LVP vs. Engineered Hardwood vs. Solid Hardwood

My parents recently bought a house and we were chatting about the pros and cons of different hardwood and hardwood-look flooring options. Their home had a mash-up of carpet, bamboo and tile floors. They wanted to have one flooring material throughout the entire house for a more seamless look, which is a great decision I think. It will be a major upgrade, and be so much easier to clean one material (rather than having different cleaners for different floors and having to clean carpets!) It can be a little confusing, so I wanted to take a minute to explain each.

It can be hard to figure out which option is best for you! If you’re choosing flooring for your entire home, it can be a massive investment. You want to be sure that your money is well spent. Your choice needs to suit your budget, your family’s lifestyle, the environment, and so much more. I focused on the three most popular options here: luxury vinyl plank, engineered hardwood and solid hardwood. We’ll go over each type and then I listed a few questions to consider when choosing your flooring. Let’s dive in!

Luxury Vinyl Plank

Luxury vinyl plank or LVP is a flooring that is constructed in multiple layers. The layers include a PVC layer for rigidity, fiberglass, foam for comfort underfoot, a layer with the printed design, and a clear coat for shine and durability. It can look very similar to real hardwood or engineered hardwood if it has thick enough construction, allowing for deeper grooves to resemble the knots in hardwood. It placed by way of floating installation, meaning it doesn’t have to be glued down usually like vinyl flooring requires.

LVP has some definite pros. It’s extremely durable - able to withstand water and is difficult to dent or scratch. It’s usually between $2 and $7 per square foot, which is quite a bit less expensive than solid hardwood. I know lots of people that have LVP in their homes and love them! In terms of cons, it is less environmentally friendly due to the toxins and PVC required to engineer the product. I recommend you find a low-toxin LVP for this reason. Additionally, higher quality LVP options will give you a more realistic hardwood look and feel. Lower quality options are less convincing. Most luxury vinyl planks have a 15-25 year lifespan, which is a shorter lifespan than solid hardwood floors.

**Also, it’s worth noting luxury vinyl plank (LVP) and luxury vinyl tile (LVT) are constructed the same with similar layers. They’re just cut into different shapes - LVP resembles hardwood planks, and LVT is cut into tile shapes. LVP and LVT are often used interchangeably, although they are technically different things.

Engineered Hardwood

Similar to LVP, engineered hardwood is constructed in layers. But rather than PVC and fiberglass, the top and bottom layers in engineered hardwood are real wood. The middle contains layers of plywood. Because of this construction, it has the look and warm feel of solid hardwood, which a definite plus. Engineered hardwood also isn’t as affected by humidity and moisture as solid hardwood floors. This makes it a better choice for areas like bathrooms and kitchens, if you’re wanting to have the same flooring throughout the entire house.

Engineered hardwood typically cannot be sanded and refinished. It has a thin veneer of wood on top, which would be sanded away in the refinishing process. In terms of price, engineered hardwood is less than solid hardwood. Compared to LVP, it varies depending on the quality of each material.

Solid Hardwood

Solid hardwood is exactly what is sounds like: planks of solid wood. There are loads of different types of wood used in flooring. The most common options are oak, maple, hickory, cherry, walnut and pine. Our last home was built in 1900 and had heart pine floors, which is more common in older homes. Our current home, which was built in 1965, has oak floors. I love them both, although I will say…I think the heart pine floors were a bit softer in my experience. They were BEAUTIFUL and I loved them. Nowadays they don’t install heart pine floors almost ever in homes, so if you have them you’re lucky!

People are installing solid hardwood floors less and less these days since they’re pretty expensive. But there are definite pros: solid hardwood floors are beautiful and very long-lasting (obviously, our last home’s floors were 120 years old and were in great shape!). They can be sanded and refinished numerous times, unlike LVP or engineered hardwood.