The three most common types of wood flooring are Solid 3/4 " hardwood, special engineered hardwood and laminate flooring.  We will touch on bamboo flooring as well, this replenishable product is quickly gaining in popularity, and looks really appealing. 
                                                
                                                    For best quality viewing, double click on an image below.

                             Laminate Images

                               Bamboo Images

             

              

                  Solid Hardwood

     First we have solid 3/4 " hardwwod, which is natural hardwood cut and milled to strip (2 1/4" to 3 1/4" wide boards) or plank (4' to up to 10" sometimes even wider boards) flooring.  The boards are grooved on one side and end and tongued on the other to allow the boards to lock into place.  Solid flooring can be nailed, glued or floated as a fastening method but only on or above grade (ground) level, and only to a OSB or plywood subfloor. This floor type can be factory or site finished.









   

       Special Engineered Hardwood

     Engineered wood is essentially a veneer, or thin layer of solid hardwood glued to plywood.  This makes S.E. wood much more resilient with regards to moisture.  For you that translates into a product that can be installed below grade as well as on or above, and it can be installed over concrete.  This is the preferred product when using glue as a fastener or floating the floor, but it can be nailed as well.  This floor type can be factory or site finished.






                   



                      
                       Laminate

Laminate is constructed of  several layers of high density fiber board and an image layer with a factory wear layer on top.  Laminate floors can be floated as an installation method, they are glued or locked together over a soft sound dampening underlayment.  By most, laminate flooring is not considered a hardwood flooring at all, but it is a very inexpensive way to get the look of hardwood. 


                     




                    


 

                       Bamboo

Bamboo is a renewable resource that regrows in its environment very quickly.  Seen by many as a green product, this flooring type is a great alternative to hardwood.  Bamboo is a solid product, glued together strip by strip, then milled to the same specifications as engineered wood. It generally comes 5/8" thick, 3" to 5" wide and is three feet long.  There are two different grain patterns to choose from, illustrated on the left. While this product generally comes factory finished, a site finish is also possible.