Engineered or Non-engineered Hardwood Flooring
When you are deciding what to do with your hardwood flooring, knowing the pros and cons of engineered or non-engineered hardwood flooring will help you make your decision. Price, availability, placement and ease of care are the big factors in deciding which flooring material is best for you. There can be some environmental issues that come into play as well.
People love the look of wood floors. Nothing else quite warms up a home or makes a home feel inviting like wood flooring does. That's one reason so many people choose the look of wood flooring for their homes. There are many options for people who want wood, but the two categories that we are going to concentrate on for this article is engineered or non-engineered hardwood flooring. These two categories both give you the look of wood, but they each have different pros and cons, which makes them different.
To decide between engineered or non-engineered hardwood flooring for your home, you must first become more knowledgeable about these two categories of wood flooring. Engineered hardwood flooring is flooring that has the look of hardwood, but it not composed entirely of hardwood. The top layer is hardwood, but it is made stronger by using different layers of plywood or other inexpensive wood that are glued together in the center.
It has the natural characteristics of the real hardwood, but it is much stronger and more durable than hardwood flooring and it is also less expensive, all because of the use of scrap wood below the surface. It can also be installed in just about any location in your home, including moisture-prone areas. A draw-back to engineered hardwood flooring is that the number of times it can be sanded and finished are more limited because the hardwood veneer is less than solid wood.
Non-engineered hardwood flooring is wood flooring that is composed entirely of hardwood. It is a solid piece of hardwood and it is generally installed using the tongue and groove method of installation. The benefits of non-engineered hardwood flooring include being able to sand and refinish it with few problems. Some of the things that people do not like about non-engineered hardwood flooring are the price and the fact that it cannot be installed in some moisture-prone areas. But the price tends to be better for engineered hardwood planks than non-engineered hardwood planks.
Engineered or non-engineered hardwood flooring is easy to install and can even be installed by a do-it-yourselfer. This is good news to homeowners who enjoy being able to remodel their homes on their own and it can save money when you can complete a project on your own. Most of these flooring choices are available in easy to install tongue and groove planks, which means that you do not have to use glue or nails to affix it to the floor, though you can. The planks simply need to be installed over a moisture barrier to minimize the damage from outside moisture sources. Unattached flooring planks are called floating floor.
The choices of wood that is available in engineered or non-engineered hardwood flooring will overwhelm you. From the well-known woods like pine and maple to the more exotic woods like bamboo and Honduran rosewood, you will find a wood flooring that meets both your personal desires and your aesthetic needs for your particular room. This helps you to find an engineered or non-engineered hardwood flooring that you suits you best in budget, look ad longevity.
Environmental concerns may also play into your choice between engineered and non-engineered hardwood flooring. One environmental issue that may play a role in your decision is that engineered hardwood flooring tends to be more environmentally sensitive because wood scraps are used in the manufacture of the planks, meaning that more of the tree can be used to make the flooring pieces. Another issue might be air quality. Be careful of what products are used to bind the subsurface wood bits so you don't pollute your air with VOCs (volatile organic compounds) that will seep from some engineered wood for years.
Evaluating your budget and your needs will help you determine whether engineered or non-engineered hardwood flooring is right for you. You can find a hardwood species that you enjoy the look of in either category of flooring. Before you know it, you will be enjoying that wood flooring in your room.
This is just the information I was looking for! thank you - my question is answered.
Phyllis Harb at April 8, 2008 2:36 PMThank You so much.
Richard at November 2, 2008 12:26 PMYou're most welcome! :~)
The Flooring Lady at November 2, 2008 2:00 PMHi,
claudia at November 4, 2008 9:57 AMI am trying to decide on unfinished walnut 5" planks vs. hichory 5". I love the look of walnut being elegant and having grains. I am not sure about Hickory. Can a hickory be stained to have a color of a natural walnut? I want to create an elegant opaque white kitchen feel for my home and to have a warm brown wood flooring (not yellow or orangey tone). I read your comments about walnut being soft and hickory being durable in the kitchen. Will I be able to achieve the color tone of a walnut with a hickory floor? I hope i make sense. Thank you.
While hickory can be rather dark, it still has a golden undertone to it. You won't be able to get a true dark walnut color because the warm undertones will still come thru.
Hickory is harder than Black Walnut, but if you can find Brazilian Walnut, that's about the hardest flooring material you can get. To help you get a better idea of different species of wood, here is a clickable link for the Janka Scale. On that page, you can click on a species name and it will take you to a page where you can learn more about it.
Oh, and yes - you made perfect sense!
The Flooring Lady at November 4, 2008 4:51 PMthanks for the info! We are looking to get some engineered wood for our place, but I am concerned about the VOCs you mentioned. What products are okay to use, and which ones should I avoid? I have a son with health issues, so I try to stay away from as many environmental toxins as possible!
caitlin at December 9, 2008 7:46 PMThe best thing to do (and it's easy!) is to check the manufacturer's websites or call the manufacturer's of the flooring product(s) that you've chosen to be potentially used for your project. A great many manufacturers are also concerned about VOCs (mainly because their customers are!) and make flooring products with little or no VOCs.
The Flooring Lady at December 13, 2008 10:05 PMGreat article, just the type of info I was looking for on whether to go with engineered or non-engineered...just in case you were wondering...engineered sounds like the best all around deal for me. Thanks for the help.
Omegatony at July 5, 2009 4:42 PMMY HUSBAND AND I ARE BUILDING A HOUSE. WE LOVE HARDWOOD FLOORS, BUT NOT THE LOOK OF WOOD GRAIN. WHAT WOULD BE A GOOD CHOICE FOR US? PLEASE KEEP BUDGET IN MIND. THANK YOU.
AMANDA B. at August 13, 2009 5:42 PMAMANDA
Amanda,
The Flooring Lady at August 14, 2009 9:59 AMWere you looking for a wood with a minimal grain look? I would suggest going through home interior books and also searching google images to find the type of flooring that will suit your tastes and your budget.
I have allergies to numerous trees and grass and have been taking allergy shots for this plus other allergies. Have i made a big mistake this past year and a half by getting engineered wood throughout my house?
Irene at August 18, 2009 8:12 AMWe have spent a high price to install it in our entire house, i don't understand my reading people getting engineered wood because it is less expensive, that is not true in my case, and i did research on prices on both before i made my decision.
Irene,
I would consult your physician with your health concerns.
The Flooring Lady at August 18, 2009 9:45 AMIs it possible to put a polyurethane coating on laminate floors, or does the floors need to be wood? I had an 1100 sq. ft. living room with pergo laminate floors, which scratched after 5 years of use, in another house. Thanks, Ed
Ed Moulder at September 19, 2009 11:47 AMEd,
I would check with the manufacturer of the laminate flooring to check on covering with polyurethane.
Also, keep in mind that oil-based poly yellows with age, and it's *really* bad for the environment and indoor air quality, which means it's bad for the people who breathe that air. An alternative is Diamond Coat Varathane Polyurethane
The Flooring Lady at September 22, 2009 7:43 AMI have two dogs, a yorkie and a golden retriever that play a lot in the area I want to put the engirneered wood. Is that a bad investment for the damage their nails could cause, or is it durable enough?
Heidi R at October 9, 2009 6:53 AMHeidi,
The engineered wood floors are more durable than hardwood floors. But, I think this really depends on a lot on your circumstances. Are the dogs damaging the floors you have now? Would they damage an engineered wood floor worse than a carpet? This is really a personal choice, since it is possible that they "could" damage whatever flooring option you choose.
The Flooring Lady at October 13, 2009 10:03 AM