Oxford 15mm has 8 cross sectioned layers of hardwood ply with a 4mm timber wear layer. Oxford 21mm has 10 cross sectioned layers of hardwood ply with a 6mm timber wear layer. The top hardwood timber veneer is then glued and pressed onto the top surface of the plywood.
Not all engineered floor boards are the same, some can have 0.6mm wear layer, making them only suitable for re-coating, with Oxford Engineered Flooring the wear layer ranges from 4-6mm, giving you a floor that could last up to 60 years and can be re-sanded 3-5 times.
By laying Raw Engineered Flooring like Oxfords, you have the choice of finishes you can use, from water based and solvent based polyurethane or oils, in a range of different sheen levels. Also with the floor being sanded you will have a seamless flat floor, without beveled edges and lips.
Oxford Engineered flooring when finished will give the same appearance as a solid floor and like solid flooring will increase the value of the dwelling.
With all engineered flooring there is two ways the timber veneer can be cut, Oxford use the sliced/sawn cut method, this gives a smooth sanded type face to the flooring, similar to solid timber flooring. The other method is the peeled method, using lathes, this can leave a rough wilder more open grain, which will be prevalent when the floor is sanded and finished.
Oxford Engineered flooring is designed as a stick down system, it can be installed on any clean, dry, level surface, that is free of voids (3mm over 3m) that are free of curing compounds, loose materials, oil, grease and sealers, all plywood, chipboard, fibre cement sheeting and concrete to be installed in accordance with residential footings and slabs code AS2870-1996 and concrete is to be no greater than 5.5% moisture content or 65% relative humidity. If the moisture content exceeds these recommendations, a suitable moisture barrier system must be used like Bostik moisture seal or similar.
Oxford Engineered flooring should be acclimatised. It is imperative that the flooring installer takes a moisture reading of the Engineered flooring to ascertain suitability for the given installation site, the flooring should not be any more than 1-5 to 2% different than the normal EMC (Equilibrium Moisture Content) level for that given area.