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Updated May 3, 2023

Looking for the best engineered wood flooring brands? We get it. Tile flooring, vinyl flooring, laminate flooring, hemp flooring—until you need a new floor in your home, you may never realize exactly how many types of flooring exist. And more than that, how many flooring brands exist!

🏆🏆Engineered Wood Flooring Winners
We encourage you to read and research the flooring options below but we know some of you want to know our favorites, so here are our winners

#1 Proximity Mills
Visit their site | Find a retailer | Order samples
#2 Doma
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#3 Paradiso
Visit their site | Find a retailer | Order samples

But don’t worry—we’ve got you covered. Below, we’re going to take a deep dive into everything you need to know about the best engineered wood flooring brands. 

👉Want to skip straight to our best brands section? Click here.👈

Read on to learn all about engineered wood flooring: why and where you should consider installing it, how to choose the best engineered wood flooring products, and how it compares to other flooring options. 

And of course, we’ll show you our picks for the 16 best engineered wood flooring brands out there! 

First of All: What is Engineered Wood Flooring?

We’re sure you know this already, but just in case, we want to be sure.

There are two main types of wood flooring: solid wood and engineered wood. Engineered wood is often underestimated—but contrary to popular belief, it is real wood flooring. Like solid hardwood, it is 100% wood all the way through. No fake wood flooring here!

Engineered wood flooring is exactly what its name implies: a solid wood veneer over layers of high-strength plywood or OSB (oriented-strand board). 

What Are the Benefits of Engineered Wood Flooring?

Long Plank Engineered Wood Flooring from USFloors Brand
Engineered wood, courtesy of USFloors

When comparing engineered wood to solid wood, you’ll find a lot of advantages. 

Engineered Wood Can Be Cheaper than Solid Wood

If you have champagne tastes but a beer budget (don’t we all), you will be delighted by the prices of many of the best engineered wood flooring brands. 

This is especially true when you’re looking into more expensive or exotic hardwood species. Why? Because engineered wood only needs a small amount of that expensive wood for the veneer! Solid wood needs a whole chunk of it.

Is rich, dark ebony flooring (or at least ebony-stained flooring) your ultimate dream? An engineered wood version can make it possible.

Engineered Hardwood Can Go Where Solid Hardwood Can’t

Thanks to its high-strength base layers, engineered wood is less susceptible to swelling and warping from heat and moisture. 

This makes engineered wood a better choice for areas that might be damp, such as kitchens or basements. Plus, engineered wood can be installed directly on top of concrete subfloors!

If you’ve been looking into teak flooring pros and cons because you need water-resistant wood flooring for your guest bathroom, rest easy. The best engineered wood flooring brands can do the job just as well, if not better.

The Best Engineered Wood Flooring Brands Offer Endless Options

Engineered floors increase your hardwood options like crazy. Many of the best engineered wood flooring brands offer dozens—if not hundreds—of selections. 

Did you know that you can even buy engineered bamboo? It’s true—check out the pros and cons of engineered bamboo flooring to learn all about it. How about engineered cork? That’s right—engineered options give you all the perks and none of the disadvantages of cork flooring

Engineered Wood Can Be More Sustainable Than Solid Wood

It takes hardwood trees like oak decades to grow to maturity. But softwood trees—like the ones used to create the plywood and OSB used in the base layer of all the best engineered wood flooring brands—grow much more quickly.

This makes engineered hardwood an even more sustainable wood flooring option than solid wood. So if you’re looking for eco-friendly flooring, it’s a solid choice.

It Can Be Easier (and Cheaper) to Install, Too

Solid wood usually needs to be nailed, stapled, or glued down. But many of the best engineered wood flooring brands offer floating products as well. 

What is a floating floor? It’s a floor that snaps together and “floats” above the subfloor. The planks fit tightly together, like a jigsaw puzzle—only without all the guesswork. 

While there are some disadvantages of floating floors, they’re easier and cheaper to install than nail-down or glue-down floors. We’d also recommend learning about what subflooring is so you can weigh your options a bit better.

What Are the Disadvantages of Engineered Wood Flooring?

For all the perks that it offers, it is important to recognize some engineered wood disadvantages too. Although to be honest, there aren’t many of them.

Refinishing Can Be an Issue

Solid hardwood floors can be refinished over and over again. Engineered wood floors may also be refinished, but there is a limit to how many times. 

If the floor has a thick veneer layer, it can be refinished a few times. If the veneer layer is too thin, you will be lucky if you can refinish it even once or twice. We’ll get into exactly how thick that veneer layer should be in a little bit.

Just remember: refinishing is different than resurfacing. We’ll explain the difference (and why it matters) further down.

If You Don’t Buy From One of the Best Engineered Wood Flooring Brands, You Could Have Issues Down the Road

It’s important to choose your engineered wood flooring brand wisely. 

Some lesser brands may not make high-quality products. This will cause problems down the road, such as warping or layers coming unglued from each other. And if you have a floating floor, it can be difficult to replace damaged planks. To get to it, you have to disturb all the planks from the edge of the room until you get to that one troublesome spot. That’s one tall project! 

