Perhaps you’ve always dreamed of having a houseful of natural hardwood floors but discovered that they are a lot more expensive than what you feel you can afford to spend. A lot of people have been going with the selection of engineered hardwood flooring, because it’s considerably less expensive, much more versatile, and has more resistance to dampness, all of which make it an excellent choice to use in almost any room where you’d like to use it.
Engineered hardwoods and natural hardwoods are made very differently. Natural engineered flooring utilizes hardwoods throughout, while just the surface of engineered oak flooring consists of real hardwood. This surface layer can be made of one of many different hardwoods including pine, oak, teak, bamboo or ash, and provides the engineered bamboo flooring with the same gorgeous, glowing look that solid hardwoods have. Since it is only a veneer which is covering a core of less expensive, renewable resource woods, you will find that engineered hardwoods are not only more affordable but also a far greener choice.
Both medium- and high-density plywood and fiberboard are most commonly used for the central core of engineered maple flooring. The quality of the laminate engineered flooring differs based not only on the type of core that is used, but also how many layers of material are in the core. In general, the majority of engineered flooring companies construct products that have three layers. Other companies, however choose to offer stronger and more durable products and may opt to use as many as five or even seven layers in developing their floating engineered flooring materials.
Although it might seem to be a given for natural hardwoods to have the ability to withstand anything that nature throws at them as well as the capability of undergoing any conditions in your household, it can’t. Actually, the natural trait of hardwoods to expand and contract to a degree where they can actually cause discount engineered flooring to warp and buckle, a serious problem can shorten the life of the floor. With engineered hardwoods you won’t have this problem. The core layers are designed to withstand the changes due to weather conditions and have the ability to expand and contract without causing any damage to the floor. Engineered hardwoods are the most popular choice for people living in areas with extreme weather conditions or for use in damp basements and bathrooms.
It’s true that natural hardwood floors are totally unsuitable for use in the moist areas in your home which include kitchens, bathrooms, and basement areas. Not to worry if you choose engineered hardwoods instead. Moisture isn’t going to harm them. Additionally, engineered floors make an excellent choice when you need cheap engineered flooring that can be installed on top of radiant heat, because it isn’t subject to shrinkage, cupping, or bucking like natural hardwoods are.
Another advantage of engineered pine flooring is that you can install it as a floating floor. This means that it can be installed over any other type of engineered wooden floors and requires no nails and adhesives to keep it in place. All you have to do is install a vapor barrier over the surface that you want to cover and then install your floor. The method used for installing it will guarantee that you’ll never have gaps between the boards.
The reason that engineered hardwoods can be installed as floating floors is because they are constructed using tongue and groove technology. If you’ve ever seen this type of cheap engineered wood flooring being installed on a home improvement show, you’ll already know how quickly and easily the flooring can be put into place. It’s possible to do the work yourself, but if you have to hire a contractor, the job will be short so that you won’t incur huge labor bills.
So what if you decide you want to change the floor or remove it to take with you when you move to another house? You’ll find that it will be just as easy to take it apart as it was to install. You can take it apart in your old home and then reinstall it in the new one. Make sure that you remove the floor before you offer the house for sale, however, because you don’t want the new owners thinking that it’s a part of the deal. A third reason you’ll like tongue-and-groove flooring is that if you happen to damage one of the boards, it won’t be a difficult job to remove the damaged plank and replace it with a new one.
Finished engineered hardwood floors will stay looking great, because they are coated with a substance that will withstand traffic and use, and even if your floor starts showing its age, you can have it refinished a few times during its lifetime. This isn’t a job for an amateur, however, so you’ll want to hire it professionally done.
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