Household Tips

I live in an old house with what realtors love to call “heart of pine” floors. Supposedly, that means my softwood floors are more like hardwood floors! I love my wood floors, but I also recognize the ethical dilemma people face in deciding on flooring today. On the one hand, wood is incredibly durable (my floors are original — 80 years old!) On the other, hardwood flowers contribute at least in some part to deforestation, right? (And yes, I’m aware of re-planting, etc.) Anyway… This is an interesting and very positive alternative!

During the past few years, many environmentally conscious consumers have been looking for ways to increase the environmental friendliness of the choices they make for their homes. One of the most eco-friendly flooring options available is engineered wood
flooring.

Engineered wood floors are real wood floors that are manufactured using three to five layers of different wood veneers. The layers are referred to as face ply for the top layer, core ply for the middle layers, and back ply for the bottom layer. Each of the layers can be of the same species, or of different species, but the face ply of engineered wood flooring always consists of high-quality wood. The grain of each individual layer runs in different directions, which is called a cross-ply construction process.
This process makes engineered wood flooring very dimensionally stable, meaning that the wood will expand and contract less than solid wood flooring during normal seasonal fluctuations in humidity and temperature.

Engineered floors can be nailed or stapled to a wood subfloor, or glued down to a wood subfloor or concrete slab. This makes engineered wood floors ideal for slab and basement installations, but they can be used in any room in the home.

One of the best benefits of engineered wood flooring is that it requires less lumber to produce the final product. In addition, because the core and back ply layers can include any species, there is less overall waste.

To learn more about the benefits of wood floors, visit the NWFA’s consumer web site at http://www.woodfloors.org, and click on the “All About Wood Floors” link. You also can find a wood flooring professional in your area by visiting the “Find a Professional or Product” link.

engineered wood, floors, hardwood