Prefinished engineered hardwood is a flooring product that is beginning to really take off in the flooring market, and for good reason. Prefinished engineered hardwood is similar to solid hardwood flooring products in the fact that both are made from real, natural wood. The main difference is that solid hardwood flooring is all made from the same type of wood and each board is a single piece of lumber. On the other hand, prefinished engineered hardwood is made from layers of real wood with a hardwood veneer layer on top. This means you can choose your desired hardwood (oak, cherry, etc.) for the top layer, and it will look just the same as flooring products made completely from that wood. If you are wondering which one is the right option for you, we’ve listed five benefits of prefinished engineered hardwood to aid in your decision-making process:
- Value. Engineered hardwoods are typically less expensive than solid hardwoods, but they will still raise the value of your home.
- Durability. The high-quality engineering techniques used today produce excellent flooring products. One of the things we love about engineered hardwood is that it experiences much less expansion and contraction than solid wood because of how the wood is layered in different directions. This means that your floor won’t react noticeably to temperature or moisture changes, reducing the chance of gaps between planks or the annoyance of creaky floors.
- Variety. Because an engineered floor is not one solid piece of wood, you have a much greater selection in design choices. You can choose boards with a wider width or browse through the more extensive collection of colors and finishes until you find what you really want. As long as the top layer is thick enough, an engineered floor can be sanded and refinished if you want to change the look years down the road.
- Versatility. Because of the differences in installation requirements and the more durable nature of engineered wood, you can install prefinished engineered flooring products in places that you could never have solid hardwood flooring. Basements, bathrooms, and kitchens could have engineered hardwood flooring without you having to worry about it reacting to moisture.
- Eco-Friendly. Engineered hardwood helps to preserve the trees that are more slow-growing that create sought-after flooring (for example, oak trees) by using faster growing trees for the other layers. This encourages a more sustainable usage of lumber.
