Choosing the Thickness of the Wear layer on an Engineered Floor.

The thickness of the wear layer depends on a number of factors:

1. Choose the right wood Species

Oak is much harder than Pine! Clearly the harder the top wear layer, the more wear resistantant and robust the floor will be. The Janka Hardness Test is used to measures the resistance of a sample of wood to denting and wear.

Oak is by far the most common wood species in the UK wooden flooring market.

2.The amount of traffic that the floor will have to cope with:

Clearly if a floor is going to be in a very high traffic area, the likelihood that it will need a light sand and refinish to keep it looking perfect, is greater than a floor that has very little traffic and which is less likely to need refurbishing. One can therefore argue that a thicker wear layer may enhance longevity.

3.The type of finish:

Some finishes are only achievable in a factory and are either very hard (or even impossible) to replicate in situ.

In these cases, the correct maintenance regime is usually more important than the thickness of the wear layer as sanding the floor will remove everything that you have bought the floor for and will strip the surface back to bare wood.

Absolutely fine, if you don’t mind having a different looking floor!

That said, for a finish that is readily replicable in situ, such as a simple clear or coloured oil or clear lacquer, then having the extra material afforded by a thicker wear layer will allow more frequent or more aggressive sanding should it be needed.

Additionally, some finishes are harder and more wear resistant than others and are therefore less prone to needing refurbishment.

4.The construction of the substrate:

Some substrates are more dense and robust than others, for example Plywood or HDF (High Density Fibreboard) are denser than Spruce.

The significance of this is that a thinner wear layer on a more robust substrate (e.g. 2.5mm on HDF) may perform better than a 3mm wear layer on a softer core).

5.Sanding

Lightly removing the Oiled or Lacquered finish for a refresh can take off as little as 0.75mm however a more aggresive sand to remove dents can mean removing 1.5mm.

Please bear all of the above in mind .

In a nutshell:

A floor in a domestic setting will often find that a 3mm or 4mm wear layer with a softwood core will be more than adequate, as will a 2.5mm floor on an HDF core.

High traffic areas may want to move up to a 4mm to 6mm wear layer with a more robust core (possibly Plywood) but taking into account the finish.

If you would like any advice, please call Upton Wood Flooring

For more information on Choosing the Thickness of the Wear layer on an Engineered Floor talk to Upton Wood Flooring Ltd