When it comes to choosing a hardwood flooring solution for your home, there are a lot of options to consider. In terms of materials, colors, finishes, designs, pricing, and patterns, there are quite a few options to decide on. But the question is will all of them serve your basic purposes of reconstructing the floors? Are they good enough to last for years and be in shape in the long-run? Will all of them fit into your budget and requirements? Well, not exactly! When it comes to wooden flooring, you should never go with a one-size-fits-all approach. If you are planning to redesign or reconstruct your floor; then Solid Hardwood Floor and Engineer Hardwood Floors, being the two most popular and trending choices of floors available in the current market, should be your prime consideration.
So What’s The Difference Between Both Floors? What To Consider When It Comes To Comparing Between Solid Hardwood Floors And Engineered Hardwood Floors? Let’s Find Out!
So, you have made up your mind – you are all set with plans to reconstruct and revamp your existing residential floors with hardwood material!
Now What?
Not just you, almost every homeowner while considering new hardwood floors for their home; often gets confused between solid hardwood and engineered hardwood. There is no doubt that hardwood floor is a great choice for residential flooring projects. Wooden floors add more warmth, rustic look to the place; enhance its natural beauty, and making your feet all comfortable while walking over it. Wherever they are installed; they add an urban charm to the premise. Plus, hardwood flooring brings a timeless beauty to your floor and it is really never out of trend. But this is only half of the decision made. The real dilemma is to make difference between solid hardwood and engineered hardwood floors and pick the right one for your home or office.
So how will you do that?
Let us help you!
What’s The Difference?
Solid hardwood flooring, as its name already suggests, is made of solid wood and ensures extreme thickness and durability to the floor. It is basically made of a hardwood species like maple, ash, oak, or walnut, and sanded and refinished to cater to the flooring needs. Solid hardwood flooring is made of long, natural wood sliced boards and interlocked when installed together for serving the purpose. It adds a touch of elegance and enriches the look of your home. Solid wood floors are also low on maintenance and easy to upkeep and clean.
Engineered hardwood floors look very much similar to solid hardwood materials. But it’s relatively different than its solid counterpart. The construction of engineered hardwoods features a thin layer of hardwood, intertwined over a high-quality plywood coating. Both layers altogether give the flooring strong durability and stability. Engineered hardwood floor is more flexible and can be installed in any part of your building. Plus, it is also heavy-duty, cost-effective, and looks worthy in all interior décor themes. Engineered wood floors are also more resilient to climatic fluctuations and humidity.
Differentiating Features & Aspects
- Lifespan: The approximate lifespan of solid hardwood floors is around 30-100 years while engineered hardwood floors can last for 20-40 years. Proper maintenance can help wooden floor sustaining for longer.
- Material: While solid hardwood floors are made of 100% solid wood materials; engineered wood floors are made of 100% composite wooden resources.
- Resilience: The durability of solid hardwood floors varies based on their wood type, thickness, width, and finishes. But in the case of engineered wood floors, they differ based on veneer types, veneer thickness, the thickness of plank, and finishing.
- Cost: Installation of solid hardwood floors cost you about $8 to $15 per square foot, while engineered solid hardwood flooring installation can cost around $3 to $14 per square foot. Depending on your need for sub-floor, pricing can vary.
- Refinishing/Sanding: Solid hardwood needs sanding or refinishing 2 or 3 times throughout its lifespan. On the other hand, engineered hardwood needs 1-2 times refinishing for maintaining its glossy look.
- Steadiness: Solid hardwood, despite having a strong construction, is prone to deforming and cracking in extreme humidity and damp conditions. On the other hand, engineered hardwood floors have a strong resistance to moisture, mugginess, and warping.
- Thickness/Width/Length: Plank thickness for solid hardwood floors should be around 15 to 20mm, while for engineered hardwood floors; it is 3-7mm to 15mm. In terms of Width; 2 1/4 to 4 inches for solid wood and 2 1/4 to 7 inches for engineered hardwood floor. Length-wise; it will be 12 to 84 inches and 12 to 60 inches respectively. The thickness, width, and length of both depend on the quality of the flooring you want.
- Installation Routine: Well, the installation method for solid hardwood floors includes nail down and tongue-and-groove. Similarly, for engineered wood floors, installation requires nail down, floating, or glue-down methods.
- Care/ Maintenance: Since both types of wood flooring come with similar kinds of surfaces, you are recommended to use almost identical wood floor cleaning methods to minimize the dirt, toxic waste, damages, and original look of the floor.
Final Words
As we discussed, both solid hardwood and engineered hardwood flooring come with their own set of features, applications, and characteristics. If you are looking for professional installation options for your floor or wondering more about the features and expenses related to both wooden floor materials; we can help you. Our team of professionals is specializes in recommending ad installing floors that can give your home a fresh and exclusive look.
We have floor options and materials that can last till your next few generations to come. If you have concerns regarding flooring selections, types, pricing, or just anything else about; let us know! We have a handpicked team of skilled architects, creative designers, licensed contractors, and floor specialists to provide sensible advice and end-to-end guidance for your next home remodeling project.
Send us your queries at [email protected] and we will get back to you ASAP!
