We already told you about the benefits engineered wood flooring comes within your floor, office or wherever it is installed in a previous article. We, also, told you about the differences between engineered wood and solid wood floors. Today’s topic will be about one of the most popular wood species, used in the industry – oak wood and its application in solid wood and engineered wood flooring construction. In fact, there is not so much to mention about solid oak wood flooring, because it is made completely from real wood and the only intervention is cutting it into woodblocks in the proper shape and dimensions in terms to be installed. Here is more about engineered oak wood material, which, unlike solid wood products, is a manufactured product. Engineered wood is formed in planks, each made from several layers of plywood (usually plywood, but they can be made from lumber material) from 3 to 9, glued together for extra solidness and durability and topped off with a real wood layer, including oak.
Now, let’s talk about oak as a flooring material. Oak is commonly used in industry, especially for making flooring. Oak is strong, sturdy and hard-wearing wood material with long-lasting power and durability when used. In addition, oak is pretty popular because it is an affordable option and also looks amazing, comes in a variety of styles and colours and is practically suitable for every setting. Since oak is a completely natural material, solid oak wood flooring comes with the character of the natural wood and reacts specifically to the environment. It is typical humidity and high-temperature amplitudes to cause wood contracting and “ballooning” as it is popular to say, which in turn causes unfixing the floor timber and loose nails and even major issues. However, the impact of the environment does not affect so strong engineered oak wood because of the structure it is made with. In addition, the plank form it is cut in allows the movement of the wood (structural gaps must be left during installation) and prevent issues.
If you wonder why to choose engineered oak flooring over solid oak wood constructions, here are some reasons:
Engineered oak flooring looks exactly like solid wood flooring and it is hard to tell any difference even for the experts. In addition, the oak used for flooring comes in many different options and design so you can find what suits your home or commercial area the best in terms of texture, pigmentation, etc. And oak spice can be finished in various effects.
Engineered flooring generally comes with installation flexibility. The flooring type is suitable for every room and perfect for different dimensions and requirements of the area. As we already said, engineered wood planks can be fitted in humidity areas such as bathrooms and basements, also in high traffic areas and even over floor heating. Engineered wood can be installed in floating composition, which means it can be fitted over the most challenging subfloor.