Solution: buy from one of the best engineered wood floor brands below.

Low-Quality Engineered Wood Can Off-Gas VOCs

Again: this isn’t much of a problem if you buy from one of the best engineered wood floor brands, but it is worth mentioning.

Low-quality engineered wood can use low-quality adhesives to join the veneer and base layers. And low-quality adhesives can off-gas VOCs, or volatile organic compounds. This can be a health hazard for susceptible groups, and we would always recommend buying low-VOC flooring.

In our opinion, it’s simply not worth it. Skip the fake engineered cork flooring Lowe’s sells and buy from a real brand at a real flooring store. You can find top-rated flooring stores in your area here.

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Where Can You Install Engineered Wood Flooring?

Aside from being some of the easiest flooring to install, engineered wood is also very versatile. You can install it nearly anywhere! And once you’ve researched the cost to install engineered hardwood floors, you may just want to.

Engineered wood is one of the very few wood floors that you can install directly over concrete, unlike solid hardwood. Remember above when we talked about the crisscrossing grains in the core layer of the planks? And how that helps to ward off heat and moisture problems? Yeah, that’s the reason.

If you install solid hardwood on a concrete floor, you are sadly wasting your money. The moisture will ruin the wood fairly quickly. That is why engineered wood is a great choice for basements.

Constant exposure to water, however, is not suitable for engineered wood. If you are hoping for some hardwood mudroom flooring, you might look into some waterproof types of floor tiles instead. 

What to Consider When Choosing The Best Engineered Wood Flooring Brands

Now that you have a better grasp on the basics, let’s get into details. There are a few important factors to take into consideration when you are shopping for the best engineered wood flooring brands.

What’s the Best Veneer Thickness for Engineered Wood Flooring?

It depends! In years past, the common wisdom was “the thicker, the better”. But these days, that’s changing.

It’s true that the thicker your veneer layer, the more times you’ll be able to refinish it. Most of the best hardwood floor brands sell products with different veneer thicknesses for exactly this purpose. And if you want to refinish your floors, we’d recommend looking for a minimum veneer layer thickness of 3/16”. 

But: refinishing is only an issue if you purchase unfinished engineered wood that you finish on-site. That’s because factory finishes (which contain super-durable protective elements like UV-cured aluminum oxide crystals) don’t really need to be refinished. Rather, they simply need to be resurfaced—which involves a mild abrasive and no sanding.

Translation: most prefinished hardwood flooring comes with a 1.2mm veneer, which is perfectly suitable.

What is the Most Durable Engineered Wood Flooring?

Engineered wood is one of the most durable wood flooring options out there. Have we mentioned the importance of thickness when considering durability? Check.

But the finish of your engineered wood can also play a role. If you have kids or pets, then you know the importance of scratch-resistant flooring. Pre-finished boards hold up better than unfinished ones. That’s because the factory can apply a harder protective finish, such as aluminum oxide, than we can at home.

How Long Do the Best Engineered Wood Flooring Brands Last?

Typically, you can expect your engineered wood floors to last you 20–50 years, depending on the quality of the product. But some of the best engineered wood floor brands offer lifetime warranties, too! Just remember: how well you care for your floor will also affect its lifespan.

But keep in mind that this is for standard residential use. That means you shouldn’t plan on holding Irish clog dancing parties if you want your floor to have a long and healthy life! If that’s more your speed, maybe consider some concrete flooring that looks like wood.

The 15 Best Engineered Wood Flooring Brands

Ok! This is it: the main event. It’s time to learn about the best engineered wood flooring brands! Keep in mind that these are 15 of our favorite options, but they are no means the only options. 

#1: Proximity Mills

Best Overall Price-to-Quality Ratio
Price: $$
Durability: 5/5
Warranty: 4/5 

Durable engineered wood floors from Proximity Mills
Courtesy of Proximity Mills

Proximity Mills tops our list of best vinyl plank flooring brands for their commitment to offering exceptional durability at a reasonable price. 

Continuing in their style of breaking the mold when it comes to the floors they sell, they do hardwood a bit differently. Rather than offering plain ol’ engineered hardwood, they offer two different types of engineered wood—waterproof and high-density—each of which is designed for peak performance in its given role.

Let’s take a look at why they top yet another one of our best-of lists.

Proximity Mills Engineered Wood Offerings

In total, Proximity Mills offers 43 engineered wood products in 6 collections—3 of which are waterproof, and 3 of which are high-density, as we mentioned. We’ll talk more about the differences between the two categories in a bit.

There’s a good variety in wood species—your standard oak and hickory are here, of course, but you’ll also find maple, Peruvian teak, and strand-woven bamboo flooring options.

While you can find a lot of the other brands on this list without much work, you will have to do a bit of hunting for Proximity Mills. The reason? They only work with trusted local flooring stores that meet their standards for product expertise and customer satisfaction.

Proximity Mills Engineered Wood Cost | $$

Proximity Mills skips the middlemen and distributes all of their products directly to dealers—which, according to the company, allows them to provide high-quality floors at a not-so-high-end price. 

