Wondering what are the advantages and disadvantages of engineered wood flooring?
Engineered hardwood is quite a popular flooring option these days because of its durability. The main advantage of wooden flooring is they are long-lasting as a result of which, after installing wooden floors, you don’t have to spend dollars frequently for restoring it or replacing it.
However, as a buyer, you need to know the types, definitions, comparison advantages and disadvantages of engineered hardwood flooring.
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How Do You Define Engineered Wood Floors?
Engineered hardwood is a flooring material that includes multiple plies. The three-play construction used in engineered hardwood flooring is meant for ensuring the structural stability of your wooden floors.
The word ‘engineered’ is used to define a particular variety of flooring materials designed to give an aesthetic look to your hardwood floors.
According to some of the leading flooring specialists, only the HDF core engineered wooden flooring is made up of composite lumber components.
The main difference between engineered wood and laminate flooring is the decorative layer used in it. The laminate flooring uses a printed version of the engineered wooden floors.
Whereas the engineered wood floors include the actual wooden layer. Moreover, the core layer of wooden floors used for making a base layer is strong and durable.
A durable, strong layer of the engineered hardwood ensures more stability over solid wood under various conditions for fighting heat and moisture.
What Are the Types Of Engineered Wood Floors?
There are various types of engineered hardwood flooring. The types of engineered hardwood flooring have been shared below.
Multi-Ply Engineered Wood
The multi-ply engineered wood is a good choice for redefining the existing flooring pattern of your house. The multi-layered design helps you to prevent over-expansion of the wood boards.
That eventually lets you check hardwood flooring-related damage to your existing flooring for years. If you are willing to install engineered hardwood flooring in your house, it is advisable to opt for multi-ply layered engineered wood.
This will eventually help you to avoid recurring expenses to rectify your engineered wooden floors for the next few years.
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Three-Ply Engineered Wood
The three-ply engineered wood ensures resistance to avoid over-expansion. This particular variety of hardwood engineered ply is used to clutch the joists of the subfloor intact with the supporting columns of your wooden floors.
However, if you are planning to install a wooden floor that can joist the short span between the supporting columns of your floor with your subfloor, it is wise to prefer a multi-ply engineered wooden structure.
According to some of the leading flooring renovation experts, multi-ply engineered wood is a good choice over three-ply engineered wooden structures for ensuring longevity to your wooden flooring structure for years.
High-Density Fiberboard Core Engineered Flooring
High-Density Fiberboard (HDF) core engineered flooring- is one of the most popular varieties of engineered wooden flooring material. It is used in place of plywood.
This particular variety of plywood ensures strength, stability, and moisture. The highly resistant nature of those HDF core engineered flooring is always considered a wise option.
It combines recycled hardwood and resin, which lasts for a long. The hard solid mixture protects your engineered hardwood structure for a long time.
The core engineered flooring used in HDF fiberboard is a wise option to prevent your hardwood engineered flooring free from flooring-related problems in the long run.
Before choosing any of these hardwood engineered floors for redefining the existing flooring of your house, it is advisable to spend some time deciding which one of those suits your subfloor.
That’s because the compatibility of your subfloor with the chosen engineered hardwood floor is an important factor that must not be overlooked.
If the chosen hardwood engineered floor is compatible with the subflooring of your house, then only you should prefer choosing the respective hardwood floor type.
According to the leading interior flooring renovation service providers, there are numerous advantages of installing engineered wood floors.
Some of those advantages of installing engineered hardwood floors have been shared below.
Advantages Of Engineered Wood Flooring
Cost-Effective
One of the major advantages of engineered wood floors is they are extremely cost-effective. It’s one of the main reasons why a significant number of buyers keep in on top of their preferences while selecting the right flooring type in their house.
Solid wood floors can be costly at times, whereas engineered floors are not that costly. It is one of the reasons for maximum flooring renovation service seekers to prefer engineered wood floors for their house.
Right from the material to the labor cost, engineered hardwood floors are pretty cheap. The best part is if you are confident with your DIY flooring renovation skill, you can install engineered wood floors in your house too.
There are plenty of DIY videos available on YouTube. Those can be a good guideline for helping you to install those floors in your house.
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Resists Temperature And Moisture
One of the most excellent benefits of engineered wood is they are pretty resistant to temperature and moisture. Engineered wooden floors have proved to be much more effective than solid wood floors for resisting temperature and moisture.
Though you might have to face warping issues with your wooden floors, they are not as severe as wooden floors. That’s another benefit of choosing hardwood engineered wooden floors.
The chances of expansion and contraction in your engineered wooden floors are pretty less in comparison to the solid floors. That’s another reason to prefer wooden flooring rather than engineered hardwood floors.
Known For Their DIY Friendly Nature
It is believed that engineered woods are much more DIY-friendly than solid woods. Even if you are planning to remove your old existing flooring option, you can remove those and think of installing the hardwood flooring planks on your subfloor.
All you might need is a good quality adhesive that glues down your wooden floor with your existing subfloor option. If you are a first-timer, you can consult multiple DIY short videos available on the internet to install hardwood engineered floors.
So, if you are planning to install engineered hardwood floors, you should consider all of these advantages along with a few disadvantages of these particular types of flooring.
That’s because, if you are considering advantages, you should also consider the disadvantages too. Then only will you be able to decide whether the engineered hardwood floors are the right element for installing upon your subfloor surfaces or not?
