Use Engineered Wood Flooring for Your New Floor

If you need to either replace of install new flooring in your home, you may want to consider the considerable benefits of choosing engineered wood flooring. It is easy to install and read to use right away. Engineered wood flooring is also much more affordable than many other flooring options and can even be used in most basement areas if the concrete floor that would support them measures below 4% in moisture.

This type of flooring is made up of a hardwood veneer or wear layer as it is called. This layer ranges from .6 to 5 millimetres in thickness. The thickness of the veneer is an important element and it is best to buy the thickest layer that you can afford because you this will allow you to sand the floor in later years and extend its life considerably. Underneath the veneer of each piece of engineered wood flooring you will find from 3 to 10 wood layers of lesser quality wood than the veneer.

Before installation, open the boxes of flooring and bring them into the room in which they are to be installed. In this way, the engineered wood flooring will have time to acclimate to the room and expand or contract as it will depend its unique interior environment. Also, you will need to make sure that the sub-floor is completely level. Be sure to pull up any old nails, staples and sand down any bumps or high spots that you find. If you are installing the flooring in a basement or other area where the sub-floor is made of concrete, check the concrete itself for moisture. You can do this by taping a 15 by 15 inch sheet of clear plastic to the floor for 48 hours and if you find any moisture allow more time for it to dry before continuing.