How Is Hardwood Flooring Made?

Key Takeaways

• Solid hardwood is cut from one solid piece of wood, while engineered hardwood pairs a real wood top layer with a stable, layered core underneath.
• Both types start as real trees, and understanding how they're made can help you pick the floor that fits your home and your family's needs.

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Hardwood floors bring warmth, character, and a timeless look to any room. But have you ever wondered what actually goes into making a hardwood floor? It's a lot more involved than cutting down a tree and laying planks across your living room.

We're here to help you make sense of your flooring options, starting with how hardwood is actually made. Read on to explore the process behind solid and engineered hardwood, and how to figure out which one is right for your home.

How Solid Hardwood Flooring Is Made

From tree to finished plank, here's how solid hardwood flooring comes together:

Selecting and Grading the Wood

Once a tree is cut down and turned into logs, each log gets closely examined for quality. Graders look at how tight the wood grain is and how many knots show up in the wood. Tighter grain and fewer knots generally mean a higher quality plank.

Cutting the Planks

Logs that pass grading get cut into planks using one of three methods, and each one gives the wood a slightly different look and level of durability.

• Flat or plain sawn is the most common method and produces the classic wood grain pattern most people picture when they think of hardwood floors.
• Quarter sawn cuts the log into quarters first, then slices those quarters into strips. This method produces a straighter, more uniform grain pattern.
• Rift sawn also cuts the log at an angle before slicing it into strips, but from a different angle than quarter sawn. It's typically the most labor intensive method and produces some of the most durable, stable planks available.

Shaping and Finishing

Once the planks are cut, they're smoothed to remove saw marks and leveled for a consistent thickness. Tongue and groove edges are cut into each plank so they fit snugly together, edge to edge, once installed. From there, many planks go through an optional distressing process, done by hand or machine, to create a worn, hand-scraped look.

Finally, each plank gets a protective finish through staining or sealing, which can happen before or after installation depending on whether you choose pre-finished or unfinished flooring.

How Engineered Hardwood Flooring Is Made

Engineered hardwood goes through two separate manufacturing processes that come together at the very end, one for the core and one for the visible wood layer on top.

Building the Core Board

The core sits underneath the real wood layer and gives engineered hardwood its extra stability. It's built from several layers of plywood, glued together with each layer's grain running in the opposite direction from the one below it.

This crisscross pattern is what helps engineered hardwood resist the expanding and contracting that solid wood can experience with changes in humidity. The finished result of this gluing and stacking process is called the core board.

Cutting the Top Wood Layer

While the core board comes together, a separate process creates the thin, real wood layer that will sit on top, known as the wear layer. This layer can be cut using one of three methods:

• Dry solid sawn produces the tightest grain and looks and feels the most like solid wood. The wood is dried slowly at low humidity, which helps prevent cupping, when the edges of a plank start to curl.
• Rotary peel involves boiling the log, then scraping and pressing it flat to create the veneer. This method can be more prone to cupping than dry solid sawn.
• Sliced peel also starts with boiling the log, but the wood is sliced from the end of the log and pressed until a thin veneer forms.

Putting It All Together

Once the core board and the top wood layer are both ready, they're glued together under pressure. The edges are then cut with tongue and groove or click-lock profiles, which lets the planks snap together for an easy, glue-less installation in many cases.

Like solid hardwood, engineered planks can go through an optional distressing process for an antique look, and they receive the same kind of protective staining or sealing finish before they're ready for your home.

How to Choose the Right Hardwood for Your Home

With so many wood species, plank sizes, and finishes out there, picking the right hardwood can feel like a lot. Here's a few things worth thinking through:

• Wood species. Oak, maple, hickory, and walnut are popular choices, each with its own grain pattern, hardness, and color range. Harder species tend to hold up better in busy households.
• Room and subfloor conditions. Solid hardwood does best in rooms above ground level with a stable subfloor, usually plywood, since it's nailed or glued down directly. Engineered hardwood's stability makes it a better fit for basements, over concrete, or in homes with radiant heat.
• How you plan to install it. Solid hardwood is typically nailed down to a wood subfloor. Engineered hardwood offers more flexibility, with nail-down, glue-down, and click-lock floating installation all on the table depending on the product.
• Finish and appearance. Both types come pre-finished or unfinished, and both can be found with hand-scraped or smooth finishes depending on the look you want for your space.

Bringing It Home

Now that you know what goes into every solid or engineered plank, you're in a great spot to choose a floor that fits your home and your life for years to come.

Still have questions about which type of hardwood is right for your home, or ready to see some options in person? Our team knows this stuff inside and out, and we love helping our neighbors like you find a floor that fits their space, their budget, and their family's day to day life. Don't wait to contact us today and find the hardwood floor that feels like home.

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