Choosing the Best Hardwood Flooring for Your Toronto Home: Engineered vs. Solid

​Why Engineered Hardwood Flooring is a Top Choice in Toronto

Engineered hardwood flooring offers the beauty of solid wood but with increased stability. This makes it particularly suitable for the Canadian climate. The plywood base layers handle humidity changes better than solid wood, reducing the risk of warping or cupping.
Plus, engineered hardwood flooring can be refinished, just like solid hardwood. This means that, even after years of use, your floors can look as good as new with a bit of maintenance.

When it comes to hardwood flooring in Toronto, engineered hardwood flooring stands out as a top choice. Its durability, resistance to climate-induced damage, and the wide variety of available species make it an excellent option for any home.
Remember, the best hardwood flooring is not only about the type of wood or the construction method. It's about choosing a floor that matches your style, meets your family's needs, and stands up to Toronto's unique climate. With the right choice, you can enjoy the beauty and warmth of hardwood floors for many years to come.

​Recently, a lot of our clients have been asking us about environmentally friendly hardwood floors, and how to make a purchase of hardwood flooring with the least damage caused to the environment. We say it is a great question. And our answer is simple: Use engineered hardwood floors.
 
One of the main concerns people have had with engineered hardwood floors is the claim that they are not real. Let’s get this claim straight: It is simply not true. The top layer of the engineered hardwood floors is made of real wood, (in some cases bottom too, for more expensive types), and the bottom (or middle) made of different layers of plywood.
This particular structure eliminates the full solid wood structure, which tends to waste more wood.
Also, that same-engineered hardwood floors has enough thick wood thread on top to be able to refinish it in the future.
 
So, next time you go to shop for hardwood floors, and worries about the environment, then do not hesitate to go for the engineered hardwood floors. It is durable, in some cases cheaper, looks exactly the same like solid hardwood, but better for the environment. 

Engineered hardwood flooring falls in the middle between laminated flooring and hardwood flooring in terms of durability and cost. Although each of these flooring has its own pro's and con's, it would not hurt to gain as much knowledge of both flooring types. In terms of stability, engineered flooring beats its "competitors" in terms of stability, moisture and humidity resistance. Such advantages make engineered flooring more frequently installed in the bellow-level areas. Due to constant involvement and development of the engineered flooring structure, house owners does not have to struggle with the flooring installation in their basements and laundry rooms.
Since top parts of the engineered floors are made from solid wood, it is almost impossible to distinguish engineered floors from more expensive types of flooring such as solid hardwood flooring. In addition, during the installation process, piles are placed on each other, but in the opposite direction, which gives such great stability.
Over all, if the homeowner does not have any plywood base subfloor (concrete for example), and still wants hardwood floor instead of laminate, engineered hardwood flooring is the way to go. (It is also great for plywood subfloor)
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We all know that downtown Toronto has many old and beautiful houses. However, an old house requires extra care and customization, specially with hardwood flooring. New  hardwood flooring is one of the first things to consider, since it is first thing a visitor will notice when entering your residence. That's why knowing about different installation options such as hardwood flooring installation, laminate flooring or engineered flooring installation is very important.
Nailing down the hardwood flooring  would probably be a great option for an older house, due to its durability, long lasting" lifetime" and sophisticated look. However, there is no limit in terms of house type or location. The cost, however, will be slightly higher; but hardwood floors would last for decades. If you have flexible budget you would like to allocate towards your hardwood floor installation, hardwood would indeed complement "rich" and sophisticated look of your house. In addition, there are variety of products currently available in the market that would allow you to take care and preserve healthy look of your hardwood floor.
Also, there are variety of wood types and textures you can pick from. You can also pick a stain (floor paint) that would create either natural look of the chosen hardwood floors or the one that will make it darker or lighter than its natural/original wood color. With the right choice of professionals, the hardwood flooring installation process will be a breeze. So all you would have to do is enjoy your new beautiful and solid hardwood floors for years ahead.

​Hardwood flooring installation could be viewed as an investment rather than a cost. Hardwood
Indeed it is most popular choice when it comes to flooring installation. Whether it is a condo apartment or a house, you cannot go wrong with the hardwood floors. It is well known for its durability, strength and "rich", sophisticated look. Hardwood floor lasts for decades, and by investing ones, you have a long lasting value added to your entire house.
Weather it is a house or a business venue, hardwood floors immediately increases the overall value of the entire property. After all, hardwood floor as a product is environmentally friendly and is a healthy choice for both pet owners and parents.
If you are looking for a long-term investment, hardwood flooring is the best choice. It increases the value of your residence and will pay of the money you spent.

There are few ways how a person can install his hardwood flooring. Before choosing the hardwood flooring installation method, the installer needs to check the subfloor. If subfloor is concrete for example, then a glue down or floating installation of hardwood flooring would be good. If subfloor is plywood, a nail down installation would be a good choice of method.

​The nail down installation
This type of method is used primarily when installing a solid wood floor. This option requires that your home have either plywood or wafer board/OSB on the sub-floor. The name says it all. Nailing gives you a deck-like style floor. Generally speaking, whether you opt for a glued or nailed floor is a matter of personal preference, except for the rare cases when the wood type requires nailing rather than gluing. Using nails to fasten down the flooring is advisable in the case of hardwood with thickness of about 3/4 of an inch. Getting the flooring stapled down in place is just another type of nailing. The advantage of having your floor stapled down is the process is easier and much quicker and is vastly preferred. 