That price: roughly $8.50–$12.50 per square foot, depending on the product you’re looking for. The high-density floors will be a little more expensive than the waterproof line because of their construction process, but the price for what you’re getting is still great.

Overall, for floors of this quality, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better deal. 

Proximity Mills Engineered Wood Durability | 5/5

For Proximity Mills floors, durability is the name of the game. Like we said before, there are two main categories here: waterproof and high-density. 

Let’s take a look at what makes the waterproof floors special first. They’re guaranteed waterproof from any side for at least 36 hours, and top-down waterproof for up to 72 hours. Translation: these floors can stand up to any spill for a really impressive amount of time.

The high-density flooring is made specifically to avoid compression—something that you might not even know is an issue with a lot of engineered wood floors. But compression is the real enemy of wood floors, not scratches. For example, when pets or furniture leave marks, they’re not scratching through the finish layer—they’re compressing the wood of the entire floor.

So how does Proximity Mills fight this? Instead of cutting their planks in a rotary pattern (like a roll of paper towels, the most cost-effective way), they use traditional, flat-sawn slices for a denser, more robust floor. 

All of that is to say: as with their vinyl plank, Proximity Mills offers performance features you’d expect to find in a much more expensive hardwood floor, but at an impressively reasonable price.

Proximity Mills Engineered Wood Warranty | 4/5 

Proximity Mills stands by their floors—and their warranties do, too. Every hardwood product offers a 20-year warranty, minimum (and most offer a full lifetime limited residential warranty). 

On top of that, the majority also carry a 10-year commercial warranty, which just goes to show how much faith they have in their products standing up to foot traffic.

#2: Doma

The Most Stylish Engineered Hardwood Around
Price: $$
Durability: 4.5/5
Warranty: 4/5 

Gray Doma hardwood floors in a living room next to a console table
Courtesy of Doma

Doma flooring earns its place among the best engineered wood flooring brands thanks to its immensely stylish designs “inspired by the beauty of the natural world.” Within Doma’s catalog, you’ll find a striking balance of trendy modern looks and timeless, traditional offerings. 

However, these floors aren’t just about the wow factor—they’re also designed for exceptional quality. 

While Doma shouldn’t be confused with a budget option, it is very reasonably priced, backed by a solid warranty, and as elegant as engineered wood comes.

Doma Engineered Wood Offerings

Style is how Doma wins! Their engineered hardwood catalog offers a diverse range of color options and textures, with plenty of trendy grays, ambers, and chocolate tones. Plus, each plank is thermal-treated to accentuate its natural look and prevent fading.

There are also 2 width options: wider planks ranging between 5 and 7.5 inches, and a long-strip option that mimics traditional narrow planks—but with multiple strips on a single core (for added stability and ease of installation).

Finally, all Doma hardwood is FloorScore certified as low-VOC, so rest easy knowing that these floors will not harm the air quality in your home.

PS: Doma also sells solid hardwood, if you want to go that direction.

Doma Engineered Wood Cost | $$

Doma engineered hardwood flooring costs between $8.00–$9.50 per square foot, which feels like a steal considering how great these floors look, feel, and perform.

Doma Engineered Wood Durability | 4.5/5

All Doma hardwood is finished with an aluminum oxide wear layer, the best protective finish on the market. Expect this floor to last a long time.

Doma Engineered Wood Warranty | 4/5 

Doma’s engineered hardwood floors come with a 20-year residential warranty and a robust 10-year commercial warranty.

#3: Paradiso

The Best Luxury Option
Price: $$$
Durability: 4.5/5
Warranty: 4.5/5 

paradiso hardwood in living room
Courtesy of Paradiso

Paradiso flooring is the first (and perhaps best) luxury entry among this list of the engineered wood flooring brands, but don’t let that color your vision. These engineered wood floors are exceptionally long-lasting (like, really really long-lasting), world-class products. 

Translation: Paradiso doesn’t make buyers pay for a name. These floors have a lot to offer.

Paradiso Engineered Wood Offerings

There are 5 collections of Paradiso engineered hardwood flooring for 50 products in total, all of which go through a thermal treatment process that ensures that the floors are the same color throughout the entire veneer. 

In other words, if you were to (deeply) scratch a Paradiso floor plank, you wouldn’t find a different color wood beneath. So, any scratches that do occur won’t stand out. Better yet: unlike other floors that tend to lose their color over time, that same thermal treatment process also ensures that Paradiso’s engineered hardwood floors actually become richer over time.

Additionally, most Paradiso hardwoods come with a natural oil finish—so you’re walking on real wood rather than a plastic finish layer. This means you can also repair any dings and scratches yourself.

Translation: if you want gorgeous engineered hardwood that can last lifetimes and continue looking better every year, this is the brand for you. Just look at the hardwoods in European palaces and castles that are still going strong after hundreds of years. Natural oil finishes!

Also, Paradiso engineered hardwood floors are low-VOC certified so they won’t jeopardize your family’s health.

Paradiso Engineered Wood Cost | $$$

Paradiso floors tap into the luxury market, so they’re a bit more expensive than your average engineered hardwood—but still reasonably priced compared to most other luxury floor brands.

