Not all hardwood flooring is created equal. Learn the differences between how engineered hardwood and hardwood flooring is made. This will help you make an informed decision about what flooring will best fit your lifestyle.
Each type has advantages and disadvantages that should be considered for installation, wear and aesthetics.
Solid Wood Flooring
Solid wood floors are constructed of planks made from a single piece of wood with tongue and groove edges. Planks are delivered to factories pre-finished or unfinished. Manufacture of the flooring starts with the tree itself. After trees are cut into logs, what they will be used for is determined by the quality of the tree. Trees marked for flooring are chosen for natural beauty with tight grain and few knots. The chosen logs are cut into rough planks. There are a variety of cutting methods used which affect the stability and price of the board. Below are three of the most popular:
· Flat or plain sawn : by far the most commonly used cut. It contains more variations than the others.
· Quarter sawn : cuts a log into quarters before it cuts the strips of wood to make hardwood flooring boards.
· Rift sawn : cuts a log at a different angle than quarter sawn before it cuts the wood into hardwood flooring boards. Though it is more expensive than the other methods, it is also more stable, providing higher quality flooring.
Cut planks are then graded for look. The next step is to plane the boards on all four sides to smooth saw marks and level the plank.