Choosing between oiled and lacquered finishes for engineered wood flooring can feel like a big decision. Both have their own charm, durability, and maintenance needs, which can make one option better suited to certain spaces and lifestyles. Here’s a straightforward look at what each finish offers to help you decide which might work best for your home.
Order FREE Engineered Wood Samples
Oil Finish: Warmth and a Natural Look
An oiled finish embeds itself into the surface of the wood, and highlights the grain with an almost rubbery texture its matte and gives off a comforting warmth. If you are looking for more natural look this particular finish will be just for you. The aggressiveness of the texture is a little less, and that makes the floor have a natural origin with which it changes gradually.
Nevertheless, oiled floors are not so demanding – a little more attention should be paid to them. The oil tends to degenerate with time especially on area that receives a lot of foot traffic, and therefore it may require to be refurnished after each one and half year. This can look like a bit of a commitment but the plus side is that it is relatively simple to renew the finish and to do basic repair work. Through the years, floors that have been oiled begin to have an excellent and attractive sheen to them.
Lacquered Finish: Polished and Low Maintenance
A lacquer, on the other hand, encrusts the wood to form a outer barrier over it and therefore is a good choice if you want a surface you use daily without having to polish regularly. Lacquered floors are a bit glossy, which would provide a neat and shiny look to the house, this gives a room a feeling of being airy. Lacquer acts as a barrier between the wood and anything that could happen to it such as spilling, scratching or staining therefore cleaning these floors only requires sweeping or mopping.
While it is a fact that the lacquered floors are easier to maintain, repair work is slightly complex if there is some damage. If a section gets scratched deeply it may need a complete refinish instead of a quick spot repair which is something to consider if you’re looking at the picture in terms of the long-term.
Order FREE Engineered Wood Samples
Which Finish Should You Choose?
So if you prefer to saturate the wooden flooring and have a small amount of time to spend on maintenance then oiled finish might be what you are looking for. It gives the wood a small kind of glow that really suits settling house spaces and it lets the floor develop character and get richer over time.
In case, you are aiming for a more professional look with less maintenance needed, then the best option is the lacquered floor. Durability, no sensitivity to spills or scratches, and a shiny smooth finish which compliments modern designs.
In the end, it’s choosing between how you want your floors to look and feel and how much time you are willing to spend on maintaining them. Each has its own benefits though the relaxed appearance of lacquer can be far more suitable for existing construction than oils that are still developing their patina.
