Engineered Hardwood Flooring Made in The USA

There are many different approaches by companies that manufacture engineered flooring.  Unfortunately some are just cheap and nasty!

Engineered flooring is made up of two pieces.  The hardwood veneer or tread wear and the plywood backing.  Let us look at the backing first.

The best plywood around is made from European Baltic Birch.  A good manufacturer will import this material ready made in large sheets that they cut to size.  Plywood is layers of thin wood glued and pressed together.  Each sheet is cross hatched.  That is to say that the grain runs in a different direction as each sheet is applied.  This makes for a stronger backing.  Each layer of wood is the ply.  3 layers is 3 ply, 5 layers is 5 ply and so on.  The best for flooring is 9 ply.  The structural integrity of the finished product makes for a very strong and very flat plank.

The veneer or tread wear should be at least 4mm thick.  The finish should last about 10 years before you will need to sand and re finish.  You will get at least 30 years from this thickness.  That is more than enough for 80% of home buyers.  If the foot traffic is very heavy you will need to refinish more often.  A tread wear of 7mm would be beneficial for a longer lasting floor.

The final part is gluing the tread wear to the backing.  This should be done with a formaldehyde free glue and cold pressed.  This is the traditional European way to make engineered hardwood flooring.

Seek out manufacturers the use the above standards and you will have  a top quality flooring product that will last for years to come.