# Wood flooring: do I go with engineered wood, or real hardwood? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 4, 2022, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wood-flooring-do-i-go-with-engineered-wood-or-real-hardwood/957169 "2022-01-04T00:27:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wood-flooring-do-i-go-with-engineered-wood-or-real-hardwood/957169/1 "2022-01-04T00:27:57Z")
My house has carpeting in most rooms and I’m getting ready to replace it with wood flooring. What’s your preference, engineered wood, or real hardwood? And why? ---
**Author:** ![Tride](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tride/32/13907_2.png) [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wood-flooring-do-i-go-with-engineered-wood-or-real-hardwood/957169/2 "2022-01-04T00:45:10Z")
Where do you live? What is the humidity level and heat source? How wide do you want it? What is you budget per foot? ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wood-flooring-do-i-go-with-engineered-wood-or-real-hardwood/957169/3 "2022-01-04T01:18:26Z")
I personally like the look and feel of real wood. I consider it timeless and the older it gets the more interesting it gets. ---
**Author:** ![Tride](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tride/32/13907_2.png) [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wood-flooring-do-i-go-with-engineered-wood-or-real-hardwood/957169/4 "2022-01-04T01:31:24Z")
There is laminate that looks and feels as good as real wood (or better). A friend reps laminate from Germany that comes up to 18" wide, hand scraped. Will run you $20-70 a foot, too. ---
**Author:** ![Tride](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tride/32/13907_2.png) [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wood-flooring-do-i-go-with-engineered-wood-or-real-hardwood/957169/5 "2022-01-04T01:32:29Z")
“Real” wood meaning solid–I assume we’re talking about laminate vs. faux wood. ---
**Author:** ![Tabco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tabco/32/7644_2.png) [@Tabco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabco)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wood-flooring-do-i-go-with-engineered-wood-or-real-hardwood/957169/6 "2022-01-04T01:39:38Z")
There are varying grades of laminate, the two extremes of which might hardly resemble one another. I’ve seen laminate floors which are literal laminate strips of real wood glued together into planks which comprise the flooring, as well as products that are basically sawdust formed into plank shapes. Engineered wood flooring might afford you more options when it comes to appearance within a reasonable price range. Perhaps the only point of consideration I can offer is that in my 13 years working water damage mitigation, we successfully saved and restored many more hardwood floors than we did engineered wood floors. Take that as you will. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wood-flooring-do-i-go-with-engineered-wood-or-real-hardwood/957169/7 "2022-01-04T02:07:20Z")
Thanks for the replies so far. > [@Tride](#): > > Where do you live? What is the humidity level and heat source? How wide do you want it? What is you budget per foot? I’m near San Francisco. Humidity is low. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wood-flooring-do-i-go-with-engineered-wood-or-real-hardwood/957169/8 "2022-01-04T02:18:55Z")
Bamboo. It’s a fast growing and infinitely renewable resource and the flooring it makes is as hard as it gets, looks great and feels very nice to the feets. I went with bamboo when I floored my tiny house and it’s standing up really well to three rambunctious dogs and all the other things floors have to cope with and doing it like a champ. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wood-flooring-do-i-go-with-engineered-wood-or-real-hardwood/957169/9 "2022-01-04T02:39:28Z")
Ten years ago I installed engineered hardwood in our basement. The top layer is oak with a thickness of 4 mm (4 mm wear layer). It’s beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wood-flooring-do-i-go-with-engineered-wood-or-real-hardwood/957169/10 "2022-01-04T02:46:52Z")
You might consider luxury vinyl plank. It seems to be somewhere in the same ballpark price-wise as engineered wood, and is more durable than laminate. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wood-flooring-do-i-go-with-engineered-wood-or-real-hardwood/957169/11 "2022-01-04T05:35:07Z")
When we built in 2003-4 we went with a commercial grade vinyl plank. It’s thick and was available in various colors. Has a textured surface as well. [Karndean](https://www.karndean.com/en/floors/products/) is the brand name and we’ve been very happy with it. Most folks who visit think it’s hardwood. Not a bit of damage in 17 years and I’d do it again. In fact I wish I’d done the master bath with the same stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Tride](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tride/32/13907_2.png) [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wood-flooring-do-i-go-with-engineered-wood-or-real-hardwood/957169/12 "2022-01-04T14:28:23Z")
