Hard Wood Flooring

Wood Tidbits
Solid and Engineered Floors

The warmth of a nice wood floor under your feet, now your choice is should it be solid or engineered?

Understanding which species of would that one would like in the home is one decision to be made, and the other is to choose solid or engineered floors?

Taking this a step further, take a look at where the area in the home in which the wood is going to be. Solid or engineered floors can be utilized throughout the home in any area in which you choose except if you have a basement. In basements the only application is the engineered floor. Due to expansion and contraction due to moisture, engineered floors are best suited for this application. Solid floors can not breathe and with peak and break under this situation.

Most homes constructed in the United States on the West Coast are concrete foundations, and if there is an upper level it is plywood over the floor joists. In the Midwest and the East Coast most homes have the main floor being of plywood over the floor joists because of the use of a basement in the case of a tornado or hurricane they have the ability to go under their home for safety reasons.

When selecting your wood for your home here in Hemet, CA you can choose any style or species of wood that fits your liking and budget. Mainly because your home does not have a basement, and solid floors are not recommended in that much of moisture enriched environment. Only engineered floors are recommended in basements.

In case of concrete floors, moisture is the most sensitive thing to think about when putting down a wood floor of any type, engineered, solid or otherwise. Moisture can destroy any wood type floor. If the floor has been tested for moisture and it does pass for low moisture content, you then have a choice for either solid or engineered wood. Granted, a solid floor is more traditional than the engineered because it has been around quite a bit longer your budget may only be conducive to the cost of the engineered floor. This being said, solid wood has the ability to out live the buyer because of the ability of being refinished many times over.

In regards to the engineered floor, it looks like and is built like plywood. The main difference is the top layer being your wood species of choice, which is called the wear layer. Each manufacturer produces a thin and a thicker wear layer. Also wear layers can vary from one refinished manufacturer to the next. Though the thicker the wear-layer the better your chances are to being able to refinish it more than once or twice.