What Is the Difference Between Solid Hardwood and Engineered Hardwood?
Solid hardwood and engineered hardwood can look almost identical once they're installed, and both can be real wood flooring. The biggest difference is how the boards are constructed and how that construction affects where and how we can install them.
Solid hardwood is pretty much exactly what the name says. Each plank is one solid piece of wood from top to bottom. Engineered hardwood is constructed using multiple layers, with real hardwood making up the finished surface. The National Wood Flooring Association considers both solid and engineered hardwood to be real wood flooring.
One of the biggest advantages of solid hardwood is how much wood we have to work with. A quality solid hardwood floor can be sanded and refinished numerous times throughout its life. If the floor becomes scratched and worn or you simply want to change the stain years down the road, there's usually a good amount of material available to work with.
Engineered hardwood can also be refinished, but this is where you need to pay attention to what you're buying. The thickness of the real wood wear layer varies considerably between products. Some engineered floors have enough material to be sanded and refinished, while others have very thin wear layers that give you much less room to work with. The NWFA actually has a certification program specifically for engineered flooring with wear layers thick enough to be refinished.
So if you're comparing engineered hardwood products, don't just look at the color and price. We'd also want to know how the floor is constructed and how thick that usable wood surface actually is.
Where engineered hardwood has a major advantage is stability. Wood naturally responds to changes in moisture and humidity by expanding and contracting. Because engineered flooring is built in layers, it's generally more dimensionally stable than a solid piece of wood. That's one reason engineered hardwood gives us more options when we're dealing with concrete slabs or below-grade installations.
That's particularly important for homes here in Texas where concrete slab foundations are extremely common. Depending on the particular flooring product, engineered hardwood may be glued to properly prepared concrete or installed using another manufacturer-approved method. Solid hardwood can also be installed over concrete with certain systems, but the installation method and manufacturer requirements become very important. The NWFA says both solid and engineered flooring can be installed over properly prepared concrete when the flooring and adhesive manufacturers allow it.
Neither type of wood automatically wins on appearance either. Engineered hardwood isn't the same thing as laminate or vinyl plank with a picture of wood printed on top. With a true engineered wood floor, the surface you're looking at and walking on is real wood.
So, which one is better?
It really depends on the project.
If we're working with a suitable wood subfloor and you want a floor that can potentially be sanded and refinished numerous times over a very long service life, solid hardwood is hard to beat.
If we're installing over concrete, dealing with below-grade conditions, or need greater dimensional stability, engineered hardwood may make more sense. And if you choose a quality engineered product with a substantial wear layer, you're not necessarily giving up the ability to refinish the floor later.
We wouldn't recommend one simply because somebody told you solid is "better" or engineered is "cheaper." We'd look at your subfloor, moisture conditions, where the floor is being installed, how you want it installed, and what you expect from that floor twenty years from now.
That's really the difference: solid and engineered hardwood can both give you a beautiful real wood floor. The better choice is the one whose construction makes sense for your particular space.
