No matter what engineered hardwood flooring you buy, it will contain a top (or “wear”) layer, backed by a number of layers of plywood core material. The wear layer, which you will see and walk directly on each day is, in most engineered flooring products, generally a one-to-three millimeter-thick lamella of hardwood.
But at Vermont Plank Flooring, we insist on a five-millimeter lamella, and we mill that lamella from the same high-quality, sustainably harvested trees that produce our solid hardwood planks. This thickness and quality relate directly to the lifespan of the floor. The thicker and higher grade the wear layer, the more times the flooring has the potential for sanding and refinishing.
While refinishing a hardwood floor is not something you want to do very often (the average floor is refinished every 15-20 years), it’s nice to know that your floor has the potential for rejuvenation if it is showing a lot of wear.
With a 5-millimeter wear layer, you have the capability of performing four to six sandings and refinishings, ultimately providing for a 60- to 120-year lifespan for your floor. Thinner lamellas will allow for fewer refinishings and, as a result, will need replacement sooner.
Below the wear layer is the core. While most manufacturers utilize thin layers of plywood for the core, their products vary in how many layers, and in the quality of those layers. Anywhere from three to nine layers of plywood is the industry standard, but at Vermont Plank Flooring, we use 11 layers.
Most of our competition uses regular-grade plywood, which typically includes layers with flaws and voids. But we insist on the highest-quality cabinet-grade plywood. These solid void-free veneer layers are 1.5-millimeters thick and cross-banded, making a flatter, more balanced, and highly stable sheet.
All of these layers are glued together. Most manufacturers rely on formaldehyde-based glues, which are strong, but they off-gas potentially harmful fumes. We use only formaldehyde-free adhesives in our engineered products because we value the health of our workers and our customers.