Manufacture

• Wood floors can be made two ways. They can be natural wood boards or engineered wood floors, which are made by gluing and laminating anywhere from three to nine thin planks of wood together. Laminate floors do not have any wood. They are a combination of resin and recycled material that has a picture of wood or stone glued on top. It is then laminated together under high pressure.
  
  

Installation

• Natural wood floors are nailed down to a subfloor. Engineered wood can be glued, stapled or nailed-down, or can be installed as a floating floor. Natural wood should only be used above grade, while engineered wood can be installed on all grades. Natural wood needs to be installed with a gap on the sides for expansion, while engineered wood can go right to the wall. Laminate floors are installed as floating floors.
  
  

Features

• Natural wood floors and non-allergenic, react to changes in humidity and can be affected by sunlight. Engineered wood floors do not react to humidity, but should not be exposed to much sunlight either. Wood floors can be installed over radiant heating systems. Wood floors can scratch easily. Laminate floors are more scratch resistant. Laminate floors resist damage from sunlight and they also can be installed over radiant heating systems.
  
  

Care

• Wood floors should not be cleaned with water. They need to be polished. Laminate floors never need to be polished.
  
  

Life Span

• The life span of both wood floors and laminate floors is almost the same. For wood floors, it is 25 years and for laminate, it is 20.