An engineered wood flooring is a floor made of several layers of plywood, forming a stronger and more stable material than a piece of solid wood. In this way, it is less susceptible to changes due to temperature or humidity and, thanks to the protection applied at the factory, it can last up to 25 years without problems, giving the user different types of finishes.
Continue reading to learn how engineering floors have been replacing the classic parquet, and to know their qualities and their different application possibilities.
The solid wood floor market in Chile (” Parquet “) dates back more than 100 years. The first “Parquets” factory in Chile dates back to 1905, and was “Parquets Küpfer “. The most commonly used wood was American oak, mahogany and holm oak. At the beginning imported woods were used, to then use national species such as Raulí, Coigüe and finally the Eucalyptus.
These solid floors were installed by fixing the palmettes or wooden boards to a wooden beam, although later an installation system was used on concrete, in which the wood was fixed with metal clamps. Then the polishing of the floor and its waxing was carried out on site. To vitrify it, the process was usually done one year after its installation.
The market for these solid wood floors went from its peak in the 60s and 70s, with 2,000,000 m2 per year, to only 300,000 m2 per year, in the 2000s. That is, about 10 years ago it already shows a downward trend.
This evolution has been produced by several factors, including:
Introduction of engineered wood floors. Floors that come in various thicknesses, species and table formats. They are imported from countries such as Brazil, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, among others.
The time involved in installing a solid floor is more than 3 times the time involved in installing an engineering floor. In addition, engineering can be stepped on and used the hour after installed and the solid not. This is due to the use of a special adhesive, you have to polish the floor and then vitrify with several coats of varnish on the work itself.
Surface finish. The engineering floor, as it is already finished and factory ready, allows not only to install faster and be used immediately, but also, delivers different types of surface finish according to the customer’s order : higher or lower brightness, brushing or smooth finish, brushing deeper or shallower, prints that follow and copy the exact natural relief of the grain, etc.
More variety of species, thicknesses, widths and lengths of boards, compared to solid floors.
Direct installation on the surface or floating, that is, only glued to its 4 sides and detached from the surface.
Heating efficiency. The wood produces a certain resistance to the transfer of heating by radiant floor. That is to say, the thicker the wooden floor, the more inefficient the transfer of the heating per floor is made.
Ease, practicality and speed of cleaning and maintenance.
Finally, the solid wood floors have lost ground in front of the engineering floors for privileging a “more ecological” use of the wood. The aim is to use the least amount of wood per system, in order to contribute to a more sustainable logging and use of the forest and its native species. Their models only occupy up to 3.6 mm thick of noble woods (Walnut, Oak, Jatoba); woods that have a slower growth process. For the plywood, however, fast-growing woods or HDF are used.
Floating installation and “uniclic”
The floating installation is much faster, cleaner and less expensive than direct installation on the surface, allowing even the incorporation of acoustic insulators (which reduce air and impact noise) and there are some European systems that come with the uniclic installation system. This system joins the palmettes, one next to the other, assembling them together, without the need to glue or put adhesive between them or on the surface. Finnaly we recommended discount flooring for choosing your Engineering Wood Flooring for your dream house.
