I have seen several emails recently from folks who have seen a newer kind of flooring referred to as hybrid or veneers, but it can be confusing to folks on exactly what kind of flooring this is.
A basic veneer as the name implies uses a very thin (paper thin) slice of real hardwood and applies that to an HDF core and then adds a laminate flooring type of aluminum oxide finish on the surface. (sounds like making a Frankenstein a bit to me.)
These floors have an identity crisis. What exactly are they? Hardwood? Laminate? Something new?
Well in the purest sense it would be considered an engineered hardwood floor. It uses a real wood veneer therefore the surface look is usually very rich and has a realistic depth in the hardwood species that looks ALOT better than a typical laminate floor.
On the other hand, despite having a aluminum oxide surface coating like a laminate the wood species will still act in many ways like a wood species.
One of the most common complaints I hear is about American Cherry veneer floors (from Kahrs, Tarkett, Sherwood Forest, and others) is that the floor dents or changes color tone over time. That is normal. It is American Cherry which is in general a softer species and the veneer will still take abuse including dents. It actually resists dents more than a solid hardwood due to the HDF core being more dense, but no hardwood species is impervious to dents. So that real part of hardwood is the real part of a veneer. Equally real, and on the plus side, is that a veneer due to the surface coating is much easier to clean, far less likely to stain, etc... than a normal hardwood.
Confused yet?
Ok the next question is what is the point of even having this hybrid between a laminate and a hardwood?
Answer: You can get really realistic looking hardwood for a lower than hardwood price generally speaking. It is typically more expensive than laminate and less expensive than hardwood making it a hybrid on price as well as physical components.
Ok to summarize:
You can get the realistic look of wood, the maintenance and easy click installation of laminate, for a price between wood and laminate.
Hopefully that helps.