It is not a secret that hardwood flooring installation could be very stressful and exhausting process, especially in a busy metropolitan such as Toronto. The good news are it does not have to be! With the right choice of professionals: a reliable company, which specializes specifically in renovation and/or installation of the hardwood floors. By doing so you can actually enjoy and control the whole process from estimation to the last polished piece of hardwood being installed.
Here are some tips on how to choose hardwood flooring in Toronto and how to make hardwood installation process stress-free:
Hardwood installation will not be stressful and time-consuming process if you dealing with professionals. Thus, it is crucial to choose a company with excellent reputation, high level of expertise and experience.
It is important to clearly identify your expectations in the beginning.
An important part of the whole hardwood floor installation process is choosing "right" material colour, texture, quality and price that is most suitable for you. Special requirements are better to discuss prior to actual installation; for example, during or after estimation. If you are time-sensitive, it is useful to clarify identify particular time slots you wish to dedicate for the installation process.
Keep in mind that there are big variety of wood types you can choose from, which is depends on your priorities and expectations.
Types of wood:
Red or White Oak: Reliable, durable and enduring.
Perhaps Oak is most appropriate choice if you are looking for long lasting floors ( more than fifty years of solid and wrecking-free hardwood floor) with high resistance to any weather-related damages such as humidity and/or constant shifts in temperature. Perfect choice if taking in consideration climate in Toronto, Cherry or Pine: Sophisticated, modern and luxury.
Cherry and Pinewood has one of the softest structure and both require a sufficient amount of care. However, it is known for its "great look" great finish and smoothness due to it beautiful red colour as well as low visibility of grains.
Choosing a reliable and accountable professionals that you can trust will make a hardwood floor installation an easy and stress-free process.

This is a self-explanatory style of flooring, this style just does that, it floats. This style is like a puzzle, each of the individual hardwood flooring boards lock together without the use of glue or nails etc. The entire floor thus floats right on top the subfloor or underlayment. In relation to the other styles of flooring this one surely has its benefits, on top of being very easy to install. In regards to moisture, this style of flooring is ideal because this allows for a installation of some sort of moisture barrier that can be installed between the hardwood and the subfloor. In addition, these boards react differently when exposed to humidity, if properly installed this floating wood style will not bucket and adjust under moist conditions, and this does not develop any sort of gaps that would normally occur under certain dry conditions. This method will surely prove to save you time and most importantly money. There is no mess to deal with in regards to special adhesives and different nails, this is perfect for individuals who prefer doing their own home renovation projects, no need for a professional installer in this case.  The time that it takes to install this neat style of flooring is almost half it would take in comparison to other methods. You are even able to install this flooring method on top of many materials such as carpet, plywood, concrete, vinyl sheet as well as low pile carpet. Easy enough right? Any Do-It-Yourself individual can easily take advantage of this easy to do flooring method, at a reasonably cost to add!

​If you are looking for something as reliable and sophisticated as hardwood flooring, but for the lower price and more simple installation process, check out engineered hardwood flooring. Engineered flooring installation is a new way of doing high quality, great looking floors in a timely manner. A new-engineered wood flooring technology has significantly improved for the past twenty years. Engineered hardwood flooring is a type of floor made of a core of plywood, hardwood or High Density Fiber board.
As a result, engineered floors have characteristics of the selected wood type.
Due to its unique structure, engineered flooring has variety of benefits and advantages over other types of flooring:
 
* Stability. Engineered hardwood flooring was specifically designed to be more stable (than solid hardwood
Or laminate).
* Engineered hardwood flooring is very versatile and has great variability (available in virtually any hardwood species).
* The product have very sophisticated, modern look. It is hard to distinguish between solid hardwood flooring made from solid wood panels and less expensive, but high quality engineered hardwood
* It is fairly easy to install. The installation is less time consuming as oppose to hardwood installation and is less messy. The amount of dust and other construction discharge is minimal.
* Great for basements and any lower (bellow- ground) level areas where moisture concentration is high.
Under such conditions, an engineered hardwood floors will not expend or change its original shape and structure.
* The cost of installation is significantly lower in comparison to hardwood floor installation.
* Engineered hardwood floors will not fade over time. A common problem with carpet or hardwood could be illuminated.

If interested in getting a good quality engineered hardwood flooring and hardwood flooring installation, call us anytime.
Parqueteam Hardwood Flooring provides hardwood flooring in Toronto and hardwood flooring installation. Call anytime.

Technically, both terms apply to most flooring, but the difference is considerable. Hardwood usually implies a plank about 3/4" think with a tongue and groove on the sides and ends. It will need refinishing when the hardwood flooring installation is complete, which can be the most difficult and time consuming part

of the entire job. It also requires that each plank be nailed to the subfloor, usually with a special nailer. The nailers can be either strictly a manual operation or air assisted; the air assist, or pneumatic type is preferable.

Either type are usually available for rent at home improvement stores; a good thing as the nailers are quite expensive to purchase

Laminate, or engineered, flooring is a built up composite to form planks with a specialty tongue and groove assembly also on the sides and ends of each plank. Laminate flooring is much cheaper to purchase and the installation of the flooring is much easier with no refinishing of the installed product. It is not normally refinishable; damaged pieces must be replaced entirely, and they are not as durable as the regular hardwood floor. A floor installed with engineered hardwood flooring is not amenable to patterns as each planks must be installed just like all the other planks. See the picture for a patterned hardwood floor; this type of work is not possible with an engineered hardwood floor installation.


Parqueteam Hardwood flooring offers hardwood flooring in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area. Call now for more information.