Engineered vs Traditional Hardwood Flooring

The battle between solid oak flooring and engineered oak flooring is not new; in fact, it has been going in the minds of home owners since eternity. When it comes to choosing the right fit for one’s home, people tend to take a lot of factors into consideration, in order to understand the best possible option for flooring.

Composition:

Engineered oak flooring:

• Engineered wooden flooring is made from thin layers of hardwood, which are stuck on top of other wooden pieces. These are also known as ply layers. It has a solid core, and can be installed at sub-levels, and on top of concrete floors as well.

Solid oak flooring:

• Solid oak flooring is just as the name sounds – it is solid wood through and through. Just imagine a piece of pure wood, which has been drawn into planks, for flooring purposes.

Plank sizes:

Engineered oak flooring:

• Engineered wooden flooring has a more stable substrate, due to which each plank is wider and longer than its counterpart. For this very reason, this type of flooring is preferred in open spaces, as even a small plank will look quite spacious in such areas.

Solid oak flooring:

• Solid oak flooring has narrower planks, since they are cut and drafted directly out of wooden trunks, which means their sizes can’t be adjusted, length or width wise.

Installation:

Engineered oak flooring:

• These wooden planks are pre-finished, and come with multiple installation options, which include the likes of nailing, gluing and floating.

Solid oak flooring:

• Solid oak flooring is ideally finished on site and usually takes a few days for installation.  This involves a number of procedures like staining, protecting and then finally installing. Post installation, one has to be very carful with the newly installed planks, to ensure you don’t end up spoiling the planks with over exertion.

In the comparison between solid oak flooring and engineered oak flooring, there are no clear winners. Each option is best used in a set of circumstances, which make them an ideal flooring option for different types of rooms. For example, rooms with high moisture levels like the basement, kitchen and bathrooms would do well with engineered oak flooring. On the contrary, bedrooms and other rooms of the house might find solid wooden flooring a better option. Either way, the idea is to choose the right fit, and take a decision accordingly.