Iam looking to do my dinning room in Hardwood Floor's. I keep seeing Engineered Hardwood floors. So I was just wondering if someone could tell what the difference was between them if any..
you need to remember is that engineered is only a thin layer of real hardwood on top of other layers of cheap wood. its that way because its cheaper to make and doesn't tend to cup like real wood. but if you damage a piece it is harder to replace. real wood is better in the long term. it raises the value of the home. it doesn't matter if its pre-finished or unfinished you can resand it several times and will last for many years. Yes the finish on the engineered wood is tough, but it is also tough on prefinished because they are baked on finishes. the prefinish flooring has something going for it because you can get the colors you want just like engineered but with prefinish unlike engineered you can't do anything to it but replace it if you wanted to chage color or have it resurfaced.
Engineered floors are made up of some wood or are made up of resins to look like hardwood floors. They often are better at resisting blemishes such as scratching and staining better than hard wood floors. Hardwood floors are made up of stained wood. The need to be well maintained to look their best. Spills need to be cleaned up ASAP to avoid damaging the wood.
The difference is in the layers. If it's engineered, it will have several layers, and the top one is the most important. Solids are just that - solid. Look at the side of the product, and see how many layers are in it. If there is one solid piece, it is solid hardwood. If there are several layers, it is engineered. Solid is great, if you have zero moisture in the home, but engineered is probably the way to go if you don't want warpage later on. If it's sandability you want, remember that solids can only be sanded down to the point of where the nails/staples/tongue is.
1. Solid hardwood is just that - sawn out of SOLID hardwood. Since they are solid wood, they tend to expand and contract with the moisture levels in the air. They can be pre-stained in the factory or stained on site. the advantage is that they can be sanded and re-stained many times in the future if needed. 2. Engineered hardwood floors are made out of layers of different wood, glued together; the cheaper less expensive wood is on the bottom (not seen) and the more expensive wood is on top (veneer). These sometimes cost more than the solid wood alternative because they look better, easier to maintain and do not expand and contract much. For your dining room, go with a engineered hardwood.
Hardwood flooring would give you the best resale for the money, but is expensive. Hardwood could run anywhere from 3 to 10 dollars per square foot. If it is scratched, it can be sanded and redone later on. Engineered is a hardwood floor, but cannot be refinished in case something happens. Also costs around 2.5 to 4 dollars square foot. Laminate looks a little cheaper, but will hold up better than hardwood or Engineered in the long run. I would suggest the Pergo 30 year warranty. Hardwood has to be nailed down to the floor, Engineered has to be tacked or glued down and laminate is free floating. In the case of the hardwood and engineered, you would have to pull up the ceramic tile. With laminate, you MAY not have to do that. Laminate in stock should cost around 2 to 4 dollars a square foot. A lot of laminate floors now look like the real thing. I suggest you do some window shopping to find out for yourself.
