ENGINEERED OPTIONS

July 21st, 2007

By Michael Purser
Rosebud Co.

Engineered wood flooring is the hottest and fastest growing segment of the wood flooring industry. Formerly called “prefinished�, this rapidly expanding selection is not only large, it can be confusing and intimidating to wade into if you don’t know what to look for. Let me highlight a few differences, point out some of the pluses/minuses and give you a sense of direction before you head into a showroom.

Categories

Engineered wood floors usually come in three varieties; solid, veneer and laminate. The solid is just that; a solid piece that has all the stain and/or finish already applied to the surface. The veneer is a thin layer (from 1/32nd of an inch all the way to 3/8 of an inch) of any one of a variety of species of wood that is over a plywood-like surface. The plywood-like surface is called the “core� and has layers of alternating direction plys that give the whole piece very good stability in terms of warping, shrinking or expanding. Laminated products are typically a photographic reproduction of wood on a high density fiber (HDF) backing. It will have the thinnest wear layer of the three categories.

Pluses

There are a multitude of pluses with engineered flooring. First and foremost is that the majority only require installation. There is no sanding or finishing involved. This eliminates the time needed to install a regular wood floor, sand and finish it and then have the coatings dry and cure. It also eliminates the collateral side effects; most notably the dust and vapors of the sanding and the finish.

Another big bonus is that products mounted on the plywood like “core� have far more stability than a solid piece of flooring material. This enhanced stability means that the wood if far less likely to expand and contract resulting in warping, cracking, splitting, cupping or buckling of the product. This would be a prime consideration where there was any moisture or heat related issue that might affect the wood. Basements, concrete slabs, kitchens and radiant heating are just a few instances where the directional stability of the wood will be critical over extended periods of time. You should also be mindful of homes that are occupied seasonally (vacation homes, second homes) as the interior environment might not be as stable as it should be.

Another factor to consider is that engineered products offer a wide variety of stains, finishes and milling options to select from. Finishes and stains applied in the controlled environment of a factory are usually very color stable, tough and very durable. This translates into very good quality control and often eliminates problems that would occur from on site sanding and finishing.

Minuses

One primary concern with engineered floors has to do with sanding or refurbishing them after extended use and wear. The number of times it can be sanded will depend on the thickness of the wear layer. Industry experts suggest that you remove 1/32nd of wood per sanding. With over 35 years experience in this work, I strongly disagree. You might remove 1/32nd under lab conditions but that is rarely how it is done in real life. If you are looking at a wood floor as a permanent fixture of the house and anticipate it will need to be refinished, I recommend no less than one sixteenth of an inch (or 1.5 mm) in thickness. You cannot assume that the floor is going to be perfectly flat or that the super hard finishes will sand off easily — they don’t. And due to height variations and a much more aggressive sanding, you can rest assured you will be losing more than you would in a lab situation.

Options

As far as refurbishing the surface, the news is very good. And by refurbishing I mean restoring luster to the surface after years of wear. Recoating an engineered product has been made easier due to a couple of manufacturers who produce bonding agents to be used in preparing the floors for recoating. These bonding agents are an absolute must for the super hard finishes that are factory applied. Conventional screening of the floors is not enough to create a good bond between the old finish and the new finish going down. What this translates into is that recoating an engineered product with a surface coating can be done but it better be done properly or it will fail. Basic Coatings and BonaKemi are the only two manufacturers of cleaners and prepping materials that include a bonding agent. Basic Coating’s product is called TyKote and BonaKemi’s product is called Prep. You would be penny wise and pound foolish to try and skip either of these company’s tried and testing recoating systems.

Anyone who is looking for what guidance or advice to follow in looking selecting an engineered flooring product need only consider this; your wood floor is one of the most permanent and valuable surfaces in your house. Treat it like the investment it is and you will rarely make any mistakes. I have worked in houses well over a hundred years old and the wood floors are often the only original surface still intact. That is a remarkable thing to consider. Don’t try and cut corners and do your homework. There are remarkable investments out there and it is just a matte doing the due diligence to get what you want.

Entry Filed under: Home Improvement, Hardwood floors