If you are like me, you have probably never heard of engineered hardwood flooring until it was time for your first floor upgrade. Well, this is a great alternative to either real hardwood floors, which is really expensive and requires a team of specialists to install, or vinyl plank flooring, which is inexpensive and easy to install but quite frankly looks like the melamine-infused paper on top, wood chip composite on bottom that it is. Engineered hardwood flooring, on the other hand, is real wood.

It is a sandwich of 1/16" to 1/8" of finish wood on top and non-finish plywood underneath. So, what you're looking at is 100% real genuine wood. In addition, it is stronger than a regular hardwood floor because the middle layer of plywood is laid cross-ways to the finish layer, providing additional strength to the flooring. It also combines the best of both worlds because with its pre-finished top-layer, you can install it and walk on it. No special work, no sanding or finishing. But unlike vinyl plank flooring, an engineered hardwood floor allows you to sand out any scratches that may develop over time (but no more than 2-3 times in any place, or you may go through the top layer and expose the plywood below). This makes it a great wood floor for an active family.

You can install an engineered hardwood floor in a number of ways, including a nail-down floor for the thinner versions (for more stability) and a glue-down floor for any thickness of 5/8 inch or more.Of course, you would not want to install an engineered hardwood floor in any area that is prone to excessive moisture, such as a basement that floods or a children’s bathroom. You might also want to consider if the area you are looking to have the floor installed is exposed to prolonged periods of sun, as this is a wood floor and prone to fading in excessive sun exposure.

Because the hardness of the top layer will determine how often you can refinish a floor and how resiliant it is to wear and tear, it is important to know the hardness, or Janka Hardness factor of your floor. This is an industry-wide recognized hardness test that measures the force it takes to lodge a .444 inch stell ball half way down into the wood. Here is a chart of the various hardwoods and their Janka Hardness Factor Rating:

 For a great video on how to install an engineered hardwood floor, check out this video on 5 minute Videopedia or this great video from Lowe’s on installing a glue-down engineered hardwood floor on You Tube: