When comparing Engineered Wood Floors, there are distinct areas that are infallible indicators of the overall quality of the product. The constuction of an Engineered floor can divided into three parts. The first and most important is the wear layer - the real wood that you will see and be living on. The next layer is the substrate, which is the plywood or other construction that supports the wear layer and provides the stability of the floor. Finally, the length range, which has a significant impact on the overall style and feel of the installed floor.

The wear layer is the easiest comparison to make, even for the flooring novice. While most imported engineered floors are constructed with wear layers as thin as 1mm (a little more than 1/32 of an inch) and mid-grade floors are in the 2mm to 3mm range (1/16 to 1/8 of an inch), the wear layer of a Canterbury Signature Engineered floor is a full 5.2mm (nearly 1/4 of an inch). This thickness closely approximates the useable wear layer of a ¾” solid wood floor, allowing for multiple refinishings, even when hand scraped.



The substrate is the next area where bargain basement floors cut corners, using fiberboard, single and double ply plywood made with questionable species and adhesives, or using thin overall construction. Since the plywood is solely responsible for the stability of the floor, we feel this is not a place to cut corners and use only 100% Baltic birch plywood with a California CARB approved no VOC adhesive. All of our substrate is marine grade plywood, ensuring decades of stability, even in below grade installations.

Long lengths are the scourge of the bargain engineered flooring lines. They require more expensive substrates, more precise milling, and thicker wear layers. However, you cannot achieve the look of a true hardwood floor without a full range of lengths. Canterbury offers our engineered line in true random lengths of 1’ to 7’ by default and can accommodate lengths up to 10’ on request.

I hate micro-bevels!
Micro-bevel aversion is a commonality shared by end-users and designers who do not like the micro-bevels found in virtually all prefinished floors. Canterbury offers our prefinished Signature Engineered collection in a true square edge style. You get all of the benefits of a prefinished floor, and the style of a site finished floor.

Species
Our standard engineered species include Oaks, Maple, Walnut, Ash, Hickory, Cherry, Brazilian Cherry, Brazilian Teak, Tigerwood, and Santos Mahogany. We will also customize any engineered floor with virtually any of our other fifty species .


Widths
Canterbury’s Signature Engineered line is available in both a prefinished and as a site finished floor in widths from 2-1/4” to 7” (wide plank limited to availability in some species)

Need more info? Just call.
If you have questions about our Signature Engineered line or would like a flooring sample, call a Canterbury flooring consultant at (336)751-0856.