Is engineered and semi-solid flooring the same thing?

ThePiedPiper

Hi,
This might or might not be obvious but I can't figure out if there is any difference between semi-solid and engineered wood flooring..

We want to put in some wooden floors; not going to put in solid because we've got underfloor heating so looking instead at semi-solid and engineered..

Is there a difference though apart from price? The oak semi solids I've priced are €15.95 a sq yard while engineered oak is about twice that price..

Any advice would be appreciated.. thanks..

sinnerboy

both terms are used to describe a 4-6 mm solid timber bonded to a substrate - plywood or block board

so as generic terms they are interchangable . but actual products and costs vary - always obtain samples to compare

ThePiedPiper

thanks for that sinnerboy... so, the semi-solid should be fine with UFH then so.. cheers.

reilig

RunForestRun wrote: »

thanks for that sinnerboy... so, the semi-solid should be fine with UFH then so.. cheers.

I asked that question here a few weeks ago and got no answer. Went to buy my floors over the weekend and saw the difference. Engineered flooring is just better quality. It is normally a minimum of 6mm of solid timber bonded to ply (or another timber). The guy selling the timber showed me that Engineered was made from solid sawn boards while the semi-solid was made from sawn strips (of oak) and he referred to the semisolid as being made from waste. To be the quality of the engineered board could be told just by holding a sample of both in my hand. Engineered for me.

ThePiedPiper

reilig wrote: »

I asked that question here a few weeks ago and got no answer. Went to buy my floors over the weekend and saw the difference. Engineered flooring is just better quality. It is normally a minimum of 6mm of solid timber bonded to ply (or another timber). The guy selling the timber showed me that Engineered was made from solid sawn boards while the semi-solid was made from sawn strips (of oak) and he referred to the semisolid as being made from waste. To be the quality of the engineered board could be told just by holding a sample of both in my hand. Engineered for me.

So, there is a difference in that case.. a place I was looking at engineered floors had the engineered stuff more expensive than the solid oak flooring.. then another place had the semi-solid at 10 quid cheaper than solid

What sort of money did you pay for a high quality engineered board reilig? I'd be happy enough to spend a few pounds on it if it's good stuff, no point in puttin in stuff that's made of rubbish as your floor guy says...

reilig

Solid came in at €20 per sqm
Engineered came in at €22 per sqm
Semi - solid was €16.

Prices really depend on the width of the boards.

Have a neighbour doing good deals on wood floors at the moment if you're in the North West. He is at least €5 per sqm below any other place on wood floors and tiles.

RunForestRun wrote: »

So, there is a difference in that case.. a place I was looking at engineered floors had the engineered stuff more expensive than the solid oak flooring.. then another place had the semi-solid at 10 quid cheaper than solid

What sort of money did you pay for a high quality engineered board reilig? I'd be happy enough to spend a few pounds on it if it's good stuff, no point in puttin in stuff that's made of rubbish as your floor guy says...

ThePiedPiper

reilig wrote: »

Solid came in at €20 per sqm
Engineered came in at €22 per sqm
Semi - solid was €16.

Prices really depend on the width of the boards.

Have a neighbour doing good deals on wood floors at the moment if you're in the North West. He is at least €5 per sqm below any other place on wood floors and tiles.

Thanks Reilig, we live in the Northeast and find it hard enough to get time to travel anywhere with baby and house being priorities so doing most shopping locally... thanks for the advice though.. my OH was looking at nice engineered oak flooring at 35 per sqm at lunch, I think we'll do a bit of bargaining to bring them down a few notches..
cheers..

Mellor

reilig wrote: »

The guy selling the timber showed me that Engineered was made from solid sawn boards while the semi-solid was made from sawn strips (of oak) and he referred to the semisolid as being made from waste.

Either he was twisting the truth to get get you to buy the more expensive boards.
He was misinformed, or;
You misunderstood him.

His description of the two veneers is bizarre,
There are two methods of getting veneers, prehaps thats what he was referng to, but its doesn't sound like it, and he wording is there to make a sale. Any waste used to make semi-solid boards goes into the base, not the finish (veneers that big aren't waste). By the way, waste could be used to make engineered also, depending on base. And lots of engineered structural members are made from waste.

