On top of providing numerous benefits over other flooring options, engineered wood floors add an aesthetic natural design feature and atmosphere to your home. Unfortunately, over time, you may notice the beauty of your wooden floors slip away as they fade. Many people find that discolored wood decreases the appeal of wooden floors, but you can easily fix and even prevent discoloration. Despite some significant differences like sustainability and water resistance, like solid wood, engineered planks still share the disadvantage of bleaching. Here are three reasons your engineered floors are fading and how you can keep them in their prime.
Sunlight Exposure
Often, when people place carpets on their wood floors, they’ll notice the color of the wood under the rug is slightly darker than the exposed wood. Like your skin, too much sunlight exposure causes harm to wood planks. The ultraviolet rays the sun emits break down the wood’s chemical bonds, causing it to fade. Placing engineered floors in rooms with large windows or in direct heavy sunlight increases your chances of sun damage. You can decrease the rate at which your floors fade by inserting blinds on your windows and coating your floors with UV protectant seals. Plus, with a recoat of stains or paints, you can bring color back to your floors.
High Foot Traffic
Heavy and consistent foot traffic on engineered wood slowly erodes its surface layers. As the top veneer erodes and weakens, the wood pigment fades. Luckily, one of the primary advantages of engineered wood is its durability. Fading from heavy foot traffic won’t occur until much later in the engineered wood’s lifespan. However, consistent heavy foot traffic will shorten that timeline faster. Adding finishes to your floors creates an extra layer on the surface of your planks, forming another barrier between exterior influences and the actual wood veneers.
Wood Species
The type of wood species you select sometimes affects your chances of fading. Although engineered wood consists of a core containing a compressed mixture of wood and wood fibers, its surface features a thin layer of natural hardwood. Naturally dark, wood species are more susceptible to fading due to their rich pigments. Choosing lighter wood floor planks like birch and maple engineered hardwood flooring reduces the appearance of fading in your spaces.
Don’t let the risk of fading hold you back from achieving your dream aesthetic and creating cozy spaces with wood floors. It takes a long time for engineered wood to fade. With preventative measures including sun protection, lighter wood selections, furnishing layers, and education on some of the reasons your engineered floors are fading, you may not have to deal with fading floors at all during your occupancy in the house.