I just bought a new build home and have had the same debate - and after doing a lot of research on the topic, I've settled on engineered hardwood floors. Depending on the climate where you live, engineered hardwood can last longer. I live in Canada and due to the changing temperatures, the wood wood flooring will expand and contract regularly, which causes warping in solid hardwood floors. Engineered hardwood withstands the switch in temperatures better due to its different layers. Also, solid and engineered hardwoods can be sanded down the same amount of times because you will eventually hit the staples/nails used to install both types of flooring when you sand them down.

hardwoods are always better for resale value. laminates have harder finishes that most common hardwoods, though. you really have to make an effort to scratch the good ones. the bad ones are cheap, and they're cheap for a reason. that holds true for engineereds and hardwoods too, frankly.

We wouldn't trade for our handscraped oak floors! Shown in the picture (sorry about our granddaughter's refrigerator) these floors have had kids, trikes, dogs, claws, you name it and we've had it! They just keep looking better and better. Two primary ways to finish them: polyeurthane or wax. The wax is harder to maintain initially but you can touch up accidents like pet urine without having to re-do the whole floor. Not so with polyeurthane. It will not spot touch up, and re-doing a whole room sure smells bad for a long time. We have wax and love it.

Both engineered and solid have the same hardwood material as a wear layer. Both will wear the same. A hardwood will dent, scratch, ding and all the above (which is the beauty in having a natural product like that). If you have a busy home, try a hand scraped or something with variation or knots (hickory, acacia, oak, etc.) to hide scratches or dings the floor endures. The main determination factor we look at when we measure homes for installation of hardwood is the height of other surfaces we're going up against, (solid hardwood is usually a bit thicker), underlayment or what we are installing over (engineered floor is usually more versitile and can be installed over most surfaces). Then another major determination is the width of plank you're looking at. Anything over 4" wide plank we ALWAYS install an engineered hardwood because a hardwood will expand and contract through seasons and having a wider plank you need more stability to prevent cupping and warping. If you're looking at a plank width under 4" either will work just fine! If you need more information feel free to read into our website for helpful information. www.koebers.com Hope this helps :) A few great prefinished brands are on our website as well. We like prefinished because the floor can be UV cured which is a very strong finish as opposed to doing a sand and stain in home which can be messy and the finish is not usually as strong.