Floating Engineered Wood Flooring

Engineered wood flooring is a great alternative to solid wood flooring.  A man made product, engineered wood flooring is constructed using a plywood or MDF (multi-density fibreboard) base upon which a solid oak lamella or top layer is applied.  Because of this lamella, engineered wood flooring looks just like solid wood, which is what makes it so popular.

One of the major advantages of engineered wood flooring is that it doesn’t expand and contract in the same way as solid wood floors.  What this means is that an engineered wood floor won’t develop gaps like a solid wood floor will when temperatures and humidity levels rise and fall.  Because of this, engineered wood flooring is particularly suited to environments where temperatures and moisture levels might fluctuate.  What’s more, engineered wood flooring can be laid over under floor heating.

Floating engineered wood flooring is made up in the same way as any other engineered wood flooring, but is confirmed as being suited to the floating method of installation by its manufacturer.  Floating is a term used to describe a specific way of fitting an engineered wood floor.  Normally installed over a layer of underlay which itself is laid over an appropriate sub floor, a floating engineered wood floor is a floor that isn’t fixed down to the sub floor.  A floating floor relies on the weight of the floor to keep it in position.