Hybrid vs engineered timber flooring

The main difference between engineered timber and hybrid flooring is the top of the plank. An engineered timber board has a top layer of real timber, bonded over more layers. A hybrid plank has a printed design layer under a clear wear layer, on a rigid core of plastic composite. It holds no solid timber. The two names are sometimes mixed up, but they are two different products. They differ in how they look close up, in how they are laid, and in what can be done when the surface is worn.

Hybrid and engineered timber side by side

What each plank is made of

The trade body for timber floors describes engineered flooring as a decorative layer of timber, bonded over layers beneath which are often timber. It calls the top layer a veneer or a lamella. It states that most engineered flooring comes with a factory finish, and that some is made to be sanded and finished after it is laid.

A hybrid plank is made of layers pressed together into one plank. On top is a clear wear layer. Under it is a printed design layer. The middle is a rigid core of plastic composite. Many planks also have an underlay attached to the back. A hybrid floor with a timber pattern holds no solid timber.

The look

An engineered board shows real timber, so the grain differs from board to board. A hybrid plank shows a printed picture of timber or stone. The picture is printed, so it repeats. Each colour has a fixed number of different plank pictures. You can ask the supplier how many different plank pictures a colour has. Our guide to hybrid flooring colours shows the colour names we found most often.

How each floor is laid

A hybrid floor is a floating floor. All 12 hybrid suppliers we read describe one. The planks click together and rest on the subfloor, which is the floor under your new floor.

Engineered timber can be laid in more than one way. The trade body states that engineered floors may be laid as floating floors, glued to a subfloor, and in some cases fixed on battens. Battens are strips that a floor is fixed to. It states that boards come with a joint that locks without glue, or with a tongue and groove joint.

Movement and moisture

Timber takes up moisture from the air and gives it off again. The trade body states that timber products shrink a little when the air is dry and swell a little when it is humid. It states that engineered flooring needs room to expand in both the width and the length of the floor. For a floating floor it states that a moisture barrier is mandatory, and that it is often a layer within the underlay.

A hybrid floor moves too, when the room gets warmer or cooler, so it needs gaps as well. All 12 hybrid suppliers we read state a gap at the walls. 10 of the 12 state the room temperature for the floor.

For both floors, the supplier's installation instructions give the limits. Read them before the floor is laid.

Water

What a floor is made for is stated by its supplier, for engineered timber and for hybrid. The trade body for timber floors says that a product's instructions can state how it copes with water spills. Read that statement before you choose a floor for a kitchen, a bathroom or a laundry. Bathrooms and laundries are wet areas under the National Construction Code. Before you choose either floor for one of these rooms, ask what the building rules require for the room. Our guide Is hybrid flooring waterproof? shows what suppliers of hybrid floors state, word for word.

Wear, scratches and sanding

Both floors can be scratched. On a hybrid plank a clear wear layer takes the wear. Its thickness is given in millimetres. On an engineered board the finish takes the wear, and under it is the timber layer.

The difference comes when the surface is worn. A hybrid floor cannot be sanded and given a new finish, as a solid timber floor can. For deep damage, 3 of the 12 hybrid suppliers we read name a new plank.

With engineered timber it depends on the product. The trade body states that some engineered floors can be sanded and coated again, and that not all can be sanded back to bare timber: it depends on the thickness of the timber layer and on how flat the floor is. It also states that in many cases a coating that has not worn through can be cut back with a sanding machine and coated again. Ask the supplier of an engineered range what its timber layer allows.

Noise

A floating floor is not fixed down, so it can sound different from a glued floor. A hybrid floor floats. An engineered floor may float or be glued. On 88 of the 111 hybrid ranges we read, the supplier stated an attached underlay. If you live in an apartment, ask your owners corporation or building manager what your building requires, before you order. Our guide to hybrid flooring underlay explains acoustic ratings.

Hybrid vs solid timber flooring

Solid timber flooring is timber through the whole board. The trade body states that solid timber flooring must be fixed to the subfloor, and that solid strip timber floors can be brought back to near new condition through their life by sanding and refinishing. A hybrid floor is a floating floor with a printed design, and it cannot be sanded.

Which one fits which home

• You want real timber on the surface, with a grain that differs from board to board: look at engineered timber or solid timber. A hybrid floor has a printed design.
• You want to be able to renew the surface later: ask the supplier of an engineered range whether its timber layer can be sanded. A hybrid floor cannot be sanded.
• Your old floor is tiles: 10 of the 12 hybrid suppliers we read name tiles as a floor that the planks can go over, or as a kind of subfloor. For an engineered range, ask its supplier.
• You live in an apartment: for either floor, start with the building's noise rules.

We sell hybrid flooring only.