Engineered Wood Floors Comparison

This section is designed to make you an informed buyer of hardwood flooring. These are the facts as to how wood floors are made well and how they are made badly. These are the facts as to where they come from and how long they are likely to last. Finally these are the facts to make sure that when you venture out to buy a floor that you will be happy with it for years to come, and don't end up with something that will disappoint.

	The Wide Plank Co 20mm Engineered Boards	Low quality/inferior version 20mm Engineered Boards
Construction	6mm European Oak on 14mm Birch Ply	4mm Chinese Oak on poplar core with poplar back layeror on 6mm Chinese Oak wear layer on mixed species plywood back layer
Bonding	Epi glued and cold pressed for the best bonding results* Every board is tested to check that it is properly bonded A sample of boards are laboratory tested each week to monitor how thebonding works in extreme conditions. Testing in undertaken at Akzo Noble laboratories	Quickly hot pressed with a wide variety of chemical adhesives, containingformaldehyde and other harmful toxins. The risk of delamination is far higherwith this type of pressing. Glues are heavily diluted and under applied to save money
Hardwoodlayer	The hardwood wear layer is produced as per a solid oak board. This means that it is airdried, kiln dried and then sawn into a 6mm wear layer. The process produces a board that has the same grain appearance of a solid board. It is also very important that the wear layer is calibrated to a consistent thickness as this avoids thick spots in the board and in turn means that the board is not evenly pressed and also inconsistently bonded.	The hardwood layer is produced totally differently. Oak logs are soaked in hot water to soften the timber. Once soft the logs are rotary sliced with a veneer knife into layers anything from 3.5mm to 6mm thick. This process turns the Oak a darker, grey colour. The rotary cutting procedure means that each board is taken from around the outside of the log. This produces a bland looking veneer. All of the wear layers look the same, none show the normal grain patterns that you would get in a hardwood layer sawn from a plank.
Core layer	Birch Ply. 10 core layer bonded together Each layer is a made with a complete piece of veneer Controlled veneer thickness All birch, not mixed species. Extra resistance and increased stability due to 10 layer construction of high quality plywood FSC® certified plywood	Poplar block board version: Poplar is a soft low tensile timber The block board construction is comprised of a thick section of poplar that makes up the structural part of the board, bonded to a 2mm poplar veneer on the back of the veneer. This is the standard construction for a non-structural floating floor, but with a thicker core layer . Even though the board looks thicker it is not as strong as it looks. The core layer is just strips laid next to each other and unlike a plywood construction offers no structural support. Far Eastern Plywood version All different wood species are bonded together to make low cost plywood. Stable plywood should be made by bonding only the same species together. You can tell when different wood species have been used by: (1) the board can be very heavy, (2) The ply layers are all different colours. Each layer of the plywood should be bonded with a single sheet of veneer, however the cost of the plywood can be reduced by mixing in off cuts in between each layer. The veneers are inaccurately cut so the thickness of the final sheet varies. All the veneers should be the same thickness to produce a stable plywood If you can see on the back of the board that the plywood has been heavily sanded, then it is unlikely to have been properly produced. Wood sourced from dubious locations with no documentation.
length	2200mm/2000mm packs with one nested layer Three Ply up to 3500mm long	Usually 1890mm long with nested layers
thickness	20mm	18mm sometimes 20mm
Width	140, 160, 180, 200, 220mm (200, 250 and 300mm with Oak core)	148mm/189mm sometimes 220mm
machining	High tech moulded and quality checked	Poor quality profiling with lipping between different boards on the surface. Difficult to fit tongues and grooves
Bowing	Well balanced moisture content of the wear layer and core layer. Each board is left to rest for a day after bonding to settle. The reverse of the board is saw cut every 200mm to produce a consistently flat board.	Excessive variations in the moisture content of the wear layer and core layer cause the boards to heavily bow, twist, cup and crown.
Width variation	Precisely machined to +/- 0.25mm	Sold as +/- 1mm - i.e. can have 2mm gaps between boards and still be within manufacturers parameters
Wear layer	6mm after sanding	Varies 3.5mm to 6mm
Drying	Air dried for 6 months Slowly Kiln dried 8-10% to British Standard BS8201	Fast dried in veneer chamber in 45mins.
Oil Finish	Two coats of natural oil, properly dried between coats.	One coat of a petro chemically derived oil Difficult to clean, attracts dirt that becomes ingrained
Lacquer finish	Eight coats of non-toxic lacquer, applied and dried on modern coating line * Built up with proper basecoats for extra wear protection * Light natural appearance with high durability	Usually applied with a basic curtain coater This pours lacquer on to the board rather than applies monitored quantities. No sanding or drying between coats producing heavy lacquer with poor scratch and impact resistance Lacquer splits rather than folds into dents.Once the oak is not fully protected from dirt/water it turns black.
Other treatments	Antique distressed, fumed, double fumed, neutral lacquered, brushed and oiled, french grey, weathered, and many more to order.	Narrow range of options normally offered
Type of Oak	True European Oak. Beautiful bright wood with proper characteristics of grain, knots and colour.	Might be called oak, but apart from it being a similar colour to European oak shares no other properties it is softer and a dull grey colour.* Looks lifeless with no nicely formed knots and no attractive grain
Source	FSC certified Chain of custody maintained from forest to customer for both oak and plywood.	Arrives from the port of Felixstowe in a white box. Where it has actually come form is anybody's guess. To be able to sell for such low prices most of the raw material that goes into these products comes from dubious sources from all over the world..
Certification	Professional and legal approach to documenting where timber comes from with far-reaching consequences for organisations that flout the rules	Many sellers claim to be FSC certified or PEFC certified – demand a copy of their FSC certificate or PEFC certificate – if their name is not on the certificate, they are not certified. Insist that their delivery and sales documentation clearly specifies whether a product is FSC certified or PEFC certified.
Energy	Energy produced to kiln wood, heat warehouses (often also to produce electricity) from recycling wood waste.	Inefficient coal fired power stations used to produce power for drying, heating and running machinery.
Road Miles	By truck from Europe 7-900 miles	1000 miles from Northern province by truck to Chinese port 3000 miles by container ship and then from Felixstowe to your supplier and then to you
Human resources	Properly paid employees, with proper holidays and working in good conditions.	Labour rates from $50 per month, 15 hrs per day, 7 days per week, 51 weeks per year.
Service	Our products are continually available, even with special finishing or grading requirements. If you buy a floor and need some more this will never be a problem	With 12 week delivery times and manufacturers closing down every day continuity of supply is a major issue. Product specifications continually change and if no stock is available the wait can be long - even if you only need one pack!
Cost	With the value of the Euro increasing, purchasing your wood floor from this source is more expensive, but if you want a real wood floor, made in a traditional way from wood that has been responsibly sourced in accordance with a Forest Stewardship Council - then this is the floor for you!	With a total disregard for the environment and a focus on doing nothing more than turning our worlds forests ' resources' into cash, this product cynically purports to be a lifelong investment, when it is nothing of the sort. If you are happy to turn a blind eye to purchase a product you know is poor quality and will not last for long, then at £18m2 this is the floor for you!

At Ted Todd we are clearly committed to supplying wood floors that will last a lifetime and that do not have massive hidden environmental costs. We believe that our wood floors are the very best type of floor covering, they are beautiful to look at, warm to walk on and last for generations. You will never regret buying such a floor.