I’ve had good results with all the products in my career. Hardwood no wider than 7" dried to 8% moisture laid over in-floor heat, wide-plank engineered, even porcelain wood plank in bathrooms–a pretty cool product, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wood-flooring-do-i-go-with-engineered-wood-or-real-hardwood/957169/13 "2022-01-04T14:32:40Z")
> [@Tride](#): > > … even porcelain wood plank in bathrooms–a pretty cool product, actually. Thanks, I’ll have to check that out. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wood-flooring-do-i-go-with-engineered-wood-or-real-hardwood/957169/14 "2022-01-04T14:34:39Z")
> [@Tride](#): > > porcelain wood plank That’s basically tile made up to look like wood, right? ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wood-flooring-do-i-go-with-engineered-wood-or-real-hardwood/957169/15 "2022-01-04T14:35:46Z")
That’s my guess too. @Tride? ---
**Author:** ![Tride](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tride/32/13907_2.png) [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wood-flooring-do-i-go-with-engineered-wood-or-real-hardwood/957169/16 "2022-01-04T15:11:11Z")
Yup. Typically comes 5” x 4’ ---
**Author:** ![ArtBeforeScience](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@ArtBeforeScience](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArtBeforeScience)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wood-flooring-do-i-go-with-engineered-wood-or-real-hardwood/957169/17 "2022-01-04T16:22:27Z")
I used to work w/residential architects and there were strong opinions about real vs engineered wood. Sometimes engineered came out on top (maybe for framing) but I guess quality matters. Other Dopers asked about things like humidity and water damage. I would try to speak with a knowledgeable person who was not a sales rep for a particular brand, and then do research on different products that you can also go and see in a showroom, have physical samples of. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2022, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wood-flooring-do-i-go-with-engineered-wood-or-real-hardwood/957169/18 "2022-01-05T03:54:46Z")
An important difference between engineered flooring and solid wood flooring is the number of times you can refinish the floor. How often depends on you, but if you stay in the house long enough you will probably want to refinish the floor. Engineered floors can be lightly refinished once or twice (so I am told. I have never done this), while solid wood will take several refinishes. So, cost vs length of service. ---
**Author:** ![jjakucyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3d9bf3/32.png) [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2022, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wood-flooring-do-i-go-with-engineered-wood-or-real-hardwood/957169/19 "2022-01-05T16:43:18Z")
Engineered can mean many things. Where I am, it means a plywood base with a thinner wear layer of real wood above. The benefit is that it shrinks and expands less, and is overall more stable. The disadvantage is that you’re limited in the number of times you can sand and refinish it, and it may be more expensive especially if you’re comparing with bog standard 2 1/4" strip oak. It’s still “real” wood though, at least on top. Engineered wood floors may or may not be pre-finished as well. The advantage to is that you don’t have to shut down your entire house for several days while they sand, stain, and varnish. Pre-finished is more expensive however, and you’re limited to the colors and sheens the manufacturer provides. I hate the trend of “luxury” vinyl replacing hardwood. It’s ok in a basement, but I see so many homes being remodeled with it, and you end up with lumps and undulations from the floor below telegraphing through, crunchiness from the floor not being adequately swept before installation, and it still feels like you’re walking on a mushy vinyl plank. It’s not really even that much cheaper either. Blargh! ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2022, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wood-flooring-do-i-go-with-engineered-wood-or-real-hardwood/957169/20 "2022-01-06T00:08:32Z")
> [@Tride](#): > > even porcelain wood plank in bathrooms–a pretty cool product, actually. This is what we did for and entry way spare room (it’s an odd house). About 110 sq. ft. It’s over a heated floor. Looks great, and I think will do well over the years. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wood-flooring-do-i-go-with-engineered-wood-or-real-hardwood/957169.md?page=2)