Engineered Wood Floor Aluminum Oxide Finish

Usually prefinished hardwood floors will have a uv cured aluminum oxide finish so there shouldn t be cause for concern.

Engineered wood floor aluminum oxide finish.

The secret to truly scratch resistant wood flooring is in the finish. Aluminum oxide is a naturally occurring element typically found in a crystal form and used as an abrasive for sandpaper. Typically the number of coats of aluminum oxide will range from 5 10 layers for most premium wood floor products. Aluminum oxide coating increases the resistance durability and overall strength to polyurethane finished hardwood flooring.

The aluminum oxide finish is layered on each board and more times than not people look to those layers as a measure of board quality. It s aluminum oxide and it is walnut and it is a thin veneer. The power of aluminum oxide. Learn about it right here.

The minerals on 80 grit abrasives are much smaller and closer than a rougher grit like 50. What is aluminum oxide finish and how does it protect your floors. An aluminum oxide finish is most often uv cured. The finish is a modest feature when compared to color stain grain patterns and even species hardness or other.

While engineered wood floors are an excellent option for durability especially for active families not all engineered hardwood floors are created equal when it comes to scratch resistance. They will remove the aluminum oxide finish more efficiently and will leave a minimal scratch pattern in. It s also used as a fortifier for urethane imparting hardness and abrasion resistant qualities lacking in polyurethane. Some common household cleaners can dissolve the coating making your hardwood floors appear dull and dingy.

This is especially beneficial for engineered hardwood floors because they often have a thinner veneer that doesn t lend itself to sanding and refinishing. Prefinished hardwood planks are your only option if you choose hardwood with an aluminum oxide. This makes it very tolerable for skin contact even for people that are chemically sensitive. When ground into a white powder it s used as a filler ingredient for paints plastics sunscreen and cosmetics.

Take special care not to damage this coating when cleaning the floor. When you re shopping for laminate floors for bamboo floors and for engineered hardwood flooring too one of the features you ll often see listed is an aluminum oxide finish. Aluminum oxide is a finish which is applied to wood products at the factory not on site after the floor is installed as is sometimes the case when finishing floors with urethane or oils. In regard to how sensitive people really are against aluminum it s difficult to say.

Try anything else in a case like this and be prepared to pay for a new floor. The king of durable finishes is aluminum oxide which lasts up to 25 years.