which holds up better engineered hardwood floors or solid hardwood floors when you have large dogs?
Personaly i would go with solid hardwood, only because you can sand them down over time and refinish them. But if you keep your dogs nails trimmed ( any pet store can teach you how) then you shouldn't have trouble with either. But have fun with all the hair your gonna find.
Engineered will hold up better than real hardwood but they can't be refinished. We installed bamboo flooring and had scratches within days from our dog. My daughter has a mastiff and a pitbull and has no scratches on her engineered hardwood after two years.
If you have a large dog on hardwood floors, yes, it's going to get scratched.Depending on the finish will determine how bad. If you are buying a prefinished hardwood, the finish is normally a lot stronger than one you would apply yourself. Also the stain. Natural floors will not show scratches as baddly as one that has a stain.
None of the previous answerers seem to know what engineered hardwood even is. Many people think it is laminate. Engineered hardwood is real wood with the same finish as a prefinished solid. The difference is that it is made up of 3, 5, or 7 layers of hardwood, like plywood. It is no harder or softer than solid hardwood and one will scratch as easily as the other. Both can be refinished. The only advantage of a solid is that it can be sanded and refinished numerous times instead of only once for most engineered.
Definitely engineered, some are 20 to 25 times harder than hard wood. I got 3 large dogs and they haven't made a mark in 9 months since i installed the floor.
