Engineered Hardwood Flooring

Yes. Every surface you see and walk on is solid hardwood: the same species, grade, and grain you would get in a solid plank. The core is real wood plywood, not fiberboard or plastic.

That is what separates engineered hardwood from laminate (a printed image of wood over fiberboard) and luxury vinyl plank (plastic). Engineered hardwood can be stained, sanded, and refinished like any wood floor, and it ages and develops patina the same way.

Two measurements matter: the overall thickness of the plank and the thickness of the wear layer.

Many engineered floors are 3/8″ to 5/8″ thick overall, with a wear layer of about 1–3 mm. Ours is a full 3/4″ thick, the same as solid hardwood, so it sits flush against existing 3/4″ floors and installs with standard methods. Our wear layer is approximately 5.2 mm of sawn hardwood over 15 mm cabinet-grade birch plywood. (Eastern White Pine, a softer species, gets a thicker 6.5 mm wear layer over a 12 mm, 9-ply core.)

The wear layer determines how many times a floor can be sanded and refinished, and so how long it lasts. A 1 mm wear layer can usually only be recoated; 2–3 mm allows one or two full sandings.

Our approximately 5.2 mm sawn wear layer gives you about the same sandable wood above the tongue as a solid 3/4″ plank, so it can be refinished multiple times over its life, depending on the initial finish and sanding method. Because it is sawn rather than peeled, it also shows the same natural grain as a solid board.

Neither is better everywhere; it depends on where the floor is going.

• Choose engineered on concrete slabs, below grade, and for wide planks in homes with big seasonal humidity swings.
• Choose solid for the widest widths (up to 15″+ in white oak) or in homes that cannot keep relative humidity above 35% in winter.

Both our solid and engineered flooring are rated for use over radiant heat, and they share the same species, grades, finishes, and 3/4″ thickness, so once installed they look the same. For a deeper comparison, read Solid Hardwood vs. Engineered Flooring.

Yes. Both our engineered and solid flooring are rated for use over radiant in-floor heat, and engineered gets extra stability from its cross-banded plywood core. Engineered flooring can also be glued directly to a properly prepared concrete slab using a full-spread adhesive, which is one of the best reasons to choose it.

Over a wood subfloor, narrower planks are typically nailed with a glue assist, and planks 9″ and wider are installed with full-spread glue and nail assist. See our Installation & Adhesive Guidelines and follow the NWFA guidelines and your heating system manufacturer's instructions. Vermont Plank Flooring supplies the flooring; installation is done by your installer.

Our engineered flooring is available up to 12″ wide in most species. Widths by species:

• 4″ to 12″: White Oak, Rift & Quarter Sawn White Oak, Red Oak, Hickory, Cherry, Walnut, Ash, Birch
• 5″ to 12″: Eastern White Pine
• 4″ to 11″: Heart Pine
• 4″ to 10″+: Maple

Wide planks are where engineered construction shines: the wider the board, the more it moves with the seasons, and the cross-banded core keeps it flat.

Less than solid hardwood, but it is still wood and responds to humidity. Keep your home between 35% and 55% relative humidity year-round; this range is also a requirement of our warranty.

If humidity drops below 35% for an extended period, the solid wood wear layer tries to shrink while the plywood core stays put, which can cause checking or fine cracks in the surface. In heated homes in the Northeast, winter humidity often falls below 20%, so an in-line or stand-alone humidifier is recommended. Humidification is not a part-time thing!

That depends on how you order them. Our engineered flooring comes three ways:

• Unfinished: sanded and finished on site after installation, which seals the whole floor as one surface.
• Finish Ready: knots filled, pre-sanded, and optional micro-bevel, so your finisher can skip the heavy sanding and go straight to finishing on site.
• Prefinished: sanded, sealed, and top-coated in our finishing shop to match the control sample you sign off on, ready to live on after installation.

See How to Order for pricing.

Not necessarily. Commodity engineered flooring is usually cheaper than solid because it uses a thin wear layer and lower-grade core. High-end engineered flooring with a thick sawn wear layer costs about the same as solid, and for some species it costs more because of the added material and manufacturing steps.

Our engineered flooring starts at $12–$28 per square foot unfinished, depending on species, grade, and width. Finish Ready adds $2/sq ft, and prefinishing starts at $6/sq ft over the unfinished price.

It depends on the wear layer. Engineered floors with a thin 1–2 mm wear layer may need replacing after one refinish or a few decades of wear. With an approximately 5.2 mm sawn wear layer, a cabinet-grade birch core, and periodic refinishing, our engineered flooring is built to last a century or more, just like solid hardwood.