Newspaper
Three ways to get the look of wood
The Arizona Republic
There’s nothing as beautiful on the floor of a home as warm, solid hardwood.There are a couple of products that come awfully close.
One is engineered wood, and the other is wood-look laminate.
Engineered wood is a favorite in Arizona because, unlike solid hardwood, it’s OK to lay it directly on a concrete slab.
It’s a product made from three to five thin layers of wood, stacked in a cross-grain pattern and laminated together to form one plank. The top layer—the one that you see—is made from 1/4- to 1/32-inch of the high-quality wood of your choice.
Side by side with solid hardwood, which is made from three-quarter-inch strips of solid wood like oak, ash or maple, it’s hard to tell which one is the real deal.
Because its layers are stacked in opposite directions, engineered planks don’t expand and contract as much on humid days as solid hardwood floors.
The price of an engineered wood floor is about the same as solid hardwood and varies widely depending on the species of the wood and the finish. You can pay anywhere from $2 to $6 per square foot for either, not including installation.
Laminate floors—especially the newest versions—look like wood, but they’re not, so they cost quite a bit less than solid wood—from less than $1 a square foot to more than $4, not including installation. Laminates also come in patterns that look like stone or tile.
Laminated floor planks are made from ground-up wood chips that are mixed with resins to make them moisture resistant. That mixture is pressed into a board, which is overlayed with paper that bears the likeness of the wood, slate or tile that the product intends to mimic. The paper is impregnated with melamine for structural stability, and then overlaid with a wear layer that resists scratches, dents and everyday wear and tear.
Laminate floors are stain resistant, won’t fade when exposed to sunlight like wood does and won’t burn, even if you drop a cigarette. Plus, laminate floors are a cinch for a handy do-it-yourselfer to install. You don’t have to nail them to the subfloor; they’re glued or they “float.”
All three floors are fairly easy to maintain with a dust mop and an occasional spray of whichever water-based wood floor cleaner the manufacturer recommends. Just keep water from pooling on any of them. Wood and water don’t mix well!
Solid hardwood finished with a durable top coat can last for 100 years. You might want to sand and refinish it every decade or so to give it a fresh face.
Engineered wood comes prefinished and wears so well it rarely needs refinishing. Be aware that the thinner its top layer is, the fewer times you’ll be able to sand and refinish it.
Laminate floors never need refinishing. They typically come with warranties of 20-plus years.
Which one is right for you?
In Arizona, most remodelers recommend engineered wood floors because our homes are built on slabs. Still, families often choose laminate because it holds up so well in heavy foot traffic.
Whichever product you wind up with, make sure you’re the one choosing it. Even manufacturers sometimes refer to engineered wood floors as “wood floors”—so it’s possible to buy an engineered floor instead of a solid hardwood floor without knowing it.
For more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. Rosie Romero is an Arizona contractor who has been in the Arizona home building and remodeling industry for 35 years. He has a radio program from 8-11 a.m. Saturdays on KTAR-FM (92.3), from 10 a.m. to noon Saturdays on KNST-AM (790) in Tucson, and from 8 –11 a.m. Saturdays on KAZM-AM (780) in Northern Arizona.
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