Why Invest in Engineered Wood Flooring
Wood is a popular flooring option for all areas of the home, ideal for bringing a sense of nature indoors and a versatile choice that combines brilliantly with virtually any colour scheme and a range of other materials.
Engineered Wood Flooring
Wood flooring can be chosen in a range of shades to suit the size of the space and the overall colour scheme and can be laid in a varied array of patterns, from block to parquet, which coupled with its distinctive graining enables a very individual look to be created.
Whether chosen for an entrance hallway or living space, wood flooring adds a sense of character to a room, makes a striking impression and can also add a great deal of warmth and a welcoming atmosphere.
Visual advantages aside, wood flooring works on a practical level too, with spillages easily wiped up and muddy footprints mopped away with little effort, making this a popular flooring option for the family home and particular those high traffic areas such as hallways, living rooms and playrooms.
Types of wood flooring
For domestic interior design use there are three wood flooring types to choose from; laminate, solid wood and engineered wood.
A lot of homeowners opt for laminate wood flooring when decorating on a budget. Often the most inexpensive option in terms of the initial outlay, laminate flooring is a compressed fibreboard plank, which is then covered with a photographic image of wood with a protective overlay.
Practical and relatively inexpensive, laminate can risk looking unrealistic and is prone to warping and swelling, making it unsuitable for wet and humid areas of the home, such as the kitchen and bathroom.
A quality engineered wood floor should last for up to 75 years, whereas laminate may only last for around 20 years. In the longer term, therefore, opting for real wood flooring is a wiser investment.
Solid wood flooring is made from a single piece of wood, usually between 18mm and 20mm thick and fitted using tongue-and-groove.
Solid wood flooring can be sanded and refinished overtime to restore it to its former glory, although it can become dented, worn or damaged due to everyday wear and tear, depending on the thickness of the wood, and is not always simple to repair.
Historically, solid flooring has been the primary choice for interiors use, but this option is not suitable for environments with high humidity and can’t be used with underfloor heating. Needing to be screwed or nailed to the subfloor, solid flooring can also prove tricky and time-consuming to fit, all of which needs to be considered when deciding on which type of flooring is most suitable for your home.
Benefits of engineered wood flooring
Last but by no means least is engineered wood flooring. An engineered board has up to 11 layers of plywood backing, with each layer glued at a 90-degree angle to the adjoining layer.
The surface layer of a precious hardwood is then glued on top, resulting in a much more stable floor with a robust construction, which can be used with underfloor heating too. This means that not only will your flooring be beautiful to look at, it will be beautifully warm to walk on throughout the seasons.
The advantages of engineered wood flooring are numerous in terms of installation, and for aesthetics too, with engineered wood flooring being available in a wide choice of colours and styles making this a really versatile and practical option that has led to a rise in popularity of this beautiful flooring type.
Engineered wood flooring boards can be fitted in most rooms in the house, including wet and humid areas such as the kitchen and bathroom, without fear of the boards warping or swelling out of shape over time. Living Room Flooring is changing from carpet to wood flooring and it is definitely a trend worth jumping on.
This type of flooring can be floated or fixed to most types of subfloor together with an underlay too, which is good news for the acoustics of your property, with sound muffled between floors should you wish to lay engineered wood flooring in upstairs bedrooms, for example.
Looking after engineered wood flooring
Once laid, keeping wood flooring looking as good as new is straightforward, with minimal maintenance required overall, although just how much maintenance is required will depend on the finish you choose.
A combination of dry cleaning to remove dirt and dust particles and damp cleaning to protect it against scratches is really all that is needed for a lacquered floor, with the occasional refreshing of the finish with a gloss polish completely revitalising it. If the floor has an oiled finish it should be vacuumed or brushed daily and washed weekly.
There is no doubt that a real wood flooring adds beauty to any home, whether used to create a welcoming entranceway, to add warmth and an ambient atmosphere to a large, open-plan kitchen living area or to give a luxurious finish to your bathroom.