Wooden flooring is currently very in vogue in home decoration. It is a great way to look after your house and often adds money to a selling price of a home which in the current housing market is a big advantage.

In this article we are going to look at how engineered hardwood floors are made. By hardwood floors we are not talking about laminate floors but those made of solid wood that have to be installed by professionals.

In general there are three ways engineered hardwood floors are manufactured.

Rotary-peel

The log is first boiled in water. After this preparation the wood is peeled by a blade from the outside of the log toward the centre, creating a wood veneer. This veneer is then pressed flat with high pressure. This style of manufacturing tends to have problems with the wood cupping or curling back to its original shape. Rotary peeled engineered hardwoods tend to have a plywood appearance in the grain.

Sliced-peel

This is a similar process to the rotary peel however instead of being sliced in a rotary fashion, the wood is sliced from the end of the log. The veneer is then pressed flat using high pressure. Although the appearance of this veneer is better than one that has been rotary peeled it can tend to have splintered edges and cracking.

Dry solid-sawn

This process is almost the opposite of the other two as here the logs are kept at low humidity and the manufacturing process to get this top veneer layer is similar to how a solid hardwood is manufactured. This style of engineered hardwood has the same look as solid hardwood.

For the best looking flooring hardwood that is natural comes out on top. Despite of this though there are looks to the wood which can be down to how the wood has been cut or to the grade of wood used. None of these mean that the wood is of any lesser quality they just give different looks to the wood and are a mater of taste as to how you want your particular flooring to look.

The angle at which a board is cut determines how the finished product looks. Wood flooring is plain sawn, quarter sawn or rift sawn.

The appearance of the wood determines its "grade." Below is a list of the grades that wood is given.

Clear

This wood is free of defects.

Select

This wood is almost the same as clear, but contains some natural characteristics such as knots and colour variations.

Common

Common wood is divided into No. 1 and No. 2. It has more natural characteristics such as knots and colour variations. No. 1 Common has a variegated appearance, light and dark colours, knots, flags and wormholes. No 2 Common is rustic in appearance and emphasize all wood characteristics of the species. These woods are popular because they bring all the natural qualities of wood to your home.

First

First grade wood has the best appearance, natural colour variations and limited character marks.

Second

Second grade wood is variegated in appearance with varying sound wood characteristics of species.

Third

Third grade wood is rustic in appearance allowing all wood characteristics of the species.

Whatever type of wooden floor you want it is a good idea to go to a wooden flooring professional who can advise you on what would suit your property and help you to choose the right solution.

For more information on wooden floors go to timberland.