Prized for its natural warmth and reliable performance, timber flooring represents a quarter of the flooring market. Within this category, engineered timber flooring has emerged as a preferred choice due to its superior stability and durability, and a natural look that is almost indistinguishable from solid timber. Not all engineered timber flooring performs the same however; product type, species, composition, installation method and the climatic conditions of the install environment all affect performance and stability. In today’s market, sustainability and health requirements must also be considered.
With the growth of engineered timber products on the market, it is critical for architects, designers and specifiers to know what to look for when choosing the solution best suited to their intended application. Leading timber supplier Big River Group has released an informative guide to specifying engineered timber flooring for architects and specifiers titled, Australian Native: A Specifier’s Guide to Engineered Flooring.
Engineered timber vs solid timber
Engineered timber is comprised of a decorative surface layer of timber, called a veneer or lamella, bonded over a timber substrate. By comparison, solid timber floors consist of planks made out of solid pieces of wood and is the more traditional style for flooring. The processes of layering, compression and lamination used to manufacture engineered timber provide additional stability and durability to the end product. Every board is created by bonding together layers of wood, creating a solid core board. The core is then covered with a real wood top layer or lamella. This construction makes engineered timber less susceptible to warping and bowing while maintaining a high degree of structural integrity.
The impact of the install environment
Australia has a diverse range of climates across the country and the location – climatic conditions and the specifics of the interior space – is critical to successful timber flooring specification and installation. Heat, cold and humidity fluctuations may cause timber to shrink, expand and/or swell, causing the floorboards to move and warp. Solid timber flooring is more susceptible to movement than engineered timber, which is more resistant to climatic changes provided it is specified correctly.
Design considerations
- Stability – Enhanced stability is a key advantage that engineered timber has over solid timber. However, not all engineered products perform the same in this regard. For example, three-ply and multi-ply products have different structural characteristics that will impact their suitability for an application. The composition and species used in a board should also be considered whereby some engineered timber products have a core that is a different species to the face lamella and the face lamella may have a different density to the core.
A core that is the same species as the face lamella results in a product that has superior balance and stability. One of the most stable engineered floors in Australia and New Zealand is Big River Group’s Armourfloor; its base board is the same species as the face veneer, providing optimum balance and stability. - Durability – The durability of engineered timber products is influenced by several factors such as surface finish, thickness of top layer, timber hardness and the quality of installation and maintenance.
- Quality of lamella – The lamella can be made of any species of wood. A stable lamella is essential for a high quality engineered timber floor. The main options for cutting the solid wood lamella layer are dry, solid sawn, rotary cut or peel and sliced cut or peel.
- Aesthetics – High quality engineered timber retains the aesthetic of real wood. Different species and manufacturing methods will result in different looks. Engineered timber flooring also tends to have more stylistic variations than solid timber flooring. As a natural product, engineered timber is subject to some degree of colour variation and there will be natural variations in knots, grain and sap marks.
- Installation method – Engineered timber flooring is installed using either the floating or glue-down installation method. The choice should be determined by the species of the flooring product, cost and time constraints. All installations should follow the manufacturer’s specifications and guidelines.
- Sustainability – Sustainable product certification and Chain of Custody (CoC) of forest products help specifiers identify timber products that are sourced and produced in a sustainable manner. Buying local manufactured engineered timber products is more sustainable than importing products in the same category.
Armourfloor engineered flooring
Manufactured in Australia, Armourfloor is a stable timber floor. The product is manufactured using a five-layer, cross-ply construction – a quality that enables Armourfloor to perform to expectations in all geographical locations. No expansion is required through the floor unless the area exceeds 15 meters in length and width, although perimeter expansion gaps are still required. The rotary-peeled lamella on Armourfloor opens the grain, giving a distinctive flowing appearance and is unique in appearance compared to conventional back sawn products. As a raw uncoated product, Armourfloor must be coated in-situ, enabling the use of different finishes to be applied to produce desired sheen levels. Finishes, such as polyurethanes, oils or wax, can be chosen based on the specifics of the application.
Engineered timber technology has improved greatly over recent decades, resulting in superior performing flooring materials that boast high levels of inherent stability and durability, and greater resistance to temperature and moisture than solid timber. Leading quality products, such as Armourfloor by Big River Group, also offer a natural look that is almost indistinguishable from a solid plank floor.
All Big River engineered flooring and plywood is milled from managed regrowth and plantation forest hardwoods. Big River hardwood is Australian Forestry Standard (AFS) certified.
Big River’s pre-finished engineered flooring comes with a lifetime warranty against warping, buckling or bond failure and a 20 year limited warranty for the finish against wear-through under normal residential usage.
Source: Architecture - architectureau
