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Originally Posted by shimmy23
We're going to replace the hardwood (solid) flooring in our home; hallways, kitchen, great room.
I'm torn between solid hardwood and engineered hardwood. Price doesn't really matter. The old school part of me thinks solid is better just because? On the other hand, our contractor says engineered hardwood would be much easier to maintain and better for the kitchen.
What's everyone's thoughts? Engineered or solid?
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Recently did a bonus room (3rd floor attic) with solid prefinished hardwood over engineered hardwood. Prefer prefinished as everything I have read says it has a more durable finish so at that point I see it as hardwood with a prefinished top coating or engineered with a prefinished coating on a thin layer of hardwood on the top.
Engineered is more stable which is a benefit if going in a humid or wide range of temperatures, thinner which can be helpful depending on the project, and also can be less expensive.
What I like about solid is it can be refinished multiple times without worrying about getting to the "plywood" part of the assembly.
With labor costs being close to the same and the overall cost being close I didn't see any real benefits to going with engineered on my last project. I might use it eventually to add over existing flooring in on our 1st floor but this would mainly be because of the thickness.