Some of those disadvantages associated with an engineered wooden flooring has been shared below,
Disadvantages Of Engineered Wood Flooring
There’s A Chance For The Wooden Color To Fade Away
Hardwood floors are pretty prone to fade away after remaining exposed to sunlight. The wooden color of your engineered floor may get damaged after a certain point in time.
To avoid such damage caused to your hardwood engineered flooring, you must drape or shadow the areas with the blinds while trying to protect engineered hardwood from exposure to direct sunlight.
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Can Be Resurfaced For Limited Times Only
It is essential to consider that hardwood engineered floors can be sanded and refinished for limited times only. After that resurfacing, it might be a problem.
However, the option for resurfacing your floor depends upon the quality of the veneer layer. A ⅙ inches veneer layer can be resurfaced only for a limited time. If you are willing to install engineered wood flooring, it is important to consider this particular factor as well.
Expensive Maintenance Cost
The maintenance cost of the hardwood flooring can be a significant challenge for you if you are installing one such wooden floor in your house. In order to retain its quality, you should prefer a solid wooden floor.
Fading, scratches, and dents are the common issues with engineered wood. For removing those scratches and stain marks, you might have to incur a wave of expense. Now that’s one of the severe disadvantages of using hardwood floors.
However, if you want to retain the longevity of hardwood engineered flooring, it is important to take adequate precautions for protecting your hardwood engineered floors.
The Quality Of The Core Construction Is Not Very Reliable
The quality of the core construction of the engineered wood is not a very reliable one. However, the quality of the core construction quality of the flooring varies from one another.
Before preferring hardwood, you need first to consider the core construction flooring type’s variety. If the quality of the hardwood core construction layer is not a very reliable one, the hardwood floor might lead to temperature fluctuations.
That’s another disadvantage of choosing core construction for your engineered hardwood flooring.
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Installation Costs Can Be Higher
The installation cost of engineered hardwood floors is higher in comparison to other types of flooring. The other alternative flooring options like linoleum, vinyl plank, and engineered hardwood flooring are pretty expensive.
The per square foot price of engineered hardwood floors varies between 4-7 dollars. However, the price varies from the manufacturing brands of the engineered hardwood floors.
That’s another reason for which you should consider the installation cost while installing engineered hardwood floors for yourself.
Not Suitable For Resisting Rigorous Wear And Tear
It’s important for you to know that engineered hardwood is not at all suitable for resisting wear and tear. They are known for their poor wear resistance capacity.
The thin veneers, which are less than 3/16th of an inch in thickness, can’t be sanded and refinished. If the floor is damaged anyhow due to normal wear and tear, the only option to remove the problem is to re-fix it. If you are dealing with hazy hardwood flooring then you can read our guide on it.
Which might be a costly deal ahead. That’s why engineered wooden floors may not be a wise option for your existing subfloor if you are looking ahead to a sturdy and durable material for your subfloor.
Might Not Be 100% Free From Toxic Chemicals
The presence of toxic chemicals can’t be denied in engineered hardwood floors. The presence of toxic chemicals like formaldehyde and VOC cannot be overlooked in engineered hardwood flooring.
The presence of such chemical composition might be a trouble for those with bronchial issues like asthma. Those VOC elements may compromise the health safety issue of the residents of the house. Such health-related hazards are another factor for which it is wise to avoid hardwood engineered floors.
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Solid Hardwood Vs. Engineered Hardwood: Which One Sounds Better?
Well, it depends upon your choice. If you are willing to restore your floors’ original appearance and look every time post prolonged wear, solid hardwood should be your first preference.
Whereas engineered hardwood floors should be your choice if you are not ready to spend that much time, energy, and effort to restore it after a span of every 4-5 years.
The second one is of a bit thinner quality. This particular type of flooring can be sanded not more than thrice. Another factor is solid hardwood is structurally stronger than engineered hardwood.
Engineered hardwood boasts a layered structure. This somehow reduces the structural strength of this variety of hardwood floors.
It is indeed undeniable that solid hardwood has multiple benefits. However, the advantages of engineered hardwood are not free from the benefits too.
A thinner design ensures floor-to-ceiling height when it comes to hardwood flooring. That particular height is being maintained to ensure additional space after installing engineered hardwood floors.
Apart from that, it has also been seen that engineered hardwood is also responsible for bowing and expansion in comparison to solid hardwood.
Is It True That Engineered Wood Looks Cheap?
Well, there is a two-way answer for it. If you are buying engineered wood of cheap quality, you definitely can’t expect a premium quality version.
The core material quality won’t be too good as usual, as you have to compromise with it. This will definitely ensure that the material looks cheaper.
Top-quality engineered hardwood flooring costs no less than solid hardwood floors. If you are buying a branded quality material, the cost of the engineered hardwood price might exceed the price of a solid hardwood engineering floor.
If you are looking ahead to differentiate the solid hardwood floors from a good-quality engineered hardwood floor, the outer layer of the engineered wood must be considered.
Then only you will realize the difference between the outer layer of engineered wood and other wood varieties made of natural wood.
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Final Verdict
If you are looking ahead to installing solid hardwood flooring, you should be ready to accept both advantages and disadvantages of engineered wood flooring.
No matter what the quality of your wood is, if you are planning to buy a costly one, you should have proper maintenance plans to retain its beauty and glory of it.
Whereas, if you are willing to install engineered wooden floors, at first, you should consider all of these advantages and disadvantages of engineered wood flooring.
This will enable you to choose the right quality and variety of hardwood flooring options for your house, depending upon the available brands near you.
