I have real oak hardwood in my kitchen, and three years ago I installed engineered, handscraped hardwood by Appalachian Hardwoods in my bedroom. The engineered hardwood is superb. It didn't even scratch when we had heavy, sold bedroom furniture installed. These pieces require four people to move, and at one point it was dropped on the floor: no scratches, no dents. We now have felt pads on all the furniture for more protection, but the engineered wood has held up well. It's also easy to clean. It was more expensive than some hardwoods: $8.00 per square foot! Since our home was built to look like an old Louisiana antebellum home, I wanted floors that looked old and had character. The handscraped engineered floors fit the bill, especially when compared to the price of real, reclaimed wood from old homes or barns! Now I'm replacing all the flooring in my house with the same engineered wood. I'm even removing the oak plank in the kitchen. It has not held up over the years. The finish is gone in some spots, probably from wear and the use of things like vinegar, grease, etc. Some things really seem to eat away at the finished oak regardless of how quickly you remove a spill. It also has some dings from me dropping heavy cast-iron cookware. So, I can only speak from my experience, but so far the engineered hardwood seems to be the better choice for my home. Plus, it was faster to install. If I had done raw hardwood, the contractor said he would lay the wood in the house for a week to let it "cure" before finishing it. I live in a high-humidity area (NC). I'm impatient and didn't want to wait.

Solid hardwood is milled straight from the tree. It is solid throughout (like a 2"x4" is). Engineered is like plywood, but made out of the type of wood that is advertised. Engineered Wood Flooring has roughly twice the dimensional stability with changes in climate (moisture and temp), and will expand and contract aboput half as much a solid wood flooring. Solid wood flooring can be refinished many many times. Engineered wood flooring has limited thickness to be sanded and refinished. If going with engineered and you are looking to the future for refinishing, I recommend a very hard wood to limit wear and denting. The Janka Wood Hardness Test is one of the best measures of a wood species ability to resist denting and wear, however, at some point a wood species choice may become harder than the finish going on it. This can prevent future sandings needed if it ever needs refinished, so a harder wood may be able to be screened and refinished saving time and money from sanding becasue of its hardness, where a softer wood that is worn and dented might need a resanding PLUS rerfinishing. Here is a janka hardwood list then you can reference that with the products you wish to view/buy Hardwood Flooring Wood Hardness Scale prefinished hardwood does not require sanding. Site finished does. Mowhawks hardwoods are prefinished so they do not require site finishing to be installed. However, some years down the road you may with to have them refinished If no retailers around you have felt led tips, get your felt at an arts and crafts store, rag shop, or sewing shop and cut your own.

Shaw Epic has a coating called scuff resist, that is within the budget. Much better warranty and you will be hard pressed to scratch it. The samples do not have the scuff resist on it yet. there is demonstrations samples out there. The only solid with it on is Shaw Golden opportunity which is a solid that comes in 2 1/4 3 1/4 and 5 inch widths. Can buy any under 5 bucks a foot and has 20 year warranty. Epic is engineered and the warranty is longer. I can not remember how many years.The aluminum oxide is on top on these products. With dog and kids , it is what you want no doubt.The demonstration between this and Bruce is unbelievable as far as scratching it. It will be only a matter of time until it is introduced by others but currently only Shaw and a few high end Canadian products have the technology. Now Shaws epic series and Golden Opportunity in Solid are the only products with it, but you will find the golden color you desire and yes it is still common.If you can not find it for within your budget...email me and I can find it for you.

Also checking into engineered hardwood for a below grade concrete floor. I don't know about the Prolex. Their website has very little information and looks like it is from the '90's. Doesn't scream innovation at any rate. I also couldn't find their site straight away. I had to go via a Yelp listing of all things. Any eco friendly brands of engineers hardwood out there? No formaldehyde, no toxic glues? Use of post consumer content in the manufacture? Moisture resistant? Pergo, it seems is famous, but garbage. A shame because I saw a really nice looking "Pergo Outlast+ 10mm Laminate Flooring" with "spill protect." The color was Applewood. I don't know what "spill protect" is, but hey, I spill stuff all the time. It's supposedly waterproof, which probably means it's vynl or something. Looking at the picture I took of the label it seems the "core" is 10mm in the fine print.