The most common wooden floor types include engineered, solid, and laminate. To make a proper selection for your home, you need to understand the upsides and downsides of each to make a wise and educated decision prior to investing your time and money into the new floors. There are many factors to consider when choosing a perfect floor, so let’s dive in. 

Engineered Hardwood Flooring

 

Engineered hardwood flooring is the most popular type of hard surface flooring. There are two most commonly used engineered constructions: plywood based and layered. The quality of your floors will depend on the quality of the materials used for the construction itself; so it is important to always consider the reputation of the brand you are considering. 

 

Pros:

  1. Engineered hardwood flooring can withstand wider range of temperature and moisture fluctuations compared to solid hardwood floors.
     
  2. Engineered flooring allows for wider plank size and wider options in patterns, such as mosaics, chevrons, herringbones, tealeaf, coffee bean and other patterns. 
     
  3. Engineered construction is much more stable and does not expand/contract nearly as much as solid wood.
     
  4. Engineered hardwood floors are environmentally friendly since less valuable top layer wood is used; and other less attractive species can be used for middle and bottom layers.

Cons:

  1. Many manufacturers use cheap and water penetrable plywood for the engineered flooring construction which causes the ply layers to separate and the floor to start to squeak. 
     
  2. Low-end producers of engineered hardwood flooring often use glues which contain formaldehyde to glue the engineered construction together. These types of glues emit high levels of VOCs which have been shown to cause cancer. 
     
  3. A good engineered construction must be balanced, which means the top layer should be roughly the same thickness as the bottom layer. If the top layer is thicker, it will create tension during humidity fluctuations and the flooring will visibly cup and bow. 

Solid Hardwood Flooring
 

What do we imagine when we think of natural hardwood floors? We think of planks of wood that were processed and put as your floor without any additional ingredients. Solid hardwood flooring is flooring made of just pure hardwood. Solid hardwood flooring is the most natural type of flooring you can have, yet there are many down sides to it. Let’s take a look.  
 

Pros:

  1. Solid hardwood flooring can be sanded and refinished up to 7 times.
     
  2. It is the most natural product without any manufacturing manipulations. 

Cons:

  1. The amount of hardwood lumber that is required to produce solid hardwood flooring is significantly larger compared to engineered floors, which makes this option not environmentally friendly.
     
  2. The percentage of wastage of lumber to produce solid hardwood floors is significantly higher compared to engineered, which adds to the issue of lumber shortages. 
     
  3. The maximum recommended width of the plank for solid floors is 5 inches, anything wider will result in gapping of 5mm and wider during dry months. 
     
  4. Solid wood reacts to moisture and temperature and will form visible gaps during dry months (when the heating is on) and will bow during humid months.  

Laminate Flooring

 

Laminate flooring is not a natural wood option. It is most commonly made of wood dust mixed with glue to create the sub-layer. Top materials can vary from a vinyl print to a wooden veneer. The idea of the laminate flooring is to provide a look of real wood floor for a cheaper price. 

 

Pros:

  1. Laminate flooring is the most affordable hard surface flooring.
     
  2. Since laminate flooring often comes with a print, you can select any print you like.

Cons: 

  1. Laminate floors are very sensitive to moisture and sudden changes of temperature which can result in shrinking, warping and splitting. Once the floors are warped, you must removed the damaged planks and install new ones. 
     
  2. Glues that are used to produce the sub-layer are very strong and often contain formaldehyde. The VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) continue to come out of the flooring for its lifetime. VOCs have been shown to cause cancer. 

 

Hardwood flooring industry has been shifting towards new and environmentally friendly engineered hardwood flooring options for the last twenty years. Engineered floors have taken a leap and have practically fully pushed the solid floors from the market for many worthy reasons discussed above. Yet, when choosing the best flooring for you always consider brand reputation, its commitment to environment, and health of its users.