Long-Strip and Engineered Hardwood Floors

Longstrip hardwood floors are wide and long, and each plank has 2 to 3 strips of thin hardwood. These planks can be floated, stapled and glued-down. The floors can be installed in all parts of the home and are made up of numerous wood plies that are glued together, using a tongue and groove connection made from soft core. The core is sandwiched between a hardwood finish layer on the top and soft wood ply below.

Different types of wood can be used for the finish layer. The layer consists of separate and small solid wood pieces (usually 17 to 18) arranged in three rows. Longstrip planks could be as long as 86 inches. The maximum width is 7 ½ inches. Floating installation makes them suitable for different subfloors and below or above ground level. The longstrip and engineered planks are good for concrete slabs and basements. In job sites where moisture exceeds the normal level, these glued planks can be used easily as gluing enhances dimensional stability.

Engineered hardwood floors, on the other hand, are wood planks made up of numerous wood piles which are glued and laminated. Quality engineered hardwood floors can be used over different types of subfloors such as fully-cured concrete and dry slabs because of higher dimensional stability.

Pre-finished engineered wood floors are more durable than solid wood floors. Pre-finished engineered wood floors are offered in many hardwood species and styles, and can be installed in all rooms in home. The floor width varies between 2 ¼ inch and 7 inch and thickness between ¼ inch and 9/16 inch.

Length ranges from 12 inches to 60 inches. Mostly, the top finish layer is made up of exotic or local hardwood and is factory pre-finished using polyurethane finish. i-Hardwood-Floors.com also explains that different installation methods including floating, glue-down, staple-down and nail-down can be selected for engineered hardwood floors.

Hard Wood Floors provides detailed information on installing, cleaning and refinishing various types of hardwood floors, including engineered, solid, long-strip, exotic, pre-finished, and cheap hardwood floors. Hard Wood Floors is the sister site of Bamboo Flooring Web.