Engineered for the Planet

01/30/2025
By Steve Lewis

This is the final installment of our interview with Pioneer Millwork’s Sales Manager Jered Slusser around the genesis of our engineered Black and Tan reclaimed wood flooring. In this post he answers: “How does engineered flooring’s consistency impact its installation in commercial or home spaces?”

 

In our world we have a variety of sustainability impacts, perhaps none dearer to us than wood conservation. Through an awareness of our material usage, we can protect threatened species and extend timber resources. One of the best ways to extend the yield of our reclaimed products is with an engineered layered plank product, a product which is also an eco-friendly and cost-effective option for end-user’s projects.

“Engineered wood is highly sustainable because of the material usage when we are talking about something in short supply like chestnut or other rare species,” says Slusser. “For example, we recently did a project with reclaimed cherry, which is in very, very limited supply. By taking that material and creating wear layers, we got three times the yield out of it as we normally would with a solid. We were able to extend the resource and cover more area, quite literally, with that material.”

Slusser continues, “Another thing that makes our engineered wood sustainable is the actual lifecycle of the product. Our engineered flooring at 5/8” thick with a 4 mm wear layer can be refinished at least two or three times. If you’re using a hard wax oil finish like we do on our standard products, then really the life of the floor is almost infinite; it just depends on how many times you add more oil to the surface.” 

“We always try to think about the lifecycle of the product. How many times is someone going to have to replace this? There’s a misconception that engineered flooring is of a lower quality and doesn’t last as long as a solid wood floor and our product really turns the table on that thought. Through proper maintenance and by using environmentally friendly finishes we actually extend the life of the product. I would argue that its extended even longer than a lot of the solid wood floors that are out there on the market these days.” 

Our engineered Black and Tan not only offers a higher yield per reclaimed board but does so with a cleaner and more consistent surface look. When you choose our engineered Black and Tan Oak for your project, you’re selecting a product that’s not only durable and enriches your space but also reduces our impact on the planet. 

 

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