Prefinished residential solid and engineered flooring is made from real wood. Strips or planks of solid wood flooring are made from a single piece of wood. This is the traditional wood floor we all usually associate with the term “wood flooring”, but prefinished at the factory. This flooring is generally made from a hardwood such as maple, oak or hickory, but can be found, mostly special order, in softer woods like pine or fir.

Strips or planks of engineered flooring are usually made from multiple layers of wood. This type of flooring is generally prefinished, but not always. Engineered floors use  faster growing species of wood for their core material and some even use wood fibers that, in the past, would have been waste material (sawdust, recycled or reclaimed wood). By doing so, engineered floors represent a more resource efficient and ecologically sustainable flooring product.  Engineered wood flooring is usually more dimensionally stable than it’s solid counterpart. It is also more widely available in wider planks at less cost. In general, engineered flooring has a thinner wear layer, but its factory applied finish makes it very durable.