces of wood within those grades. With wood flooring, what one person sees as ugly another person sees as beauty. Examples of this would be Cabin, Character and Premium wood flooring grades.

Luxury Vinyl Tile the Product

Luxury vinyl tile describes a variety of vinyl flooring products from those that appear as wood, natural stone, granite and ceramic tile. The possibilities are limitless as the patterns are produced through high definition photography similar to the production of wallpaper. The printed pattern is bonded to a base and coated for protection, much like that of a laminate flooring product.

Wood Floor Cupping Cause and Effect

Wood floor cupping is a common problem that occurs with both solid and engineered wood floors. If you think you can escape cupping by installing a bamboo or laminate floor you can’t for they can also cup.

How Sheet Vinyl is Made

Sheet vinyl is made to be a great floor covering performer. How sheet vinyl is made is not as complicated as one might imagine, for such an outstanding floor covering product, that is both durable and attractive.

How Sheet Vinyl is Made, the Components

Sheet vinyl is composed of 3 components, felt paper for the bottom, a layer of vinyl foam in the middle and a protective layer of vinyl on the top. To provide texture an inhibitor is applied to prevent expansion in selected areas.

How Sheet Vinyl is Made, the Production Process

In brief, the following is how sheet vinyl is made:

The raw materials used in the production of sheet vinyl floor covering include polyvinyl chloride resins PVC to which is added white pigments and calcium carbonate which is both a filler and assist in coloring the mixture white. Plasticizers are added for flexibility along with fungicide to prevent mold growth and uv stabilizer to prevent fading. Additionally, a blowing agent is added though it is not activated until later in the manufacturing process when it is time to inflate the foam.
The liquid mixture is applied to a paper backing of felt or a paper that is made from wood pulp and calcium carbonate. The coated paper is fed through an oven which gels the vinyl foam. The backing High-gloss surface vinyl sheets or vinyl tiles have an additional polyurethane coating applied at the end of the process. To provide texture an inhibitor is applied to prevent expansion in selected areas.
The flooring design which is created by printer is pressed directly onto the gelled foam creating a decorative pattern.
The top or wear layer of plasticizers is applied and sent through the oven at a higher temperature and the blowing agent is activated at this time by heat.
Texture is created through a process known as chemical embossing where chemical inhibitors are added to selected color resulting in these areas remaining flat.
For a sharper appearance the texture can be enhanced by mechanical embossing where an engraved roller prints the texture onto the surface.
The mate or high-gloss level will vary with the chemical composition of the wear layer.
Inspection takes place during manufacturing and at the end of the production line.

Luxury Vinyl Tile Flooring

Luxury vinyl tile flooring an increasingly popular product and yet it does not have an established definition. We hear LVT, LVP and LVS among other acronyms. The acronym LVT is the most popular of the terms and used to identify “luxury vinyl tile flooring.”

Luxury Vinyl Tile Advantages

Luxury vinyl tile advantages have increased so rapidly that it has become difficult to keep up with the almost daily changes and innovations. During the 2oth century, vinyl flooring was thought to be the kitchen, bath room and industrial replacement for linoleum. Sheet vinyl and tiles offered style and colors never before seen in resilient floor coverings. During the 21st century luxury vinyl tile became the new kid on the block and with it came many advantages never before seen in the flooring industry.

Bamboo Flooring Performance

Bamboo flooring performance is much like that of a hardwood floor. Like wood, bamboo flooring performance will not be the same with every installation. You could install the same product from the same shipment in two houses sitting side-by-side with different performance results. Bamboo flooring performance is based on many factors from the product to installation, site related and maintenance related conditions.

Water Damaged Vinyl Flooring

Water damaged vinyl flooring is often unexpected. In an area such as a kitchen or bathroom, sheet vinyl flooring and water are generally a good match. A recent claimant on a floor covering inspection told me they understood that they could chalk one more problem off their lists and install sheet vinyl instead of laminate over their newly poured concrete. The result was water damaged vinyl flooring. So was this a manufacturing problem?

Wood Flooring Problems Moisture Related

Wood flooring problems are usually unexpected and most often preventable. Wood flooring is the real thing, unlike laminate which is a photograph of wood. Being a product of nature there will be occasional wood flooring problems. Wood flooring problems will usually be prevented through proper milling, installation and care once it has been installed. The information in this article also pertains to bamboo flooring.