Solid Wood Flooring vs. Engineered Wood Flooring

Woods floors are known for their coziness and their attractiveness, so when you first consider installing a hardwood floor, you think of the stain color, wood type and design. However, there is more to a wood floor than what you see on its surface. If you are installing a new wood floor in your Maryland (MD), Washington, DC or Virginia (VA) home, then one thing you must consider is whether you want to install a solid or engineered wood floor.

Solid Wood Flooring

Solid wood flooring usually comes in wood pieces that can be anywhere between 5/16″ thick to 3/4″ thick of solid wood. Due to its thickness, solid wood flooring can be sanded and refinished multiple times, allowing solid wood floors to look nice and smooth for decades. In fact, many solid wood floors can last for over 50 years!

Since solid wood flooring consists of single slabs of wood, solid wood flooring is more likely to shrink, expand and warp than engineered wood floors. As a result, many hardwood floor installers leave an expansion gap between the solid wood floor and the wall, allowing room for any wood floor growth and preventing the wood floor from bending and cracking.

Engineered Wood Flooring

Unlike solid wood flooring, engineered wood flooring contains wood pieces that consist of 3-10 thin layers of wood. Each wood layer is placed in a different direction and is bonded together using heat and pressure to create a very strong and durable piece of wood, preventing the wood floor from warping in high moisture and high humidity environments.

Things to Consider Before Installing a Solid or Engineered Wood Floor

Before deciding whether to install a solid or an engineered wood floor, there are several things you must consider:

1. Location

Solid wood flooring is not optimal for basements or sunken living rooms while engineered wood floors are very durable and can be installed anywhere in the home.

2. Subfloor

If your subfloor is made of concrete, you should install engineered wood flooring to withstand the structure of the floor.

Whether you install solid wood flooring or engineered flooring, there is no doubt you will have a beautiful hardwood floor in the end. If you live in the Maryland (MD), Washington, DC or Virginia (VA) area and are thinking about installing a wood floor, contact Elegant Floor Service and we’ll help you figure out whether a solid or an engineered wood floor is best for you!

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