We read the spec sheet for the veneer thickness in mils. That number decides whether the floor can ever be sanded.
We check plywood for flatness and squeaks, and slabs for moisture. Low spots get self-leveller before a plank goes down.
Glue-down, floating click-lock, or staple. The core, the subfloor, and the room all point to one of the three.
Doorways, stair nosing, reducers to carpet, the toe kick under cabinets, and the door swing all get measured first.
Engineered plank usually meets carpet somewhere, and the stairs are where it shows. We set the finished floor height first, then pick the stair nosing so the top tread sits level with the plank instead of standing proud of it. If a runner is going down the stairs, we match the wood tone to the binding and keep the reducer at the doorway low and tight. Ask us to price the wood and the runner together.
We check sunlight, pets, kids, and which floors join up, then narrow the samples to what will survive.
We measure flatness with a straightedge and moisture in the slab or plywood before we commit to a method.
Boxes sit in the room, opened, until the plank matches your house. Skipping this is why floors gap in January.
We run the boards, hold the expansion gap at the walls, then fit reducers, stair nosing, and transition strips.
A 6 mil veneer will never be sanded. A 3 mm layer takes one or two passes. Ask the number before you fall for the color.
A plywood core takes staples or glue. An HDF core with click-lock usually floats over underlayment. The core picks the method.
Wide plank looks calmer in a big room and moves more with humidity. We glue wide boards down rather than float them.
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Put two oak planks side by side and you cannot tell them apart. One has a 6 mil veneer glued to a fiberboard core. The other has a 3 mm sawn top over plywood. The first is finished when the finish wears through. The second can be sanded and stained twenty years from now. Ask for the wear layer number, in mils or millimeters, before you fall in love with a color.
The core matters just as much. Plywood cores take staples and glue. HDF cores with a click-lock edge are built to float over underlayment. If you already have wood down and it is solid, hardwood floor refinishing may cost less than replacing it.
We check the subfloor before we quote a method. On plywood we run a straightedge, screw down the squeaks, and sand off ridges. On a slab we take a moisture reading and flatten low spots with self-leveller. Then we pick between glue-down, floating over underlayment, and stapling.
Wide boards get glued. A 7 inch plank floating over foam moves and telegraphs every dip. Then the wood sits in your house, boxes open, until it matches the humidity of the room. That acclimation step is why floors gap in January, and it costs nothing but patience.
Engineered wood almost always meets something else. Carpet in the bedrooms, tile in the bath, a stair landing at the top of the flight. Each junction needs a reducer, a transition strip, or a stair nosing, and each one has a height. We measure the finished heights together so no doorway ends up with a lip you catch your toe on.
For solid plank, compare hardwood flooring installation. For a first budget, run the carpet and flooring cost calculator, then call +1 240 751 5542.
No. The top of an engineered plank is real sawn wood over a plywood or HDF core. Laminate is a printed photo under a plastic wear layer. You can sand some engineered floors; you can never sand laminate.
Usually yes, and that is engineered wood's advantage over solid plank. We test the slab for moisture, put down a moisture barrier or a moisture-blocking adhesive, and flatten anything out of tolerance first.
That depends entirely on the wear layer thickness. Around 3 mm or more gives you a sanding or two. Thin veneers can be screened and recoated but not sanded to bare wood. We tell you which one you are buying.
Glue-down feels solid underfoot and stays put under wide boards. Floating goes faster and works well over a subfloor we do not want to fasten into. The product spec and your subfloor decide, not preference alone.