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Solid vs. Engineered Hardwood Flooring

What’s the Difference Between Solid vs. Engineered Hardwood?

For an unforgettable, timeless reflection of natural beauty, stunning hardwood flooring is warm, inviting, and adds instant value to your home. As you begin shopping for new hardwood floors, you will quickly find an important distinction: Solid Hardwood or Engineered Hardwood.

As busy working professionals, parents, and pet owners, we know you need a hardwood floor that will look gorgeous but can handle real life. Let’s break down how these two hardwood flooring options stack up so you can choose the perfect fit for your lifestyle and budget.

Solid Hardwood Construction vs. Engineered Hardwood Construction

  • Solid Hardwood Construction: Each plank in the floor is a single, solid piece of wood milled straight from a tree. A timeless hardwood format that can be sanded and refinished multiple times over decades.
  • Engineered Hardwood Construction: A 100% real wood plank that is made up of multiple tiers. Constructed by bonding a premium hardwood top layer, also called the wear layer, over cross-directional layers of high-density wood backing. With enhanced stability, engineered construction allows for striking wider, longer plank formats.

Top Hardwood Flooring Factors for Real Life

Stability & Moisture Control

Real wood naturally reacts to changes in humidity by expanding when it's humid and shrinking when it's dry. 

  • Solid hardwood flooring planks are one thick piece, so they will be prone to cupping or gapping if it gets wet or lives in a humid climate. 
  • Engineered hardwood is the clear winner here thanks to the innovative layered design. Engineered wood floors resist expanding and contracting, making them much more stable in kitchens, basements, or areas with changing weather.

Lifespan & Refinishing

  • Solid hardwood is thick all the way through, so planks can be sanded down and completely refinished 3 to 4 times over the lifespan. Since newer, prefinished hardwood floors are incredibly durable, homeowners rarely sand and refinish their floors unless they want to change the color. 

If you want the option to change your hardwood floor down the line, solid wood and thicker engineered hardwood are the best solutions.

  • The majority of engineered hardwood floors can NOT be sanded and refinished.  Thanks to extremely durable factory finishes, most hardwood floors get resurfaced or screened rather than sanded and refinished. All hardwood floors can be resurfaced, which is a simple buffing of the existing top finish and an application of a new top finish.  

While this doesn't allow for a color change, the thinner top layer keeps your Proximity Mills hardwood floors waterproof! The entire top layer of Proximity Mills hardwood is saturated with polyurethane so liquids can't penetrate the surface once your floor is installed.

Installation & Budget

  • Solid hardwood must be nailed or stapled down to a wood subfloor, and it can never be installed in basements. 
  • Engineered hardwood can be glued, nailed, or potentially installed as a floating floor directly over concrete subfloors. Easier and more efficient to install, engineered wood floors can deliver a high-performance luxury look without the premium price tag.

Find a Retailer

Find an authorized Proximity Mills flooring retailer near you to shop for new hardwood floors that will handle your unique household needs and remain pristine for decades!
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