Today, wide plank flooring is more popular than ever. But, it can create serious challenges for an installer. Solid floors can move quite a bit, depending on the humidity in your home. In the winter, when the air is drier, solid wood floors will shrink. Then, when there’s more moisture in the air, like in the spring or summer, they will expand. The wider the planks are, the greater the likelihood that installation issues will arise. It is especially important that your installer has sufficient experience to leave the proper amount of space for natural expansion and contraction. Individual boards can’t be too tight or too loose. If they are too tight your floor will buckle. If they are too loose the gaps between the boards will get too wide in the winter and be unsightly. Installers with this level of experience can be hard to find.

Engineered floors are made of multiple layers of wood, bonded together with adhesives under intense heat and high pressure. This process makes engineered flooring much stronger and virtually unaffected by humidity. It doesn’t shrink or expand significantly and is therefore much more stable than solid flooring.  Since one solid plank can make four or five engineered planks, engineering is a far more efficient and conservative use of the resource. Lastly, and perhaps most significant, is the fact that engineered floors can be installed in any room of your home, either above or below grade. They can be nailed, glued, or floated anywhere. These attributes give engineered wide planks a tremendous advantage. Once engineered floors are installed, no one can tell they are not solid. Both look exactly the same. And, engineered floors can be sanded and refinished just like any solid floor. More versatile application with added stability and equal beauty make engineered floors the clear choice for your next project.