Went through this whole dilemma last year. I'm not a builder.... but I researched this topic to death for our own home. Put down 1300 sq ft of engineered wood (kitchen/hallway/living/eating areas).... and I have 4 kids and a dog. My engineered floor is my favorite floor I've ever lived on. Here's my take. Engineered wood is SOO much easier to install... especially if you're living in the home during remodel. I was convinced that anything factory finished is a much more durable finish than anything site finished (you know.... several layers that are baked on in the factory). While I really sweated the lack of a seal between boards.... I really think it's not that hard to wipe up spills fairly quickly. Also, a good friend has solid, on site finished floors. Her's swell and contract so much that she ends up with much bigger gaps between boards than mine ever are (obviously an issue for liquid spills).... and her's is a very high quality, expensive home. My engineered doesn't swell or contract at all.... and I don't have to run a humidifier or anything. I also like knowing if I have severe damage in a certain spot, they can simply pop out those boards and put in some of our extras. My understanding is that replacing boards on site-finished projects requires refinishing the whole floor. If you do engineered.... look for these things: 1. A THICK top layer of wood. Mine is probably 1/4 inch. So it can be resanded a couple times. Some engineered floors literally have a paper thickness of wood on top. It's very simple to look at the sample and see that. 2. Be careful with your color/sheen. Mine is a mid-deep brown with some color variation and almost no shine. I definitely believe the darker and/or shinier, the more you will see dust and footprints. I LOVE the look of super-dark floors, but I didn't want the daily upkeep. I went for more of a chestnut..... and it is GREAT to live with. 3. Get the hand-scraped ("roughed up") look. My floor has certainly scratched in 9 months of living. But it inherently had so much character to it, so you have to really look to see scratches. Smooth floors are much less forgiving. My look is very modern, but the more rustic floor still works. Good luck!

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.

Here is what I found in my research. Based on that I went with solid hardwood floors. First off the reason why people say engineered floors look not real, even though the top layer is actual wood is because most of them are constructed with rotary peel veneers. Expensive ones may give sawn veneers and those will look like hardwood. Google search this and you will see what I mean. This is the reason the engineered wood just don't give you the variation and depth that hardwood can give you. With hardwood you are actually getting cross sections of the actual log not a peel of the log. Engineered layer on the top is wood like peel of a log like how you peel a potato It is a complete different wood grain look. So if you ever wonder why engineered wood look laminate like or plywood like then that is because it is constructed as such. Engineered has its pros of being more stable to temperature change and is easier to install but for a discerning person with a keen eye may want the actual warmth and variation of real wood will always lean to hardwood. The engineered wood industry has taken off in recent years providing fancy wide plank , hand scrapped, distressed and various other looks but almost none of them will provide you boards over 4 feet long and all of them will have the notorious beveled edge. What's the use of 7 inch wide planks with 48inch max length. In my mind it does not give you the solid plank look that century old houses had. I am in the middle of installation and I will post pictures when complete.

We went with engineered in my last house. Despite doing a ton of research and choosing a quality brand & species, and spending a ton of money, it just never looked great. In our new house, we refinished (including staining) the existing traditional oak floors and the difference is night and day. It holds up so much better. After three years there is hardly any wear, and what wear there is just doesn't look bad. The engineered floors scratched easily and looked worn after six months. The finish on the engineered made them look dirty minutes after cleaning because they would show every footprint and smudge. Also, the ridges between planks collected gunk, and just looked off in general. I thought, oh boring old 2.25" inch oak floors.... and now I'm madly in love with them. Classic, timeless, choosing the right color stain made them gorgeous, and they wear great. There's a reason they're ubiquitous!