There are two types hardwood that different buyers prefer – solid wood and engineered wood. Each of them has many advantages and some weakness.

Which is the most durable: solid hardwood or engineered?

Solid hardwood : Solid hardwood is very strong and thus very durable, it can be sanded and repolished many times during its life. In addition, its solid construction withstands the passage of time. Considered the standard reference for flooring, solid wood is usually the most expensive. But there are of course many variables: the warranty offered, the protective hardwood finish applied and the number of finishing techniques used to achieve a particular look will affect the price of a collection of solid hardwood flooring compared to another. Styles with a weathered and scraped look, for example, or treated with some particular dyeing techniques, will cost the most.

Hardwood Engineered:Engineered wood can be sanded and refurbished several times over the life of the flooring. If durability concerns you with humidity or temperature issues, engineered wood is the preferred solution. This type of flooring has a stratified construction that ensures stability under varying ambient conditions.

Hardwood flooring: solid or engineering?

Engineered hardwood floors offer interesting advantages over hardwood floors: they are more moisture-stable and can be installed as a floating floor.

However, they are thinner than solid wood floors. Solid wood should therefore last a little longer because it will support more sanding than engineered wood.

Solid wood flooring or engineered wood? It all depends on the use you expect to make of it.

How do the design options differ between engineered hardwood and solid hardwood?

Solid Hardwood: You will find a large selection of solid hardwoods to bring to life your personal style and decor; from traditional hardwood to trendy colors, including scraped wood by hand. The widest solid flooring is 5 “, a moderate width that represents a balance between the trend of very wide planks and the classic aspects.

Engineered Hardwood: With a few exceptions, engineered hardwood flooring is available in a wide variety of styles ranging from traditional concepts to specialty options such as multi-tone colors and craft tool markings. Some aspects, such as very wide planks, are sometimes offered for engineered wood.

Solid wood: the indestructible classic

  • Advantages: high-quality solid wood, highest durability
  • Disadvantages: complicated installation, high acquisition costs

A wooden floor made of Solid wood is completely made of a solid wood species. This distinguishes him from prefinished parquet and laminate, in which at most the uppermost layer of real wood is made.

But the solid wood has its price and is compared to pre-finished parquet or Lamanite one of the expensive soil variant. In the long term, however, a floor made of solid wood flooring can still count. A cheap wooden floor with a low wear layer can be worn after just 10 years and must be removed. Even higher-grade wood-finished parquet can only be sanded down badly and repaired – and still sometimes costs more than a solid wood floor.

In addition, the treatment of the surface should be considered. Untreated planks require a lot of oil or varnish to ensure a sufficient seal. Already sealed solid wood planks have the advantage that the seal is usually more durable and higher quality ex works than a separate seal.

Solid wood floorboards are more expensive to install than pre-finished parquet or laminate. They can be screwed, glued or floating laid. In any case, the installation should be carried out by a specialist.

Engineered hardwood: The real wood decides

  • Advantages: Wear layer of real wood
  • Disadvantages: only partially grindable

Engineered hardwood and laminate are very similar in structure: It usually consists of three layers, the lower return veneer and the middle layer consists of favorable softwood. Only the surface is made of high-quality precious wood and differs here to the laminate, in which plastic forms the surface.

A sanding of this 2mm to 4mm wear layer on the finished parquet is only recommended after consultation with the manufacturer. Some finished parquet floors are not suitable for this type of repair. Others can be abraded at least once.

Prices for finished parquet can vary greatly. Decisive is the thickness of the wear layer and the wood type of the wear layer. The thicker and higher quality the wood of the wear layer, the higher the price. Here partly square meter prices can be achieved as with solid wood floorboards.

However, the laying of prefinished parquet is much easier than the laying of solid wood planks. Click parquet can also be laid, for example, by DIY hobbyists.

Engineered hardwood: plastic instead of wood

  • Advantages: Very cheap, easy installation
  • Disadvantages: short life, no visible real wood

Engineered hardwood is usually, as well as the finished parquet, of three layers, with the laminate, a thin plastic layer forms the top layer. This is usually modeled on a wood surface, but can represent any other pattern and color depending on the pressure.

Engineered hardwood cannot be sanded off. Therefore, this floor usually has a much shorter life than real wood floors.
Nevertheless, laminate has two indisputable advantages: the price is very low and the laying very easy. The reason for the low price lies in the structure of the laminate: wood-based panel, photo paper and resin seal. Genuine wood, which makes hardwood floorboards and prefinished parquet expensive, is scarcely available – apart from the glued HDF layer, which forms the support plate.

If you would like to read more about our hardwood flooring options, please get in touch with us today.

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