Engineered Timber

An engineered board is real timber, laid over a core built to stop it moving. The top layer is a genuine sliced veneer — European Oak or an Australian hardwood, 2mm or 3mm thick depending on the range — with the grain, colour variation and figure of the species it came from. Underneath sits a multi-ply core, usually eight layers, each laid at right angles to the one below.

That cross-lamination is the whole point. Solid timber expands and contracts across its width as humidity changes, which on the Peninsula means cupping through a damp winter and gapping through a dry summer. Laying the core plies in opposing directions cancels most of that tension within the board itself, so an engineered floor holds its dimensions where a solid one would move. It is what allows the wide boards — 190mm is standard across our ranges — that solid strip flooring cannot achieve reliably.

The veneer thickness is the figure worth asking about. At 2mm the floor can be sanded back and recoated later in its life; at 3mm it can be done more than once. Either way this is a floor to maintain across decades rather than replace, which is why every range here carries a structural warranty on the core.

Engineered timber suits living areas, bedrooms, hallways and kitchens. It is not for bathrooms or laundries — it is real wood and should be treated as such. For permanently wet rooms, see our hybrid flooring ranges instead.

Read up on the species first — our timber species guide covers how each one sands, finishes and behaves in Peninsula conditions, and the coatings and finishes guide explains what a matte, satin or wire-brushed surface actually changes day to day.

If you already have a timber floor under carpet, it may be worth restoring rather than replacing. That is a conversation worth having before you buy anything — see timber floor restoration.