Expect to pay $11.00–$15.00 per square foot. 

Paradiso Engineered Wood Durability | 4.5/5

Paradiso really doesn’t compromise when it comes to durability.

All their hardwood floors are either 9/16” or 5/8″ thick, whereas most brands only make 3/8″ planks. This additional thickness dramatically enhances both the stability and general durability of Paradiso engineered hardwood, making it even more resistant to environmental factors as well as your typical, daily wear and tear.

Additionally, most Paradiso planks have a 3mm veneer—up from an industry average of 1.2mm—so they’re further able to withstand much more punishment than your typical engineered hardwood floor.

Lastly, the veneers used in Paradiso engineered hardwood are sawn, not rotary-peeled. This production practice is more costly but doesn’t compromise the integrity of the wood, so the resulting floor is much more robust and beautiful. 

Paradiso Engineered Wood Warranty | 4.5/5 

Most Paradiso engineered hardwood floors come with a lifetime residential warranty; the remainder are covered by a substantial 20-year residential warranty.

For commercial use, each floor is protected by a 10-year structural commercial warranty and a 3-year finish warranty.

#4: Somerset Hardwood Flooring

Eco-Friendly, Sustainable, and Locally Sourced
Price: $$
Durability: 4/5
Warranty: 4/5

Dark engineered wood from Somerset in a traditional living room
Courtesy of Somerset Hardwood Flooring

Remember how we discussed the importance of the thickness of engineered wood flooring? Somerset carries some of the thickest engineered planks out there! 

They’re also known for being environmentally conscious, sustainable, and locally sourced from the Appalachian Mountains of the USA.

But what else does Somerset have to offer? Let’s take a look.

Somerset Engineered Wood Offerings 

While there isn’t a huge variety of wood species here (as Somerset specializes in Appalachian hardwoods), there are a decent number of colors, textures, and plank widths to choose from. 

In total, Somerset offers 50 engineered wood (or as they refer to them, SolidPlus) products broken down into 7 collections:

  • Color Plank 
  • Classic 
  • Character 
  • Specialty 
  • Wide Plank
  • Hand Crafted 
  • Classic Character

Somerset Engineered Wood Cost | $$

Prices vary from store to store, but in general, Somerset engineered wood costs between $6.00–$8.50 per square foot. That’s a bit on the higher end of the spectrum when compared to other engineered wood products, but the quality of these floors seems to justify the cost.

Somerset Engineered Wood Durability | 4/5 

Somerset promises excellent durability, and the company’s online reviews seem to agree. The thick planks we mentioned—plus a veneer layer that’s thicker than most other brands’—make this a very solid engineered wood floor (pun very much intended).

Somerset Engineered Wood Warranty | 4/5

Somerset believes in the quality of their wood floors—and they’ve got the warranties to prove it. Products have a lifetime structural warranty for commercial and residential use. On top of that, Somerset engineered wood floors have a 5-year finish wear warranty (which says that the floor will stand up to standard commercial wear) for commercial use, and a 50-year warranty for residential use. 

#5: Newton

The Best Low-Cost Hardwood Around 
Price: $
Durability: 3.5/5
Warranty: 3/5

Natural engineered wood from Newton in a dining room
Courtesy of Newton

Now you might be wondering, what is a budget floor doing on this list of best engineered wood flooring brands? But Newton offers the absolute best low-cost hardwood flooring on the market—other brands sell flooring of the exact same quality for two or even three times the price.

These hardwood floors aren’t anything special per se—they’re not waterproof and they don’t have any special gimmicks—they’re just really solid hardwood floors. If you’re looking for a great engineered hardwood product without all the bells and whistles at a remarkably great price, Newton is the brand for you.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves; let’s take a closer look at the products Newton offers and why they deserve to be on this list. 

Newton Engineered Wood Offerings

Newton carries 9 collections of engineered wood, with 47 products in total. They focus on sustainable sourcing and traditional designs—these floors have a lot of character with their color variation and natural wood knotting. You’ll find options in oak, hickory, maple, and birch—all of which are responsibly sourced in the USA.

Newton Engineered Wood Cost | $

So what does low-cost flooring mean, exactly? Well, you can expect to pay between $4.50–$7.00 per square foot, depending on the product. For the quality of floor that you’re getting, we see that as a steal. 

Newton Engineered Wood Durability | 3.5/5

Newton’s floors prove that low-cost flooring doesn’t have to mean low quality. But let’s take a look at how they’re able to offer durable floors at such a low price.

First off, they are extremely efficient with their manufacturing process. They make better use of wood by-products that would otherwise be discarded, and turn these materials into a robust floor. 

Like we said, some brands sell what are basically the exact same quality of flooring for over double the price of Newton. But their commitment to affordable prices makes these floors good for your home and your wallet. 

Newton Engineered Wood Warranty | 3/5

Newton’s residential warranties are standard across the board—all of their engineered wood products offer a 15-year residential warranty. Many of their floors aren’t graded for commercial use, but some also offer a 10-year commercial warranty (depending on the collection).

