engineered hardwood floor thickness

3 years ago

Hi all, we are doing a new construction and picking out engineered hardwood flooring for the entire 1st and 2nd floor. Is there a major difference between 1/2” or 3/4” thickness?

We are specifically looking at the Sweet Memories line from Mirage and they offer a 6.5” wide in either 1/2” or 3/4” “Trubalance” versions and wonder what is the difference, whether thicker is worth the price difference or not. Both are 5/32 white oak top layer. The 3/4 has SPF quarter sawn core while the 1/2 has 7 layer plywood construction.

Thanks a bunch

Featured Answer

PRO

Uptown Floors

3 years ago

" 3/4" is typically offered only as a matchup to old solid 3/4" flooring. "

And those that install both tile and engineered over a wood subfloor. They both become vertically flush with cement backer board.

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Comments (10)

Timothy Winzell
3 years ago
The surface thickness is what really matters most. Some are going to 3/4" products but IMO the only time it helps is if your area is set up for it and going with a thinner product would require adding a thin layer of plywood. We just finished two projects where 3/4" came out and 5/8" went back it, requiring the addition of a layer of lauan plywood.
Coffee Nut
Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks for the comments. Any difference between the SPF vs Plywood core?
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dan1888
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
SPF isn't defined anywhere I can find. Except where they say it's composed of faster growing species. That means softwood to me. Quarter-sawn softwood could lead more easily to dents in the top layer. I'd like to see more info and test comparisons between the two products.
Timothy Winzell
3 years ago
Had to look that up. I usually call that lumber core. I prefer the hardwood ply core. Some lumber core products have gaps between the pieces that can hold water if there's a leak. I've seen where some telegraph ripples perpendicular to the board direction (even when dry) and I've had a few issues where they got wet and seemed more likely to delaminate.
dan1888
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
I thought it was SPC- Stone Plastic (or Polymer) Composite core or something like it. Not the case. I see water-resistant SPC engineered wood flooring, but this isn't it.
Coffee Nut
Original Author
3 years ago
Thank you all for your comments!
Coffee Nut
Original Author
3 years ago
Well, it seems Mirage only “temporarily” carry the 3/4” thick line due to supply chain constraints at the moment so I guess we don’t really have a choice if we want to go with this specific color/line. And yes we are doing tiles and want flush install with no transition strips. Hopefully it’ll all work out!
PRO
User
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
If you want a flush install, cement board has zero place in the tile sandwich. It is obsolete. Use Ditra or a similar uncoupling system, and be sure your joists are rated for the higher L/720. Not the thin bouncy sticks designed only for carpet.
PRO
Uptown Floors
3 years ago
You may be interested in these 3/4" engineered hardwoods.

I don't see why Mirage has issues. Practically all of my production lead times are back to the normal 5-6 weeks unless the job is over 4,000 square feet.

Uptown Reviews here at Houzz.