Long-term performance of engineered wood flooring when exposed to temperature and humidity cycling

Engineered wood flooring (EWF) has an important market share of the wood flooring in the United States (up to 52%). Many EWF products have warranties of 15 to 35 years. In this study, prototypes were submitted to aging cycles with the objective of assessing EWF components for aging performance. Three substrates were considered (Russian plywood, high density fiberboard (HDF), and oriented strandboard (OSB)), three surface components (sawn, sliced and peeled), and four coldset adhesives (PVA type 1, epoxy, hot melt polyurethane, and EPI). Results of this study show that substrates will impact on long-term performance. Russian plywood was the substrate presenting the best resistance to aging, followed by HDF and then OSB. Surface components also impacted the aging resistance of the EWF studied. Sawn surface components developed the most significant aging, more than either the peeled or sliced surface components. Adhesives all had similar behavior except for epoxy, which exhibited poor gluing and delamination. EPI adhesive was one of the best adhesives in terms of aging.