Solid Wood Flooring
Solid wood flooring comes in three main types. Each type is available in both an unfinished and a pre-finished version. Unfinished flooring must be job-site sanded and finished after installation. Pre-finished flooring is sanded and finished at the factory -- so it only needs installation. The three main types of solid wood flooring are:
Engineered Flooring
Engineered wood flooring should not be confused with laminate wood flooring. Engineered flooring is produced by adhering layers of plastic laminate veneer with real wood. The main difference between this type of wood and laminate flooring is that laminate flooring contains no actual wood.
Engineered wood is real wood, but instead of one solid piece it consists of three to 10 thin layers of wood, called plies, that are assembled and glued in a cross-ply construction. The top layer of wood can range from 1/16" to 1/6" thick. Overall board thickness ranges from 1/4" to 3/4". Due to its multi-ply structure, engineered wood is much more stable than solid wood and is less susceptible to shrinking and expanding with changes in temperatures and humidity.
Laminate Flooring
Laminate flooring is typically constructed with a high-density fiberboard core, sandwiched between a melamine laminate backing, high-quality photographic paper with an image of wood, stone or other natural flooring, and a melamine laminate top. There are a few new hybrid products that replace the photographic paper with a very thin slice of real wood veneer.
There are benefits and drawbacks to both hardwoods and laminate flooring. Hardwood floors can be scratched, but scratches are pretty easy to repair. If a laminate floor is scratched or tears, it is not very easily repaired. Where a hardwood floor can be sanded to remove imperfections, the same is not true with laminate floors. Laminate flooring companies do make touch-up and chip repair kits as well as offer plank replacement. With hardwoods, though, a simple light sanding may do the trick. If you have pets or foresee a lot of scratching and scuffing in your floor's future, hardwoods may be a better option than laminate.
One of the benefits of laminate over hardwoods is that laminate flooring does not yellow or fade from sunlight or other elements. Most stained wood floors will change color over time. Unlike laminates, though, wood floors can always be restored to their original beauty. On the other hand, laminate floors never need wax or polish. Both hardwood floors and laminates can be affected by excessive moisture, but it is only laminate flooring that can really hold up to being put in a kitchen or bathroom. Rooms that get a lot of moisture are not ideal for hardwoods. Finally, a special padding is required under laminate floors to reduce the floor's potential for noise.
Prefinished
A pre-finish, or factory finish, creates a no muss, no fuss installation. There's no dust from sanding, no fumes from chemicals, no waiting for the finish to dry. These floors are warranted to last longer than site-finished floors – typically 15 to 25 years, versus three to five years. This is because factory applied urethane finishes are much tougher and longer lasting than site-applied finishes.
With all the color choices available in pre-finished hardwood flooring, there's no need to custom stain site-finished floors to get just the right look for your home.
Site-Finished
Advocates of site-finishing like the fact that the floor can be sanded after it's installed to even out any imperfections. Site finishing also gives you the widest selection of stain colors to choose from. However, on-site sanding and finishing can produce heavy fumes, messy dust and significant waiting time from when the floor is laid until it can be enjoyed. In addition, labor costs for on-site finishing may drive up your installation costs.
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