How Engineered Hardwood Is Installed

• What it is
• Three ways to install
• Subfloor and acclimation
• Who brings what
• Engineered against solid
• What it costs
• Frequently asked questions

An engineered board is built in layers. The top layer is a veneer of real hardwood, the same species and finish you see on a solid board. Under it sit several plies of wood or a dense fibreboard core, each layer laid across the one below so the board pulls in different directions instead of all at once. That cross layering is why engineered wood copes better with the humidity swing in a Toronto house, damp in July and dry in February.

The number that matters most is the veneer, sometimes called the wear layer. A thin veneer of around 0.6 mm is a surface you clean and protect but never sand. A veneer of 2 mm or more can usually take one light sanding. At 3 mm to 6 mm you are into boards that can be refinished more than once. Ask for the veneer thickness in millimetres before you compare two boards on price, because two floors at the same price can be very different products.

The core matters too. A plywood core holds a nail or staple well. A dense fibreboard core often does not, which is why some wide click boards are float only.

The board, the subfloor and the room decide the method, not your preference. A good installer will tell you which of the three your floor allows.

Nail and staple are the same idea with a different fastener. A cleat nail allows a little movement, a staple grips harder. Both go through the tongue of the board at an angle so nothing shows on the surface. Neither works over concrete, because you cannot fasten into a slab.

Glue down is the method for concrete and for condo units, and it is what most wide plank floors need. The adhesive is spread with a notched trowel and the boards are set into it, so the floor is bonded across its whole surface. It needs a flatter subfloor than the other two.

A floating floor touches nothing. The boards lock to each other, sit on a foam or rubber underlay, and are held in place by their own weight with an expansion gap at every wall. It is quick and reversible. It also sounds more hollow than a glued floor, which a better underlay reduces but does not remove.

More engineered floors fail from what is under them than from the wood itself. Two things get checked before anything is opened.

Flatness. The subfloor has to be flat within the tolerance your manufacturer lists, commonly around 3 mm over 3 metres. Dips get filled with levelling compound, high spots get sanded. A floor laid over a dip flexes there, and with a click floor the joints eventually separate.

Moisture. Concrete holds water long after it looks dry, and a basement slab in an older house may have no vapour barrier at all. A moisture reading on the slab and on any wood subfloor is standard practice, and it decides whether a barrier or a moisture rated adhesive is needed. Skipping that reading is the most common reason a wood floor cups later.

Acclimation is the wood sitting in the room it will live in, boxes open or cross stacked, until its moisture content matches the house. Follow the instruction for your product, usually two to five days. The house needs to be at normal living temperature and humidity while that happens.

Buy about 10 percent more material than the room measures. That covers cuts, the odd damaged board and a couple of spares for a future repair. On a diagonal or herringbone layout, allow more.

The flooring itself is priced separately, so your total is material plus installation. Removal of the old floor, subfloor levelling, stairs and trim work are quoted after we measure. The quote is free across Toronto and the GTA, and it is when the moisture and flatness checks get done.

Browse engineered hardwood or solid hardwood, and see how we handle hardwood installation. If you are budgeting a whole floor, read how much a flooring renovation costs.

For the full comparison, including Toronto humidity, condos on concrete and refinishing, read engineered vs solid hardwood.

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