Engineered Wood vs Solid Wood – Which is Better?
In this article we talk about the difference between laminate flooring and hardwood flooring and which one is the best choice for you and your home.
But before we get started, it’s worth dispelling a widespread misconception: not all laminate is created equal.
Laminate floors typically have an HDF (High Density Fibreboard) core, are 6-12mm thick and are printed with a wood grain paper to give them a real look.
So what’s real? The real thing smells like wood, feels like wood, looks like wood and acts like wood because that’s what it is!Sometimes called hardwood flooring, it can be a solid wood product or a engineered wood product.
In short, a parquet floor is a plank milled from a single piece of wood. You can call it solid parquet or simply solid wood. If you want to know more, read our FAQs on wooden floors.
The floor panels have a real wood top layer and a central core of plywood or crossed softwood and are reinforced with a layer of veneer to compensate.It can be referred to as industrial wood flooring, but the more common name is parquet or real wood flooring. Read our blog for everything you need to know about parquet for more information.
Wood is a natural material that is sensitive to moisture and weather, and this also applies to real wood floors. However, solid wood floors tend to expand and contract more easily when subjected to sudden temperature changes, while solid wood floors are more stable and better able to withstand sudden temperature changes. However, it should be added that parquet floors are always subject to sudden changes in temperature and are not a waterproof solution.
In addition, solid wood floors are generally available in any length from 300 mm to 1500 mm with plank widths of around 150 mm. The reason is stability. The longer and wider a solid board is, the more unstable it is. The situation is different with laminate floors, as they also have an intermediate transverse layer and a veneer layer. Therefore, wider and longer planks are used more often with laminate floors.
The advanced design of the laminate floor minimizes expansion, contraction and warping, making these beautiful planks suitable for modern living with underfloor heating. It is not advisable to combine hardwood floors with underfloor heating, which means that if you are planning on having underfloor heating you might want to consider a wooden floor instead of solid earth.
There are two sides of the coin here. Some say that a hardwood floor is more durable because it can be refinished many times, but it all depends on the engineered floor you are comparing it to.
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