So while the warranty doesn’t suggest the product will last forever, it’s really not meant to. It’s a budget hardwood floor—but it’s the best budget hardwood floor you’re going to find.

#6: From the Forest 

Locally Sourced at a Variety of Price Points
Price: $$
Durability: 4/5
Warranty: 4/5 

From the Forest engineered wood in a bedroom
Courtesy of From the Forest

From the Forest is a small company based in Wisconsin specializing in engineered wood products. They accommodate all price points and tastes, and are known for using only locally-sourced wood from companies that participate in reforestation programs.

From the Forest Engineered Wood Offerings

Like many other brands on this list, From the Forest only deals in domestic woods—specifically maple, walnut, hickory, and oak. But that’s to be expected from a company that places a big emphasis on sustainability!

From the Forest only offers engineered wood products, which come in 5 different collections:

  • Woodland Treasures
  • Choice
  • Click and Tap
  • Vineyard
  • Northern Exotics

The Click and Tap collection differ slightly from the rest of the products when it comes to installation. Products in this collection don’t need nails, staples, or glue—just “click and tap” the planks together right onto your floor!

From the Forest Engineered Wood Cost | $$

When we said From the Forest accommodates all price points, we meant it. Prices on their website start as low as $4.00 per square foot, and some products even climb all the way to $15.00 per square foot.

Why the wide range of prices? If you browse From the Forest’s products, you’ll see why. Their products vary widely in base layer thickness, veneer quality, texture… you get the idea. 

From the Forest Engineered Wood Durability | 4/5

You might be wondering—with such a wide variety in cost, just how good are these floors, anyway?

The short answer: it really depends on the product line you choose. For example, you’ll struggle to find an engineered wood floor more durable than some of the products in the Woodland Treasures collection—which cost up to $15.00 per square foot. Which, at a price like that, you’d expect to be the case.

But even if you choose to go with a more budget-friendly option, you’d still be getting a quality floor—and at a lower price than many comparable brands.

From the Forest Engineered Wood Warranty | 4/5

The warranties for From the Forest’s different collections are pretty standard across the board. All of the products approved for residential use offer a limited lifetime warranty, which just goes to show how much the company stands by their quality.

As far as commercial warranties, all products have a minimum 5-year limited warranty. Some of the higher-end products have a 10-year light commercial limited warranty. 

Overall: fantastic residential warranties, pretty standard commercial warranties.

#7: Harris Wood Floors

Low-Cost Floors from a Trusted Brand
Price: $
Durability: 3/5 
Warranty: 4/5 

Red oak engineered wood near a fireplace from Harris Wood Floors
Courtesy of Harris Wood Floors

Harris Wood Floors is one of the oldest flooring companies in the country (they’ve been in business for over 120 years). But their floors have stood the test of time, landing them a well-deserved place among the best engineered wood flooring brands.

Harris Wood Floors Engineered Wood Offerings

Harris mainly offers traditional choices, but with a few more contemporary options than some of its competitors. There’s a focus on red oak and hickory, but Harris also offers some harder-to-find wood species like cherry, birch, and pecan. 

Harris products come in 6 collections:

  • Americana Escape MOUNTAINS
  • Americana Escape TRAILS
  • Aspen
  • Harris ONE
  • Traditions SpringLoc
  • WYNWOOD

They’re one of the leading specialists in click-lock engineered wood—their proprietary system is called Springloc, and it’s featured in a good number of their floors.

Harris Wood Floors Engineered Wood Cost | $

Harris doesn’t sell their floors directly from their website, so this is another brand that’s prices vary pretty widely between retailers. In general, though, Harris engineered wood will cost $3.00–$5.00 per square foot—that’s below-average to average for engineered hardwood costs.

Harris Wood Floors Engineered Wood Durability | 3/5 

When you compare Harris floors to other floors at their price point, there’s really no competition—Harris makes respectable, durable wood floors. But when we compare Harris with some of the best engineered wood brands, their floors are slightly above average when it comes to durability (which is still good!).

One of our main gripes is the lack of details on their website in comparison to some other brands—there’s little to no information on things like the number of plies, finish type, or even veneer thickness. Give the people what they want, Harris!

Harris Wood Floors Engineered Wood Warranty | 4/5

Harris Wood Floors offers a lifetime structural warranty on all of their engineered wood products—always a welcome sight! On top of that, all of their collections also carry a minimum 25-year finish warranty 

The only thing that keeps this from being a 5/5 rating is the lack of a commercial warranty on any product. Sure, we’re being picky—but these are the best engineered wood flooring brands we’re talking about! 

#8: Johnson Hardwood

Unique Options at a Reasonable Price Point
Price: $$
Durability: 4/5
Warranty: 4/5 

Johnson light engineered wood floors in a loft-style living space
Courtesy of Johnson Hardwood

This well-reviewed company offers a range of unique engineered wood with tons of character. Johnson Hardwood has unique-looking engineered wood that will stand out from other floors. 

