Wooden Flooring: Should You Pick Engineered or Solid?

If you want new flooring, you’ve got lots of materials to choose from. And one of the top ones to consider is wood. Wooden flooring is a stylish choice and can look great in a range of rooms and properties.

If you think wood might be the flooring material for you, this isn’t the end of the decision making. One of the biggest choices you’ll need to make about your wooden flooring is whether you’re going to go for engineered or solid boards. They’re quite different, so it’s worth putting the time in.

Engineered wooden flooring

Engineered wooden flooring consists of boards made up of around 3 or 4 layers of wood. The bottom layer is often plywood and the top, visible layer is the wood of your choice. These layers are glued together to make boards that are very strong, stable and solid.

You can lay engineered wooden flooring in most places, as long as it’s not exposed to water or humidity. People often go for engineered flooring because it’s usually cheaper than the solid version of the surface wood. However, as sanding is a good technique for levelling and refreshing a wooden floor, you need to make sure that the surface layer is thick enough. Otherwise, after a couple of sands your chosen wood might have disappeared.

Solid wooden flooring

You can choose your wood according to appearance but also to how hard it is. The higher a wood’s hardness score, the less likely it is to get damaged by shoes or furniture. But even if it does get marked, like engineered flooring, you can sand it down to level it off and improve its look.

Similarly to engineered flooring, you should also avoid putting solid wood flooring anywhere where it might get exposed to moisture, as it can swell up easily. It can look fantastic, so most people like to show it off in hallways and living areas.

So if you want wooden flooring, you’ve got two main options. And although they have their differences, it can still be difficult to choose between them. If you’re still not sure which type of wooden flooring to pick, ask a flooring professional to show you some examples.

If you’re not sure where to look to find a wooden flooring expert, we can help. Click ‘Start my project’, complete our online form and we’ll connect you with up to 4 professionals in your area.