There are differences, and engineered is better, but his way of illustrating it was wrong imo.

reilig

I'm sorry, that's probably my poor description of them rather than his. He showed me the two types of board - engineered and semi solid. The engineered is just better quality and this is the point that I was trying to make.

Mellor wrote: »

Either he was twisting the truth to get get you to buy the more expensive boards.
He was misinformed, or;
You misunderstood him.

His description of the two veneers is bizarre,
There are two methods of getting veneers, prehaps thats what he was referng to, but its doesn't sound like it, and he wording is there to make a sale. Any waste used to make semi-solid boards goes into the base, not the finish (veneers that big aren't waste). By the way, waste could be used to make engineered also, depending on base. And lots of engineered structural members are made from waste.

There are differences, and engineered is better, but his way of illustrating it was wrong imo.

40701085

Hi Reilig,
The prices you got there seem excellent, I'm not far from nth-west & am looking for floors at the moment - would you be able to PM me the guy's details?

PS Were those prices for 14mm or 20mm engineered?

fuchia

Hi Reilig,

Could you pm me also.

Thanks,

Fuchia

Mellor

reilig wrote: »

I'm sorry, that's probably my poor description of them rather than his. He showed me the two types of board - engineered and semi solid. The engineered is just better quality and this is the point that I was trying to make.

Ah, fair enough so. He was probably correct then.

oflynnsflooring

Hello.
Your question is excellent .
Engineered can be used to describe any product with more than 1 layer,hence laminate,semi solid and solid engineered are all engineered.

The term solid engineered usually means 15mm of birch plywood [11 layers]with a 5.5mm/6mm wear layer of hardwood.These are usually sold 6 feet long and 7.5 inches wide.They are termed solid because they are structural ie if you wanted to install them on joists /battens they will support a humans weight.They can be floated on underlay,glued down ,nailed to plywood or stapled.
A semi solid is 14 or 15 mm in total with an approx wear layer of 3mm.
These are usually of pine construction ,3 layers in total.
These must be installed over a solid superstructure ie plywood or concrete.They can not be nailed or will not be suitable on joists.

The advantages of solid engineered is a thicker hardwood layer which when sanded in years to come will not "railroad track" because of its plywood base.Semi solid has a tendency to do this because of its structure.They are more suitable for underfloor heating as they were specifically designed to take stress of heating/cooling and are generally better timbers than their semi solid cousins.
note; there are now floors on the market which are 18 mm thick ,some have 4mm wear lyer,some have 6 mm-classifications get very blurred with this type of flooring
LAMINATE usually has a syntethic surface laid onto a hdf or mdf base,very few have a hardwood layer.
Almost all flooring engineered is suitable for underfloor heating provided it is a hot pipe system which will not exceed 27 degrees celcius.Seperate conditions and warranties apply for electric underfloor heating.
When pricing flooring in general the budget floors are usually from the far east in origin.Flooring which originates in europeor america[Ireland ] will generally be of greater structural integrity,better timber,longer,wider and consequently more expensive.

Regards Ray

BMD

In relation to this post, can semi-solid floors be glued down or is it just engineered that can be glued.

From what I have read a combination of engineered and glue is the best for UFH. Is this correct?

Lemlin

BMD wrote: »

In relation to this post, can semi-solid floors be glued down or is it just engineered that can be glued.

From what I have read a combination of engineered and glue is the best for UFH. Is this correct?

Both semi solid and engineered can be glued.

I was told that the engineered holds heat from the ufh better as it has multiple small layers, whereas semi solid has one thick layer. That said, I was also told that the difference is very small.

I'm going with engineered in my downstairs rooms and semi solid upstairs. Beware buying wood though. I went to one supplier who assured me he didn't sell semi solid, only engineered flooring.

I got samples of the wood and showed them to my carpenter. He said to go back and tell the supplier that five of the six samples I had were semi solid and not engineered. I went back and the supplier admitted I was the first person had realised that in 3 years!