Solid Hardwood Flooring

Examples of Whole Wood's Many Solid Hardwood Flooring Styles

Solid hardwood floors are 100% hardwood milled from lumber. As a natural material, hardwood reacts to changes in its setting, like moisture and extreme temperatures, which cause solid wood to shrink or expand. All solid hardwood can be sanded and refinished if needed over the years. Solid hardwood is not recommended for installation below ground level or in bathrooms.

Whole Wood specializes in providing both SOLID and ENGINEERED hardwood floors in the San Francisco Bay Area, from San Jose to San Francisco.

Solid Hardwood Flooring Versus Engineered Hardwood Flooring

So what is the difference between SOLID hardwood flooring and ENGINEERED hardwood flooring?

SOLID hardwood flooring is 100% all wood and typically 5/8" to 3/4" thick. SOLID floors can be sanded and refinished many times, while ENGINEERED hardwood floors can only be sanded and refinished 1 or 2 times.

Why? Because ENGINEERED hardwood floors are actually a layer (veneer) of real wood glued to layers of wood underneath (usually plywood.) The advantages of ENGINEERED include providing excellent stability over the years and can be installed in below-grade basements, which is not recommended for SOLID hardwood flooring.

Which Species Are Best for SOLID Hardwood Flooring?

The optimal SOLID hardwood floors are made from the hardest of hardwoods such as Oak, Maple, and Cherry. Bamboo is very hard too even though it's technically a grass, not a tree. Other good solid hardwood choices are Walnut, Ash, and Mahogany.

Premium solid hardwood floors are made from more exotic species such as Teak, Jarrah, and Mesquite. Whole Wood is proud to offer many of these premium hard hardwoods in both SOLID and ENGINEERED formats.