Types of woodflooring

Solid wood flooring
Solid wood flooring is milled from a single solid piece of natural hardwood timber. If looked after, a solid hard wood floor will last hundreds of years.

Instead of being dumped in landfill it can simply be brought back to life by sanding and then re-finishing it to provide a surface as good as the day it was laid.

A real solid wood floor is a natural product designed to expand and contract with subtle seasonal changes in humidity and temperature. Solid wood floors will last for generations.

Engineered wood floors
Engineered wood flooring should not be confused with laminate wood flooring.

Engineered wood floors are produced by laminating a real wood layer onto a base of wood, whereas laminate flooring is a picture of wood sandwiched between plastic and MDF or similar backing - there is no wood present in laminate wood flooring.

The base layer of engineered boards are normally constructed with the wood layers running at 90 degrees to the top plank of wood - or with multi-ply bases with each ply running in an opposite direction to give greater strength and stability.

The bottom layers are usually of plywood construction with a top layer of real wood bonded with pressure and either cold or hot adhesive.

Engineered boards are manufactured to give better stability. The degree of dimensional stability and structural integrity depends on the quality and design of the engineered board and the raw materials used in its construction.

In general you get what you pay for. The more expensive boards are manufactured to a higher standard - although this isn't always be the case.

Engineered wood floors are very versatile in terms of the way that they can be installed. They can be either secret nailed, floated on underlay or bonded with a wood floor glue such as the Sikabond adhesive.

Solidengineered wooden flooring
Solidengineered wood floors are a relatively new hybrid wood flooring board with all the advantages of a solid wood floor and an engineered wood floor.

These boards are typically 20-22mm plus in thickness with around 5-6mm of top layer single plank of the appropriate wood species. They are referred to as 'semi solid' or 'solidengineered' wood flooring boards and at this thickness have the structural characteristics of a 20mm solid wood floor.

They also have all the benefits of an engineered board with excellent dimensional stability properties provided by the construction of a base of cross plies.

The advantage of solid wood or solidengineered boards over traditional engineered boards is that they can be sanded down and re-finished many times. For example a solid wood floor could be sanded down three, four or even five times over maybe a 100-year period.

The top layer of a traditional engineered wood floor of 14mm or 15mm thickness can vary greatly from as little as 1-1.5mm up to 3.5-4mm. In general, these boards cannot be sanded down often because the softwood or hardwood ply wood base will be exposed.

With a solidengineered board, the top layer of around 6mm is comparable to that of a solid wood floor, which generally has around 6mm of solid wood above the T&G.

Solidengineered wood floors can be used in conjunction with underfloor heating, installed in conservatories, kitchens, high traffic areas and even bathrooms. They provide the option of solid investment in real wood flooring which will last over generations of use.

Parquet wood flooring
Parquet flooring blocks are usually manufactured from the smallest pieces of wood flooring.

This is a very traditional style of wood flooring often used very effectively in period and older style properties, particularly true when laid in patterns such as herringbone, brick weave, or featuring mixed species and when used in conjunction with decorative borders or medallions.

Mixed flooring substances can be used to great effect - but care needs to be taken not over do the use of marble, slate or other inlays.

Parquet floors can be laid direct to the sub floor or onto constructed floors made from plywood or similar materials. In all cases we recommend a full stick down approach with Sikabond professional wood flooring adhesive.

The most common wood species used in parquet flooring is oak and the parquet blocks usually available in a mix of left or right sided tongue and groove options to enable easier construction and jointing when creating the patterns.

Laminate wood flooring
Early laminate wood flooring products were susceptible to scratching and damaging - particularly chipping at the corners. Another common problem was moisture getting into the joints and causing the edges to curl up and then chip, crack or flake away.

Laminate has a tendency to sound hollow and flat. Although there are underlay systems on the market to help alleviate this problem they are expensive - that's why we always recommend a real wood engineered board such as an oak three strip engineered board.

A top quality three strip board with an economy 3mm foam underlay may cost a little more than a budget laminate - but it will be much less expensive than a top of the range laminate product.

If you can afford a wood floor go for at least a three strip oak floor or similar. If you really do not have the budget be wary of cheaper laminate floors that simply will not last. If you must go for laminate flooring opt for a top quality product with a high density fibreboard, which is better than MDF as it will have more moisture resistance. Or alternatively, a board that carries the NALFA (National Laminate Flooring Association) mark on it.

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Some laminates now include embossed surfaces to create a fake texture to the boards. Tiny lines are imprinted onto the plastic to fake the wood grain and texture.

Be sure to choose a plank that has lots of variation so the wood grain pattern on the floor is not too repetitive - this will really be noticeable in a cheaper budget product.

Basically laminate come in two forms - glued and glue-less (click fit system).

The click fit system boards grab and lock into each other. They are difficult to prise apart if you make a mistake, but once they are down they are unlikely to move.

Glued systems are generally cheaper but there are less of these available because of the extra work involved at installation - and also because it is difficult to lift the floor if you ever need to access the subfloor.

There are also some pre-glued products on the market which simply need to be wiped over with a damp rag to activate the glue - but be careful not to over moisten the backing of the boards.

Hardwood floors - particularly oiled or hardwax oiled floors - can be locally repaired should the unthinkable happen and they get damaged.

While there are laminate flooring repair kits available, if the picture of the wood becomes damaged it's very difficult to do a professional repair job.