Engineered Wood Flooring

Real Wood, Smart Construction

What Engineered Wood Flooring Is

Engineered wood flooring gives you the look and feel of solid hardwood with construction designed to stay put. Each plank is built from a top layer of real hardwood veneer — the wood you actually see and walk on — bonded over multiple cross-layered plies of plywood. That layered core is the secret to its performance. Because the grain of each ply runs in a different direction, the plank resists the swelling, shrinking and cupping that can affect solid wood when humidity changes.

Since the wear surface is genuine hardwood, an engineered floor looks identical to a solid wood floor once it is installed. You get the same species, the same grain and the same finish options — oak, maple, walnut and more — without the seasonal movement that comes with a single solid board.

Why It Excels Below Grade

The biggest advantage of engineered wood is stability, and that makes it the go-to choice for spaces where solid hardwood simply should not go. Basements, slab-on-grade rooms and other below-grade areas tend to hold more moisture, and that environment can wreck a traditional solid floor. The dimensionally stable plywood core lets engineered planks handle those conditions far better, so you can finally bring warm, real-wood floors into rooms that were previously off-limits.

Pros & Cons at a Glance