What Is Engineered Timber Flooring?

According to the Australian Timber Flooring Association (i.e. the industry experts), “engineered flooring is manufactured with a decorative layer of timber (called a veneer or lamella) bonded over layers or a substrate which is often timber“.

As the name suggests, engineered flooring is engineered to create high stability yet maintain the appearance of solid timber flooring.
Engineered timber flooring allows you to get the beauty of a hardwood floor but at a high quality and affordable price.

Solid strip flooring (or tongue and groove) is your more traditional choice of flooring and requires sanding and coating on site. Whereas, engineered flooring is generally supplied pre-finished and ready to install. Both options allow you to sand and re-polish in their lifetime, however, engineered flooring can also be sold in wide boards unlike solid which is limited by width.

The cross lamination of engineered flooring means the boards work together to minimise any risk of expansion and contraction when exposed to variations in humidity and temperature. Unlike traditional hardwood floors that can move in these conditions.

It is important to note that there is a clear difference between laminate flooring and engineered flooring. Laminate flooring comprises of fibreboard topped with faux timber-look paper. Engineered flooring is a solid timber veneer over ply or hardwood.

The price of engineered flooring differs from company to company. For good quality engineered flooring that’ll last a lifetime, you should expect to pay around the $90-110/m2 mark. Engineered flooring is also much faster to install.

It comes pre-finished so builders can lay and walk on it straight away which results in both cost and time savings. Whereas, traditional floors take weeks to install due to the fact that they need to be sanded and coated several times before completion.

• What is the flooring made of?
• Has the supplier used good quality timbers for both the wear layer and the substrate?
• What construction method does the flooring use? (E.g. balanced construction)
• The wear layer – can the flooring be sanded and re-polished in its lifetime?
• The coating – what is the coating made from and what is its VOC rating?

The choice in colour varies from brand to brand. Look for companies that not only offer a range of standard colours, but also customisable options so you can get the exact colour you want.

Also be sure to look for an engineered flooring that:

• Is made using the balanced construction method (gluing the veneers together in a cross lamination orientation)
• The wear layer is made from a sustainable Australian hardwood
• Offers colour customisation options, straight from a coating line in Melbourne
• Is coated in a LED-cured hardwax oil that has a GOLD VOC rating and is extremely durable
• Has a wear layer of 4mm so you can sand and re-polish several times in its lifetime
• Offers a 25 year structural warranty and a 15 year wear warranty

If you’re searching for the best, then our Australian Oak engineered flooring is your answer as it has all of the above and much more.