Composition
Solid Wood Flooring
Solid Wood Flooring is made from solid lumber. It is available in unfinished and prefinished. Solid wood flooring comes in thicknesses ½” or ¾” and widths of 1 ½” and up.
Most solid wood flooring can only be installed over a wood subfloor and cannot be installed below grade, such as in basements.
On a side note, a common misconception we run into is that with a ¾” solid wood floor product you have a full ¾” wear layer. This, however, is not the case. You cannot sand down to the tongue and groove. Roughly only the first 3/16” to ¼” is your wear layer.
Engineered Wood Flooring
Engineered Wood Flooring is made by bonding sub layers of lumber, generally 7 to 11 layers, with a hardwood veneer on top. Engineered wood flooring comes in ½”, 5/8” and ¾” thicknesses with widths of 2 ¼” up to 10”. Our modern day engineered flooring comes with a variety of wear layer options, which means that you can now get an engineered product with the same wear layer as a traditional ¾” solid wood floor.
Engineered wood flooring can be installed above grade and below grade, such as in basements. It can also be installed over a variety of sub –floors, including concrete.
Due to the construction of engineered wood flooring it generally moves half as much as a traditional ¾” solid wood floor. This makes it a great option for our NW climate. It also performs beautifully over radiant heating systems.