Johnson Hardwood Engineered Wood Offerings

Johnson Hardwood carries over 100 engineered wood products across 12 different collections. All your domestic favorites are here, but there are also a few unique woods you don’t see every day—specifically, European oak (it’s oak, but from Europe!), birch, and acacia

If you had to do a quick Google search for that last one, you’re not alone—but Johnson Hardwood isn’t even the only brand on this list that offers acacia products!

Johnson Hardwood Engineered Wood Cost | $$

On average, you can expect to pay $4.00–$8.00 per square foot for Johnson engineered wood flooring. Their pricing is what you might call “upper mid-range”, but when you compare with brands of similar quality, it’s actually a pretty great deal.

Johnson Hardwood Engineered Wood Durability | 4/5

So what do Johnson Hardwood reviews have to say about their engineered wood products? Mostly positive things, it turns out!

Their product specs don’t exactly try to reinvent the wheel—their plank and veneer thickness are about on par with what you’d expect from a brand of their reputation. But the floors are really well-made, and complaints online are few and far between. 

Johnson Hardwood Engineered Wood Warranty | 4/5

Johnson Hardwood’s warranties are pretty standard—a 35-year residential finish warranty and a structural limited lifetime warranty for their engineered wood products. The company talks a big game when it comes to standing by their products, and their warranties back it up!

#9: Kährs

The Swedish Inventors of Engineered Wood
Price: $$$
Durability: 4.5/5
Warranty: 3.5/5

Kährs gray chevron engineered wood
Courtesy of Kährs

Kährs has the distinction of being the only Swedish company to make our list of best engineered wood flooring brands. Fun fact: they actually invented what we know as modern engineered wood flooring in 1941.

But how does the original engineered wood flooring brand compare to newer competitors? Let’s take a look.

Kährs Engineered Wood Offerings 

Just because they’re based in Sweden, it doesn’t mean Kährs limits their offerings to European wood species. Actually, it’s quite the opposite.

Kährs sources their lumber from North American, European, and South American forests (for exotic species), but all of their production is done in Sweden. And since they cast such a wide net, they’re able to offer some exotic hardwood species, like Brazilian cherry and jarrah, that other companies just can’t.

Their catalog is pretty expansive, with over 100 engineered wood products available in 22 collections. 

Kährs Engineered Wood Cost | $$$

Because Kährs offers such a variety of products, their prices vary pretty widely. You can purchase common species like oak for around $5.00–$6.00 per square foot, but the luxury items will cost you almost 3x that at up to $15.00 per square foot. 

That makes it the highest cost flooring we’ve seen so far, but floors of this quality usually don’t come cheap!

Kährs Engineered Wood Durability | 4.5/5 

So we’ve talked about how most engineered wood flooring can’t be refinished more than once or twice. But thanks to their thick planks and quality construction, Kährs floors can actually be refinished up to four times.

They’re also built to withstand humidity and temperature changes in your home—something not every brand can say.

Kährs Engineered Wood Warranty | 3.5/5

The warranties on these products are good, but they don’t quite stack up to some of the best around. The lifetime limited structural warranty is good, but their wear-through warranties max out at 25 years. For a product with such a high price point, we’d like to see that protection last just a little longer.

#10: LM Flooring

A Newer Low-Cost Brand with an Expansive Catalog
Price: $
Durability: 3.5/5
Warranty: 4/5

LM Flooring in a bedroom
Courtesy of LM Flooring

LM Flooring is one of the newest flooring companies on this list. But don’t confuse their youth for a lack of expertise—they just so happen to specialize in engineered wood flooring!

LM Flooring Engineered Wood Offerings

LM Flooring offers 25 collections of engineered wood flooring, with over 120 different products in total. Your standard domestic woods are here, plus some less common species like birch and acacia (bet you didn’t see that one coming!).

The LM Flooring product catalog covers nearly all design styles, too. So if you’re looking to create some classic hardwood floor patterns like chevron parquet or herringbone, this might be the company for you.

LM Flooring Engineered Wood Cost | $

This is one of the less expensive brands on the list. LM Flooring products start at around $3.00 per square foot, and max out around $6.50–$7.00 per square foot (depending on your local dealer, of course).

LM Flooring Engineered Wood Durability | 3.5/5 

Make no mistake: that low price point does not mean these products are low quality. You’d be hard-pressed to find any negative LM Flooring reviews, and it makes sense if you take a look at the product specs. 

Most of these floors have multi-ply construction. In English, that means there are more layers in the base of the plank, making it a thicker, more durable floor. 

LM Flooring Engineered Wood Warranty | 4/5 

The lifetime residential warranty on all of LM Flooring’s products speaks volumes about the confidence they have in their products. There’s also a finish warranty that’s covered by warranty for anywhere from 5–50 years (depending on the product). 

#11: Mullican

Unfinished and Prefinished Planks from a Trusted Brand
Price: $$
Durability: 4/5
Warranty: 3.5/5

Light engineered wood flooring rom Mullican
Courtesy of Mullican

Mullican is one of the only brands on this list that sells unfinished engineered wood planks. If you want to completely customize your flooring finish without relying too much on manufacturers, this is the brand for you. 

