Features

How solid & engineered stack up

Thursday, April 25, 2019

Mercier’s Naked series offers walnut in solid and engineered formats.

Although sales of engineered wood continue to outpace solid wood, the latter will always hold a valuable share in the market. Choosing one product over the other isn’t about determining which is better, but rather which best addresses an individual consumer’s specific needs.

For example, Brian Parker, director of product management at AHF Products, noted “The typical homeowner, if you ask them to choose between engineered or solid in markets that have both, they will prefer solid. Solid wood floors are still the flooring of choice for many people … it generally lasts longer, often looks better and can be sanded and refinished.”

The introduction of engineered wood brought the category greater flexibility. With a variety of plywood cores optimized to resist extreme moisture and temperature fluctuations, engineered options offer greater board widths and lengths, more versatile species and ease of maintenance, facilitating its continued growth.

“Engineered hardwood offers the best combination of features and benefits for homeowners. The ease and flexibility of installation, the rock-solid stability and the uniformity of each plank,” shared Misael Tagle, CEO and co-founder of Duchateau. “The most common objection about engineered wood is that it does not offer the recoloring or refinishing flexibility of solid hardwood.”

Like all flooring products, executives stressed, education is key to selling hardwood today.

A solid value
Solid wood is increasingly operating more as a niche product. Many of the larger flooring manufacturers have lessened their business in solid wood. For example, Shaw Floors recently sold its solid wood facilities this year.

But that’s simply part of end users having a better understanding of the nuances of solid wood — it really isn’t for everyone. For those suppliers specializing in hardwood, solid wood still makes up nearly or equal to half of business.

“We sell more solid than engineered,” noted Mario St-Pierre marketing director of Boa-Franc, makers of Mirage. “There are some pockets where customers want solid and some want engineered. When we were in Pennsylvania, Delaware and Virginia, solid was what everyone wanted. But in Los Angeles, no one is going to talk to you about solid. For us, though, solid is more prevalent than engineered.”

Still in demand, solid wood is more or less reserved to the East Coast, particularly in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Other areas of interest include the Midwest, Northwest and northern California — north of the Mason Dixon, and the percentage of solid sold is greater than engineered. Echoed David Lauzon Jr. sales manager at Lauzon Flooring, “We see the biggest amount of solid wood products being sold in the Northern portion of the U.S. We believe this is due to the more suitable type of home construction, wood subfloors versus concrete slabs, and the type of looks people want to achieve.”

“We still do very well in the solid market and believe there will always be a place for solid,” added Wade Bondowski, U.S. sales for Mercier. “We have focused on wider, 4 ¼ solid.”

In fact, overall hardwood trends — cyclical in nature — have started to return to traditional visuals: warmer colors and narrower boards.

“I think ¾-inch solid flooring is still good long term and won’t go out of style,” offered Tommy Maxwell of Maxwell Hardwood. “In general, it is a better product, including engineered — and I sell engineered. I think solid long term is a better product.”

That’s what solid wood is, a long-term investment. It often adds greater value to the home, is inherently durable and provides an ageless, elegant and high-quality look.

Engineered for growth
Brondowski at noted that its engineered business continues to grow at double digit increases. Ultimately, that boils down to the fact that engineered is suited for a greater number of people’s lifestyles and climates.

“We’re continuing to see engineered taking even more share from solid strongholds. There’s a lot more from an innovation standpoint of what you can do with engineered,” said Adam Ward, hardwood and laminate, Mohawk. “Overwhelming, what we hear from consumers when they’re buying a hardwood product is that they want a natural and authentic product first and foremost, but then it also gets down to the other features — is it easy to clean? Is it easy to maintain? Is it easy to install? We’re working on those qualifications.”

And for retailers and builders, engineered is easier on the mind. “There are more installation opportunities with engineered wood, so retailers are more comfortable putting a glue down floor in than a nail down floor,” added Maxwell.

Other limitations of solid that engineered has improved on is visual versatility. “When you buy a solid wood product, you’re essentially buying the tree,” explained Herb Upton, vice president of hard surface, Shaw. “There are width and cut limitations, as you produce solid wood you can’t control the composites, the visuals, the knots — it can be a complicated supply chain.”

But, suppliers said, engineered can utilize wood veneers such as pine, walnut or even species like acacia.

In fact, engineered can off a similar look and feel as solid wood, according to Lauzon. The company supplies and engineered wood with a 5.2 mm veneer. “The thick veneer can be sanded almost the same amount of times as your solid wood floor,” said Lauzon. “If you go with an engineered product, always make sure to be well educated on the type of engineered product purchases, this is where the real value lies: “Thickness of the top veneer [and] provenance of each part of the construction.”

/Uploads/Public/Duchateau-Herringbone-byBarryGrossman.jpg