Flooring Construction Types

Before purchasing wood flooring for a room or rooms in your home, you may look at the overall aesthetic value that it will add. However, you might not look a little deeper to find out the exact composition of the wood. Many people do not because they do not think it matters. However, the more you know about the wood flooring the better equipped you are to maintain it and look after it so that it lasts for years and years.

There are several types of floor construction and the diagrams and numbered layers will give you a quick guide as to what each type includes:

Laminate Wood Flooring

• The protective top layer/overlay is a transparent layer that creates durability and a resistance to wearing. It is made of cellulose and resin.
• The design layer is a photo of real wood or a tile, which is then embedded in the resin. It is designed to give a natural and extremely attractive finish.
• The water resistant glued HDF board is designed to give the wood flooring a resistance to moisture that other wood flooring types do not have. It is much stronger than chipboard because it is high density. As such, it is much solid.
• The resin underlayer is made of melamine and is embedded in layer, which gives a moisture resistant character to the flooring to act as a barrier between the subfloor and layers above.

Alloc Laminate Wood Flooring

Laminate wood flooring usually has four layers, but Alloc laminate wood flooring has eight layers, which is amazing in itself. The layers are:

• Water resistant overlay
• Melamine impregnated decorative sheet
• Layers of treated Kraft paper
• HDF (High Density Fibreboard) core – Alloc aqua resist
• Sealed edges via wax impregnation
• Stabilizing layer of HPL (High Pressure Laminate)
• Patented aluminium locking system
• Alloc silent system underlay

Engineered HDF Core

• The top layer is the finish of your choice, which will consist of around 6 coats of oil or lacquer depending on the look you want.
• The wear layer is between 2.5 and 3.5mm. It can be sanded between 3 and 5 times to refinish.
• The HDF core is next to give a little stability and ensure that it holds its shape. This is the element that allows it to feature the click system.
• Finally there is a layer to further stabilise it. This layer is 1mm thick and actually minimises the movement and swelling.

Engineered Softwood Core

• The top layer of the board is your chosen finish. Again, this is around 6 coats of lacquer or oil.
• The wear layer is between 2.5 and 4mm. This can be sanded between 3 and 6 times.
• The softwood core section is designed to add stability and durability as well as helping it maintain its shape over the years.
• The stabilising layer is 1mm of spruce to prevent seasonal change to the wood that could cause damage.

Engineered Plywood Core

• The top layer is again your chosen finish of 6 coats of lacquer or oil.
• The wear layer on this engineered wood flooring is between 3.5mm and 6mm, meaning you can sand it between 6 and 10 times.
• The core section is made of plywood so it has a stability that is superior to other cores. It is also extremely strong and durable. This is perfect for attaching it to joists or for use with underfloor heating.
• The bottom layer is a stabilising layer of spruce to help minimise movement.

Solid Construction

Solid wood flooring is literally one piece of wood so there are no layers as such. It is hardwood timber of 15mm, 18mm or 20mm thick and between 90mm and 180mm wide. You can choose unfinished solid wood flooring or pre-finished with oil or lacquer, depending on your preference.