Mullican Engineered Wood Offerings

Like we mentioned, Mullican is one of the only companies that offers unfinished engineered wood planks. But if finishing your own floors sounds too intimidating, don’t worry—they also have a gorgeous selection of prefinished floors. 

Their finished engineered wood flooring comes in 19 collections, with over 100 styles in a stunning array of gorgeous colors and patterns.

Mullican Engineered Wood Cost | $$

For this section, we’ll mostly talk about Mullican’s prefinished floors. It’s not fair to compare the cost of unfinished prefinished planks—unfinished wood floors will almost always be pretty significantly cheaper. 

With that said, Mullican prefinished engineered wood floors are still pretty reasonably priced. You can expect to pay $4.00–$6.00 per square foot, depending on your local retailer. 

Mullican Engineered Wood Durability | 4/5

Reviews for Mullican engineered wood are pretty positive—especially when you compare to some of the other brands out there. By most accounts, they’re well put together, sturdy floors like Mullican promises.

There are a few complaints regarding a lack of quality control. But overall once these floors are installed, they’re built to last. 

Mullican Engineered Wood Warranty | 3.5/5

So Mullican’s warranties are solid enough—there’s a lifetime finish warranty on many of their products, and most have at least a 25-year warranty in that department.

The reason we can’t score this higher, though, is the sheer amount of customer complaints online regarding the warranty. Specifically, it sounds like they refuse to honor the warranty if planks show up splintered or cracked.

This isn’t a reason to avoid Mullican engineered wood—it’s still a quality product. But like always, it’s something to keep in mind when we’re talking about the best engineered wood flooring brands.

#12: Shaw

Another Flooring Giant with a Slew of Engineered Wood Options
Price: $$$
Durability: 3.5/5
Warranty: 3/5 

Shaw engineered wood floors in a kitchen with an island
Courtesy of Shaw

Shaw is the second-largest flooring company in the world (after Mohawk). They’ve got a great reputation, too—Shaw laminate flooring and Shaw vinyl plank flooring are some of the most popular on the market. 

They’ve also been manufacturing wood flooring for many years now, but that hasn’t stopped them from innovating!

Shaw Engineered Wood Offerings

Shaw offers 18 different engineered hardwood collections, with over 100 total styles to choose from. Like almost any other brand, they offer standard domestic species like oak and hickory, but there are also some less common options like walnut and kupay.  

Shaw Engineered Wood Cost | $$$

Shaw engineered wood flooring, especially on the high end, is one of the more expensive brands on this list. The Celestial line is the least expensive option at $6.69 per square foot. On the opposite end, you’ll find the Expressions line—products in this collection cost $14.69 per square foot.

Shaw Engineered Wood Durability | 3.5/5

So just how good is Shaw’s engineered wood? Well, like a lot of other brands, that answer depends on what you’re willing to spend. 

Let’s first look at the Expressions collection, which carries Shaw’s most expensive engineered wood products. These floors are extremely durable (and they’d better be for that price), with 5/8″ planks and a quality UV aluminum oxide finish. 

But as you start looking at less expensive options, that quality starts to go downhill. Just reading Shaw engineered wood reviews online will tell you that a lot of customers are unhappy with the quality of product, citing things like splintering, scratching, and cracking.

Shaw Engineered Wood Warranty | 3/5 

Structural warranties on these products are pretty standard across the board (or should we say across the plank? No? Ok, moving on…). All of Shaw’s engineered wood floors come with a limited lifetime residential structural warranty.

The finish warranty is a different story—Shaw’s website isn’t exactly specific on how long their products are covered. They advise customers to call their salesperson or Shaw’s 1-800 number with any questions on their floor’s warranty length. 

#13: Lauzon

An Environmentally Conscious Canadian Brand
Price: $$$
Durability: 4/5
Warranty: 3/5

Light engineered wood flooring by Lauzon in a modern kitchen
Courtesy of Lauzon

Now let’s move on to a brand you probably haven’t heard of: Lauzon. This smaller Canadian company is dedicated to reforestation and responsible environmental stewardship. 

Lauzon Engineered Wood Offerings

Lauzon only offers two collections—the Ambiance and Designer collections—but there are still more than 60 engineered wood products available. 

There’s a pretty good variety of wood species, too, if you’re looking for something a little different. You can find exotic species like Brazilian cherry and African sapele in the Lauzon catalog.

Lauzon even offers something called Pure Genius—their technology that actually purifies the air as part of its finish. Seriously! 

Lauzon Engineered Wood Cost | $$$

Lauzon’s prices aren’t quite as high as some of the other best engineered wood flooring brands, but that doesn’t mean you’ll find them in the bargain bin.

Prices range from around $6.00–$14.50 per square foot, depending on the collection and retailer. 

Lauzon Engineered Wood Durability | 4/5

So how durable is Lauzon’s engineered wood? Let’s look at some of the specs.

Some of these floors have planks that are 3/4″ thick—some of the thickest available when it comes to engineered wood. With that plank thickness plus a robust aluminum oxide finish layer, these floors are in the “ultra durable” category.

