Wood Flooring Construction: The most popular misconception today concerns the question of "what is a real wood floor"?

The success or failure of a wood floor is not so much dependent upon the thickness of the wood, or more importantly the thickness of the wear-layer, but of the quality of the product and finish.

When you look at the image to the right, can you tell how thick the wood is? I can't either...

Solid: 3/4" thick by random lengths and a variety of widths

• Intended to be nailed to a wood subfloor
• Can be resanded but only down to the level of the tongue - 2/3 of the board is wasted
• Very susceptible to changes in humidity, and known to shrink and squeak during dry seasons
• Available pre-finished, or unfinished to sand onsite
• Not environmentally sensitive, i.e. uses more of the slow-growth trees

Engineered: Multiple cross-grain layers of wood veneers, usually 3/8", 1/2", or 5/8" thick by random lengths and a variety of widths

• Can be glued directly to most subfloors, nailed, stapled, and in some cases also floated*
• Cross-grain layering is far stronger than solid wood, i.e. resists warping, shrinking, or buckling
• Can be sanded and refinished (see note)
• Most typically available pre-finished
• Environmentally friendly, uses about 1/2 the amount of slow-growth trees

Engineered Longstrip: Cross-grain layers as above. Short veneer-boards, called fillets, are resin-adhered to a wider (usually about 7" wide) and longer board (usually about 7' long). When each "Longstrip" board is installed in random fashion, the end result is a natural look. Below is a diagram of the "3-strip", and some manufacturers also have a "2-strip" style, where the fillets are wider.

• Tongue & Groove boards are most often locked together and floated* over a special cushion (see note)
• Cross-grain layering is far stronger than solid wood, i.e. resists warping, shrinking, or buckling
• Can be sanded and refinished (see note)
• Most typically available pre-finished
• Very easy to replace
• Environmentally friendly, uses about 1/2 the amount of slow-growth trees

*Note - Sanding & Finishing: Because technology has made the urethane coatings far more abrasion resistant, the thickness of the wood surface is not as important. There are two basic type of re-sanding & finishing.

1. Screening & Refinishing: The top coats of the existing finish (NOT the actual wood) are abraded with a fine sanding disk, then the new coating is applied.
2. Sand & Refinish: When the wood surface is severely damaged in a large area the finish and part of the wood top layer is sanded and new coatings are applied. You should never have to sand into your wood layer with normal traffic. If only a few boards are severely scratched or gouged, they can be replaced with new boards rather than re-sanding the entire floor.