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[ SOLID ] [ ENGINEERED ] [ CLIC System ] [ YouTube ] |
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Occasionally we get people who ask us; "am I better off buying solid or engineered wood flooring?" Because of this, I have decided to add this section to our site. Listed below is a cross section of a piece of both solid and engineered wood flooring. While engineered wood floors can vary in overall thickness, the basic concept is the same. Look at the pictures and then read on. |
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| Solid (left) and Engineered (right) | |||||
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When comparing solid wood to engineered wood, we tend to think about resurfacing or "refinishing" the floor years down the road. This of course is directly related to the longevity of the flooring. Thinking about resurfacing the floor sometimes is the reason we may be misled into believing that the solid floor is better or will absolutely last longer. This is not so. Let's refer back to the pictures above. While there is no question that the solid wood floor is much thicker, take a look at where the nail is. When doing your resurfacing, maybe on the second or third resurfacing about 60 to 80 years from now, you are going to run into (literally) one of two things. It will be the nails with the solid wood floor, or the plywood core on the engineered floor. So, with that statement, now do you believe that the solid wood will really last longer? There are also other important factors to consider. A solid wood floor is usually less stable than an engineered wood floor. When I say less stable, I am referring to moisture and expansion related to that moisture. When you get climate changes in your home, which you absolutely will, wood flooring expands and contracts. With solid wood flooring, it generally expands and contracts a lot more than the engineered wood. Engineered wood flooring is constructed to be dimensionally stable, while most solid wood floors are simply cut pieces of wood from a tree.
The Bottom line is that today engineered
floors are made with the same thickness re-surface area as a solid, the
engineered floor is definitely more stable that a solid, and the top
surface is solid the rest is just thickness so if the thickness is a ply
or solid wood it is still just thickness but with the ply you get
stability. |
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No other flooring offers the warmth, natural beauty, durability, practicality and value of wooden floors. If that’s not enough, on top of this, solid wood flooring is a healthy option for you, your family and it is healthy for the environment too. These are usually 18 - 20mm thick of solid hardwood in a variety of species oak, maple, walnut etc - produced in random lengths and tongue and groove all round. Generally narrower strips are more stable. Up to 83mm is described as strip flooring and above 83mm as plank flooring. Pre finished or pre lacquered saves considerable installing expense and inconvenience. The higher the selection the less colour variation and less knotting, however mixed grades are often requested so one can see the full character of the wood as was naturally grown, with the colour variations. Solid Floors can be expected to last many lifetimes with appropriate care and attention. |
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Although
Suntups Wooden
Flooring have traditionally only been SOLID wooden flooring
suppliers, now Suntups have
entered into the ENGINEERED market. All Pre-finished Suntups flooring has 6 coats of Aluminum Oxide UV cured and the hand brushed antique ranges have an AD48 finish, which is 6 coats of an air dried matt sealer to give the natural look of an oiled floor. |
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a: 4 mm Hardwood Wear Layerb: 9 mm Hardwood Corec: 2 mm Backing Board |
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YouTube INTERVIEW (click on the picture to watch)
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