8 Reasons Engineered Wood Flooring is Better Than Solid Wood Flooring

Sometimes, the difference between a quality engineered wood flooring and a full solid wood flooring is often been confused. Solid wood and engineered wood flooring, though both are made of real wood, have pretty much different nature and strengths. 

In fact, the benefits of engineered wood flooring outweighs that of solid wood whether in product quality or installation; here the 8 reasons why.

1) Installation Time

As engineered wood flooring is already a finished product, it requires a much shorter time than solid wood flooring during installation. This is because engineered wood planks were already coated with finishes and structurally constructed at the factory. While solid wood flooring need to be finished onsite, that means after the solid wood flooring has been laid on the subfloor. There will need time for the wood coating to be done onsite. This is therefore one reason why solid wood is relatively more expensive than engineered wood as it requires more manpower, time and resources to install a site.

2) Dimensional Stability

The good quality engineered wood flooring is often tested and proven to have high level of dimensional stability as compared to a full solid wood. Hence, literally, engineered wood flooring is more 'solid' than solid wood planks. High dimensional stability also means that the engineered wood flooring is more stable in terms of expanding and contracting due to changes in temperature. 

3) Plank Sizes 

Engineered wood flooring has wider plank sizes as compare to solid wood flooring which is usually thinner in sizes. The wider plank format hence explains the higher dimensional stability of quality engineered wood flooring. What it means to the home owners is that they can have different variation of wood planks and patterns if engineered wood flooring is used instead.

4) Varnishing Allowance

Both engineered wood flooring and solid wood flooring can be re-sanded and re-varnished into a fresh new piece of flooring. Some home owners may have the misconception that a solid wood flooring can be re-sanded and re-varnished much more times than engineered wood flooring due to its full thickness. However, though engineered wood flooring is made up of layers of wood, the wear thickness are more uniform than that of a solid wood. What it means is that, the number of times of re-sanding and re-varnishing between an engineered wood and a solid wood is rather similar. 

5) Variety of Wood Species

In the past, when it comes to choose the design and species for solid wood flooring, home owners in Singapore are often faced with limited designs. It is usually either oak, teak or occasionally walnut. This is because other species of wood may not be recommended for the particular country. However, today with the advancement of engineered wood flooring, home owners has a variety of wood species to choose from. They can choose from many species such as walnut, teak, oak, maple, cherry, jatoba, ash, and many others. This is because the structure of engineered wood flooring remains; this structure is the core of the flooring that ensures stability of the entire flooring while the wood species design is only the top layer.

6) Manufacturer's Guarantee

As engineered wood flooring is a finished product produced by credible manufacturers around the world. There is usually warranty on the product's structural integrity and delamination, strongly backed by the manufacturers. Therefore, home owners may need to find credible engineered wood flooring contractors with good recommended manufacturers for the products. On the other hand, a full solid wood flooring which is "raw-ly" finished onsite, there is usually no manufacturer's guarantee for it. Therefore, home owners have a worry free peace of mind installing engineered wood flooring at their premises as compared to the raw solid wood flooring.

7) Adjusting to Tropical Climate

Good quality engineered wood flooring are manufactured with relevance to the consumer's country climate. For tropical countries such as Singapore or Malaysia where humidity level is high, engineered wood flooring with hevea (rubber wood) as the core layer is usually been recommended. This is because hevea is highly stable when it comes to temperature changes in the tropical climate. On the other hand, solid wood may expand and contract widely due to changes in climatic temperatures, thus leaving gaps between its strips on the surfaces.

8) Cost Effectiveness and Green Effect

In terms of costing, good quality engineered wood flooring is therefore more cost effective as compare to solid wood planks. Therefore, home owners can enjoy the luxury of real wood flooring without spending too much on the miscellaneous charges. Moreover, credible engineered wood flooring manufacturers usually produced their flooring in a forest responsible manner. Hence, home owners also get to involve in helping global sustainability a little by installing engineered wood.

To end, engineered wood flooring is therefore one of the most desired wood flooring products home owners can look forward to in today's age!