There are two main types of hardwood flooring: Engineered wood and solid wood. The solid wood flooring is milled from a piece of wood. The engineered wood is made of wood also but may have other wood strips in it’s core and veneer strip on top of the board. Here’s a closer look at each type:

Engineered wood flooring has been around in North America since 1985. This product has become one of the most popular wood flooring materials.  Engineered wood is usually comprised of three (or more) layers of wood glued together into long planks with a layer of solid wood veneer.

Engineered wood is less likely to cup, split, shrink or warp than solid wood floors. Most Engineered planks come prefinished in one, two and three –strip planks. Most engineered wood comes in planks 3-7” wide and 3/8 -3/4” thick.

There are several options of installing engineered wood flooring.  Glue, Nail or Floating.  One reason a lot of people prefer engineered wood floors is that the planks can snap together and float over a thin foam underlayment. There is no mess with gluing or nailing down the product. Engineered wood is also susceptible to changing temperatures and moisture levels.

Just like the name solid wood flooring is a solid piece of wood unlike engineered wood which is layers of wood with a laminate top layer. Solid wood flooring comes in strips, wide planks or parquet squares. The strips usually come in 1 ½ “ and 3 “ wide. Planks will range anywhere from 3 to 7” wide.

The most popular hardwood strips are unfinished in either red oak or maple since it is affordable, attractive and you can choose the stain color for your floor.

Prefinished wood flooring can cost more than unfinished but it has some advantages like not having to finish the floor and comes in thinner planks so transitioning to another room can be easier. Another consideration in choosing solid wood flooring is the sustainability of the forests.

Solid wood flooring is more susceptible to changes in temperatures and moisture in the air. As a result, your solid wood needs to acclimate to your room temperature and moisture prior to being installed. Also, a gap between the wall and planks needs to be left to allow for expansion & contraction of the wood.