Difference between engineered wood flooring and solid wood flooring?
Stability is the main reason for the difference between these two types of flooring. Engineered flooring has several sub base that, is layered in different directions(perpendicular). This reduces air vapor, which results in less movement. You can purchase engineered floor with a 3/16 (.1875) thick veneer, recommended if you can afford it, in your budget. To get the max life out of your engineered flooring. Prep your subfloor, make sure your subfloor is flat within an 1/8 over 5 feet. This way if, you ever need to refinish them, you'll be removing minimum material, due to a flat surface. So, even an 1/8 veneer can get up to 3 sandings, if installed over a flat surface. Beware of delaminating on poor quality manufacturers. Solid Wood, unstable compared to engineered, but much more versatile. You can installed it over an irregular surface, it has a 1/4 sanding surface. Much more widely available and easy to obtain. Tolerance for error is much higher. Learn more on my site
The engineered flooring is less likely to expand or contract than solid wood so it will be more stable.
An engineered wood flooring has a veneer of actual wood glued to a substrate as opposed to a plank of actual wood. This has it's good & bad points, & I'll just say that when it comes to refinishing the former you can only do it a few times before you sand through the veneer.
