Engineered hardwood may be the new kid around the hardwood floors block, as they say. Both traditional and engineered wood flooring bring benefits and drawbacks, as described below. Continue reading to determine whether engineered or traditional solid lumber floors are perfect for you.
Conventional Hardwood Flooring
Solid hardwood flooring might be refinished again and again, because they are usually milled to some ¾” thickness. Traditional wooden flooring is cut by doing this so the hardwood floors can later be sanded and re-sealed. Thanks partly for this process, hardwood flooring remain beautiful and sturdy for many years – it isn’t unusual to allow them to last half a century or longer.
However, additionally there is a significant drawback to conventional wooden flooring: It’s impacted by water and temperature. Naturally, wood expands in hot/moist settings and contracts in cold/dry conditions. This involves contractors to depart small gaps round the edges of hardwood floors, in order that it can expand within the summer time. (These gaps are often hidden with baseboards.)
Additionally to potentially unsightly gaps, hardwood floors may also pose any adverse health threat otherwise correctly looked after. Water can linger in timber floors and cause mold, fungi, and mildew to develop. Furthermore these water-enthusiasts destroy wood they may also cause respiratory system illnesses including bronchial asthma and allergic reactions.
Because of the issues that traditional lumber floors have with water, you will find that they cannot be installed “below grade,” inside a basement. Likewise, most contractors won’t install lumber flooring in bathrooms or kitchens, probably the most moisture-wealthy areas in the home. Lastly, timber floors can not be built on concrete, since concrete conducts water. For those who have a concrete foundation/pad, you have to build plywood subflooring for the wood flooring to sit down on. Individuals are frequently delay by these installation limitations.
Engineered Hardwood Floors
Like plywood, engineered lumber floors are constructed with several layers of thin wood bound along with pressure, heat, and glue. Each layer faces another direction to improve strength. This construction process enables engineered hardwood to become installed nearly anywhere – including bathrooms, kitchens, and also over concrete pads – since engineered wood doesn’t expand and hire temperature as traditional hardwood flooring do. One further tantalizing possibility for where structurally stable engineered lumber flooring could be installed: more than a radiant home heating.
A drawback of engineered timber flooring is it can not be refinished frequently, as solid lumber floors can. Deep scratches and dents are not as easy to repair within an engineered wood floor, since engineered wood can not be sanded lower and resealed greater than a couple of times. This limits the sturdiness of engineered wood flooring close to twenty-5 years. Your final drawback: many engineered wood flooring have elevated edges, where interlocking planks get together. Some homeowners discover that these beveled edges create cleaning challenges.
Given these disadvantages, engineered hardwood flooring could be less attractive for potential homebuyers, who may prefer wood floors because they may be endlessly refinished. Still, because an average joe can’t separate engineered and traditional wooden flooring, the resale value for engineered wood flooring is frequently similar to those of conventional wooden flooring.
Very eco-conscious consumers typically prefer solid timber floors, because the manufacturing process for engineered lumber flooring requires using poisonous chemicals.
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