Article Rethinking Commercial Engineered Hardwood Flooring

Rethinking Commercial Engineered Hardwood Flooring

Commercial engineered hardwood flooring adds warmth, authenticity, and a high-end look to interior spaces. Unfortunately, it presents question marks for many applications. Excessive foot traffic, rolling carts, smashed plates, or unexpected spills can damage even the best-engineered wood floors.

Not surprisingly, designers often turn to wood-look options like luxury vinyl tile, rigid core, or laminate. But what if an engineered wood floor could withstand it all? Now, that would be a godsend.

Two Challenges of Wood Flooring in Commercial Spaces

Wood flooring is a classic choice for style, but style doesn't always translate to acceptable performance. Solid hardwoods, for one, face moisture concerns. Engineered hardwoods alleviate some of that concern, but only to a degree.

These are two common concerns with wood flooring.

1. Durability and Daily Wear

   Offices, lobbies, and retail spaces wear flooring heavily. That constant stress can easily result in scratches, dents, and a worn-out finish on wood floors. Moving furniture, rolling carts, and chairs sliding back and forth quickly compound the issue. Spills and tracked-in dirt affect appearance and permanently mark or degrade the wood.

2. Moisture and Climate Concerns

   Wood is porous, so it expands and contracts with moisture. It can come in the form of spills or changes in humidity and temperature. The net result is gapping, cupping, or buckling, especially with solid wood. Fluctuating indoor climate conditions can make floors unpredictable—dry air shrinks them, humidity swells them. Again, commercial engineered wood flooring mitigates some of the concerns with built-in water resistance. However, they don't provide waterproof performance.

TimberTones™ Engineered Hardwood Flooring Removes the Challenges

A familiar name in commercial flooring has the perfect solution to wood flooring challenges. Armstrong Flooring® has introduced TimberTones™ densified engineered wood flooring flips the script by addressing all the typical drawbacks of solid and engineered hardwoods.

Have you ever heard of densified wood? It changes everything, opening the door for wood flooring even in high-demand areas.

Densified Engineered Hardwood Takes Hardness to a New Level

The Janka rating scale identifies a wood species' hardness. The higher the score, the harder the wood and the less susceptible it is to denting and scratching.

Here are ratings for popular domestic hardwoods:

• Hickory 1820
• Maple 1450
• White Oak 1360
• Red Oak 1290

Densified wood uses a proprietary process that compresses the veneer layer of standard engineered hardwood. This adds protection right where wear happens most—in the top veneer layer.

The result? Hard flooring options like hickory jump from 1820 to 3500+ on the Janka Scale, and oak changes from 1360 to 3000+.

These ratings place TimberTones among today's hardest and most durable flooring options.

Even softer woods like pine, birch, and cherry reach hardness levels suitable for commercial use. Take a look for yourself:

Commercial Engineered Wood Can Now Tackle Daily Demands

So, what does that more than double the hardness mean to you? Now, wood flooring becomes an entirely realistic option for even demanding commercial uses.

TimberTones delivers these benefits:

• 4X more scratch resistant
• 6X more dent resistant
• Waterproof protection

Best of all, it's 100% real wood enhanced using heat and pressure.

Performance without Design Sacrifices

Sometimes, better performance comes with limitations. Not this time. TimberTones offers incredible design flexibility.

First, you can select from numerous species—ash, birch, hickory, red and white oak, walnut, pine, and more. Each species offers its own distinct color tone and grain pattern.

Second, the flooring comes in wide planks: 6.5", 7.5", and 8.5".

Third, a range of color tones lets you match your style and design palette, from traditional to rustic.

Commercial Wood That's Sustainable by Design

TimberTones offers a more natural, responsible alternative to typical engineered wood flooring:

• Verified by FloorScore®, EPD, HPD, and NWFA standards
• 100% real hardwood—no synthetic fillers or plastics
• Naturally biodegradable and renewable – change to a renewable resource that can be regrown and contributes to a healthy environment.

Commercial Engineered Hardwood Flooring That Does It All

Finally, commercial engineered hardwood flooring can meet all your demands. Performance. Design. Sustainability.

Enjoy the look and feel of solid wood flooring, which offers multiple scratch and dent resistance levels. TimberTones also features an additional six-sided water-resistant coating that protects the floor from topical staining and damage for up to eight hours. With that performance, it’s 100% ready to withstand commercial use. Now, you don’t have to choose between durability and design.

With TimberTones, commercial engineered hardwood flooring is no longer a compromise—it’s a solution. Ready to bring real wood into more spaces with zero compromise?

Call 1-866-243-2726 to talk to an Armstrong Flooring rep and get the whole story.