Engineered Wood Flooring Guide

Engineered Wood Flooring Basics

Though it looks nearly identical, engineered wood flooring is built differently than solid wood flooring. Instead of one solid piece of wood, three to seven layers are stacked and glued or laminated together with heat and high pressure to create a product with similar (or more consistent, in some ways) performance to solid hardwood floors. Because they contain a variety of materials and use a variety of inputs, engineered wood floors can be just as green—if not greener—than other flooring options, but the scale can tip toward un-green, too. Read on to learn how to tell the difference.

Pros of Engineered Wood Flooring

Many of the same benefits inherent in solid hardwood flooring&madsh;durability, beauty, environmental health—can be found in engineered wood flooring, with a few added benefits. It's nearly impervious to humidity—moreso than hardwoods—so can be used in a wider variety of applications than hardwoods. Engineered flooring is also a better choice than hardwoods for installation over concrete slab construction, or for finishing a basement, for example. For remodeling projects where you're installing flooring over existing flooring, engineered flooring is a great choice, especially when you don't want to add much height to the existing floor. And, engineered flooring can be suitable for use with radiant heating systems, where hardwoods aren't.

Cons of Engineered Wood Flooring

Unlike hardwood flooring, engineered wood flooring can't be refinished as many times, depending on the thickness of the top veneer—usually just once or twice, versus a handful of times for most hardwood flooring. They're often pre-finished as well, which reduces a few of the design options at your disposal, and can also have an impact on how green it is.

How Green?

Because it's made from a variety of materials, engineered wood flooring can be one of the greenest—or one of the dirtiest—flooring options out there. These materials range from layers of hardwoods around a hardwood core to hardwoods around a high density fiberboard (HDF) core to newer green materials like a wheat board core. The relative greenness is impacted by where these materials come from, so look for Forest Stewardship Council-certified flooring here. As with any composite material, these cores have to be adhered to itself and the rest of the flooring, so care should be taken to avoid formaldehyde-based adhesives, which contribute to poor indoor air quality, along with any urethane-based finishes that might come on pre-finished floors. Additionally, engineered floors use about 30 to 50 percent less wood than hardwoods do, so there's less raw materials involved.

Manufacturing engineered wood flooring is pretty energy-intensive, which can either help improve its green cred (if the manufacturer uses green energy to fuse the floors), or take a potentially green product down a notch or two (if they are less interested in green energy). If you can insure that the adhesive and the energy used are green, you've got a green floor in your future.

Where do I get it?

Engineered wood flooring can be found at most flooring retailers; here are some green manufacturers to look for:
Anderson Floors
EcoTimber
Mohawk
Owens Flooring
Shaw

Where do I use it?

Engineered wood floors are more resistant to moisture than their solid hardwood counterparts, so you can really use it just about anywhere. It still isn't a good idea to leave sitting water on it, or use it where there is unusually high humidity, but it's less susceptible to warping than hardwoods.

What does it cost?

Similar to hardwoods, prices start about $5 per square foot and range up to $15/sq. ft. or more, depending on which options you choose.

Can I install it myself?

Engineered wood flooring can be installed as glue-down, nail-down, or floating floor; each different option has different installation requirements. As with hardwoods, it's probably best to leave the glue-down and nail-down options to professionals or very experienced DIYers; the click-together floating version can be installed yourself, once you're sure you've got a solid surface to lay it on.

More on engineered wood flooring:
Eco Friendly Flooring Guide is a Great Resource
Testing, Testing: Tilo Natural Flooring
Solving the Installation Puzzle: Puzzle Floor