Hardwood floor enthusiasts are beginning to recognize the benefits of engineered hardwood floors for their home. With a factory applied, extremely durable finish and structural strength that allows it to be placed anywhere in the home, engineered flooring such as Somerset’s SolidPlus® has become a wise choice.
The Engineering Makes SolidPlus a Structurally Strong Product
As everyone knows, all wood carries a long, linear grain. With SolidPlus engineered hardwood, eight layers of wood are sandwiched together in a crisscross pattern. This pattern with wood grain alternating lengthwise and crosswise makes for a very stable surface. Specially designed resins are used to adhere the layers to each other and ensure extra stability and bond.
In fact, the crisscrossed layers minimize the expansion and contraction that solid hardwood floors experience. Floor expansion and contraction in wider planks is readily apparent to the eye and cannot be avoided in solid hardwood flooring.
Minimizing expansion and contraction also allows a SolidPlus floor to be installed below grade in basements or over radiant heating systems. Somerset is so confident in the structural integrity of its engineered floors that it offers a limited lifetime warranty on its structure.
Comparing the Finish of a Solid Wood Floor and a SolidPlus Floor
Somerset is proud to challenge its customers to tell the difference between its solid wood products and its engineered wood products. It is nearly impossible because the top layer or “wear” layer of the SolidPlus is actually dry sawn hardwood, the same as with a solid wood plank.
Because the finish is applied at the factory, it is applied under optimal conditions. It is applied evenly with UV curing methods.
Where a finish applied in the home relies only on air for drying and curing, a factory finish can offer superior durability. The factory finish is why Somerset can offer a 50 year limited warranty on its finish. In the event the flooring may need to be refinished, Somerset has made the wear layer sufficiently thick to allow for refinishing, addressing one of the disadvantages of some engineered floors.
Wood Species and Finish Colors for all Tastes
SolidPlus flooring is available in all popular wood species, such as walnut, red oak, white oak, hickory and maple. A wide array of finish colors is also available, from natural to more exotic finishes such as Spice, Nutmeg and Greystone.
Sheens are available from high gloss to matte. Plank widths vary from the more traditional 3¼ inch width to wider planks of up to seven inches.
The plus in SolidPlus refers to the appearance of solid hardwood PLUS the benefits of engineered construction added benefits of its product and the versatility adds up to a big plus for those in the hardwood floor market.
For more information on Somerset Hardwood Floors visit their website – www.somersetfloors.com
Click HERE to learn more about SOLID VS. SolidPlus®
And you can download the Somerset SolidPlus® Engineered Flooring PDF – HERE