Haro’s engineered wood floors come in multiple finishes and a huge spectrum of colours in oakwood alone

You love the look of hardwood flooring but are worried that it will play havoc with your home renovation budget? On the other hand, the synthetic look and feel of laminates — even with wood finishes — isn’t classy enough for your uber-chic house. So, for those who want the warm tones of wooden floors combined with the sheer convenience of laminates, there’s a halfway option — engineered wood.

First a quick lesson in wooden flooring. Laminates are High Density Fibre (HDF) boards covered with laminated paper and designs that imitate the knolls of wood. And solid hardwood consists of planks or strips of hardwood. But engineered wood is a complex combination of both. The technology to create this has been around since 1941 globally but engineered wood only arrived in India in 2006 long after laminates.

And it’s taken this long for the material to become the preferred choice for high-end apartments as well as homes. “It’s given interiors a huge option in flooring,’’ says Vijay Sharma, country manager, Parador, a German flooring brand. Now you can have wood beneath your feet at about one-third the cost of solid wooden floors.

Parador sources trees from sustainable forests with five new trees planted for each one that is cut

Manish Singh, business development manager, India, Hamberger Flooring GmbH & Co, which manufactures engineered wood under the brand name Haro, explains how it scores over both laminates and hardwood: “Engineered wood has three layers — a top layer of hardwood that’s placed horizontally on a middle layer that consists of tiny strips of spruce wood that are tightly packed vertically. This layer of vertical strips is fixed on a third layer of bark of spruce.” This technique ensures that the engineered floors do not warp when exposed to moisture. Haro’s range starts at Rs 275 per sqft and can go upto Rs 1,700 per sqft for its top-end, handcrafted range.

The wood of choice for the top layer includes oak, walnut, ash, cherry, jetoba, jarrah, maple, wenge, beech and teak. These hardwoods cope well with daily wear-and-tear as compared to softer woods like pine and spruce. The hardwood layer can be anything between 0.6mm to 20mm thick for high-traffic areas. Thickness is a major factor in determining the price of the engineered wood.

Sharma says: “Engineered wood floors are environment-friendly as just the top layer is hardwood. Moreover, the trees are sourced from sustainable forests where for every tree cut five new ones are planted.” The floors are comfortable as they are not hot in summer or too cold in winter. Parador’s range is priced between Rs 300 and Rs 500 per sqft.

Engineered wood has an edge over all other types of flooring. Hold your breath — it’s removable! While other flooring is destroyed when dismantled, these are as easy to remove as they are to install. Shifting home? Just take the floor with you.

Kahrs, the pioneer in engineered wood flooring, offers a warranty of up to 50 years for some of its lines

“Most engineered wood floors have a click-locking system in which the planks fit into one another. There’s no need for pasting or nailing it down,” says Chinmoy Hazarika, manager, sales and marketing of Swiss company Kahrs, which first brought this flooring to India. Hazarika promises that the flooring holds firmly and the pieces fit into each other like a jigsaw puzzle. The Kahrs range starts at Rs 300 per sqft for the 7mm thick flooring though prices can go up to Rs 850 per sqft for the 20mm planks. The brand offers a warranty of up to 50 years.

Other brands in the fray include the Swedish brand Pergo and the American brand, Armstrong, as well as Chinese and Southeast Asian brands. The Chinese floors are cheaper and prices start at Rs 150 per sqft. Pergo sells its line of flooring priced at between Rs 450 per sqft and Rs 610 per sqft.

Pergo, the newest entrant in the market, offers six floorings in six textures

Engineered wood also comes in multiple styles with some planks having grooves on two or all four sides. Haro offers 47 different finishes and colours in oak alone. It’s huge colour palette goes from almost white to ebony and includes tones of yellow, brown and even rouges. Parador has 127 colours in its kitty, Kahrs offers 250 colours while Pergo has six textures.

“The whites can be used in the children’s room or in a place which needs brightening up,” says Vidit Mehrotra, executive technical, Pergo. The darker colours do well in areas which get a lot of sunlight or even in the den or the library.

The floors are also finished differently. The look can be silky smooth, rugged matt or brushed.

This flooring is easy to care for and needs only to be swept with a wet mop that has been tightly squeezed of water. But anti-termite treatment is advised before installing these floors.

So, just go ahead, engineer your flooring.