Hardwood vs Engineered Wood Flooring
Knowing the difference between hardwood and engineered wood flooring will give you the advantage of choosing the best flooring option for you. Hardwood flooring and engineered wood flooring are two popular options when it comes to flooring. Both are made of wood. However, they have different aspects such as durability, layers, stability, the damages they can go through, etc. To choose one or the other, you must first have an idea about all these factors. Then, you should think about the place where you want the flooring done. If it is basement, hardwood flooring is the wrong choice. The reason for that is discussed in this article.
What is Hardwood Flooring?
Hardwood is a kind of wood which is taken from angiosperm trees. Usage of this wood is quite popular in flooring types that are available these days. Various colors, designs, and shapes of the hardwood flooring make it an ideal choice for decoration of floors and to add elegance to the rooms in a house. Hardwood is a naturally obtained product which is completely non-allergic and ideal for usage in homes and offices. A single layer of flooring is made from hardwood obtained from different types of trees. Floors of living rooms, dining rooms, and bedrooms are found to be using hardwood as a constituent. Though hardwood is single layer wood flooring, you cannot install it on concrete or your already existing floor like other wood flooring options. It has to be nailed down. So, you have to get professional help.
What is Engineered Wood Flooring?
Apart from hardwood flooring, another type of wood which is employed in different types of floors is engineered wood. Engineered wood is a form of real wood unlike numerous artificial types of wood used. The engineered wood flooring makes use of finish wood on top and non-finish plywood at the bottom. This makes it a completely genuine wood product which consists of 100 percent wood. This type of wood flooring makes use of plywood in it causing it to be more durable and strengthened as compared to normal wood which is used in flooring. You should know that 80 – 90 percent of the floor consists of plywood in engineered wood flooring. There are many options for installing engineered wood flooring. Thinner ones can be nailed down while thicker ones can be installed as floating floors. For floating floors, you do not have to install a sub-floor first to nail it down. If your floor is already stable and level, you can install the floating floor right on top.
What is the difference between Hardwood and Engineered Wood Flooring?
There are a number of differences between hardwood flooring and engineered wood flooring.
• The major difference between the hardwood and engineered wood flooring is that the hardwood flooring consists of a single layer of hardwood cut and placed for acting as a floor. This layer of wood is 100 percent hardwood. On the other hand, engineered wood flooring consists of layers of wood with plywood at the bottom and solid wood at the top providing maximum durability and strength.
• Hardwood flooring is harder than the engineered wood flooring, which is present in thin layers.
• Hardwood flooring is a type of wood flooring used by a number of people but, the fact that hinders its maximum usage is that, it is too costly as compared to the engineered wood flooring, which comes at lower rates.
• Hardwood flooring has a good lifetime as compared to the engineered wood flooring. Hardwood floors have a 100+ years lifetime as compared to about 25 years life of the engineered wooden floors.
• The repair and maintenance of hardwood flooring is also done much easily as compared to the engineered wood floors.
• Stability of engineered wood as compared to hardwood floors is much better. Engineered wood floor does not change its shape with external changes such as temperature or humidity. This is made possible with use of different layers of wood. On the other hand, hardwood floors are more prone to effects such as humidity and temperature due to the only layer of hardwood involved.
• Engineered hardwood is suitable to be used in basement areas due to its wide range of features while solid hardwood cannot be used in these areas of the building.
• Hardwood flooring is not at all ideal for flooring in kitchen as it cannot withstand spills or drops. Engineered Wood Flooring, comparatively, is a better choice as it does not get damaged due to such problems.
• Hardwood flooring can be re-sanded numerous times. You can re-sand engineered wood flooring only once or twice. That is because its top layer is very thin.
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