Online reviews for Lauzon engineered wood flooring back this up, too—most of the feedback is overwhelmingly positive.

Lauzon Engineered Wood Warranty | 3/5

Residential warranties for these products vary slightly between collections. The Designer collection is covered by a 35-year warranty, and the Ambiance collection is just shy of that at 30 years.

#14: Regal Hardwoods

Gorgeous Floors That Can Be Hard to find
Price: $$
Durability: 4/5 
Warranty: 3.5/5

Regal Hardwoods engineered wood in a vintage style living room
Courtesy of Regal Hardwoods

Regal Hardwoods offers hand-scraped engineered wood with a solid birch core. If you compare the pros and cons of birch flooring to pros and cons of pine flooring (a softwood used in many engineered wood plywood cores) you’ll find that birch makes for excellent core strength.

Regal Hardwoods Engineered Wood Offerings

In total, Regal hardwoods offers 14 collections of engineered wood with more than 60 flooring options in total. Almost all of the floors here use domestic hickory or oak veneer layers, with that birch core we mentioned earlier providing some extra heft.

And unlike some other brands on this list, they offer a variety of wood floor patterns, too. You’ll find herringbone, parquet, and subway tile wood floors alongside the collection of standard planks. 

And speaking of planks, Regal Hardwoods is known for their longer-than-average wood engineered wood floor planks—a sort of cheat code to make any room look and feel larger than it is.

Regal Hardwoods Engineered Wood Cost | $$

Regal Hardwoods doesn’t sell their products directly through their website—you’ll have to find a dealer, meaning prices for these floors will vary pretty widely. And prices are hard to find online, so we recommend reaching out to your local flooring expert for more information. 

With that in mind: from our research, you can expect to pay around $6.00–$11.00 per square foot on average. 

Regal Hardwoods Engineered Wood Durability | 4/5 

Not only are prices hard to find—there also just aren’t a lot of Regal Hardwoods engineered wood reviews out there. What we do have is some pretty detailed specifications, and those tell us that these can take a pretty significant beating. 

Along with their solid birch core, almost all Regal Hardwoods products are also equipped with their proprietary Titanium ScuffGARD finish. This supposedly uses the latest in nano-technology to prevent scuffing, and it requires very minimal maintenance. 

Now, normally mentioning something like nano-technology in reference to a floor would set off our BS-meter, but this passes the smell test—that is to say, it sure seems like the real deal.

Regal Hardwoods Engineered Wood Warranty | 3.5/5 

Warranty information on these products is one thing that is easy to find. And, like many of the other best engineered wood flooring brands, it varies between collections.

Residential warranties range from 25-year to limited lifetime coverage, while commercial warranties cover anywhere from 3–15 years. One thing to mention though: all Regal Hardwoods engineered wood products do have at least some light commercial warranty coverage—to us, that shows just how much faith they have in the durability of their products! 

#15: Anderson Tuftex 

A True Luxury Flooring Brand with a Small, Well-Crafted Collection
Price: $$$
Durability: 4.5/5
Warranty: 4/5 

Anderson Tuftex engineered wood floors in a living room
Courtesy of Anderson Tuftex

Anderson Tuftex is the company you can thank for innovating cross-grained base layers. Their main design focus is on traditional, or even rustic floors—but they offer contemporary styles, too. Let’s look at how they stack up to other brands.

Anderson Tuftex Engineered Wood Offerings

Anderson Tuftex’s keyword is craftsmanship, and they’re focused on quality over quantity. There are only 31 total engineered wood options, all of which are listed on the Anderson Tuftex site as one collection. 

There are also no exotic species available in their engineered wood products—you’ll only find hickory, oak, maple, and walnut. 

PS: if you think you’ve heard of this company before, you probably have—they’re were of the world’s top carpet manufacturers even before being purchased by Shaw, the second-largest flooring company in the world.

Anderson Tuftex Engineered Wood Cost | $$$

If you’re familiar with the brand at all, you won’t be surprised that Anderson Tuftex is our most expensive brand on this list. Prices start at what would be considered the high end of some other brands, at $9.79 per square foot. And their most expensive engineered wood floors will cost you a pretty penny—over $20 per square foot, to be exact.

Anderson Tuftex Engineered Wood Durability | 4.5/5

Anderson Tuftex is often considered the gold standard in hardwood flooring for craftsmanship and durability. And it’s loved by customers—a vast majority of Anderson Tuftex reviews are overwhelmingly positive.

Most of their planks are at least 1/2″ thick, with many offerings as thick as 9/16” or 5/8″. Anderson Tuftex planks are also finished with either UV aluminum oxide or UV acrylic finish layers—specifically, their patented Luster-Lock Ultra Finish, which they claim is “6 times more resistant to scuffs and abrasions.”

Anderson Tuftex Engineered Wood Warranty | 4/5

Anderson Tuftex offers a residential lifetime limited structural warranty on all of their engineered wood products (which, honestly, we’d hope so for the price). The same warranty is also offered on the finish layer, but the percentage they’ll cover drops off in 1, 5, and 10 year increments. 

There are no commercial warranties on Anderson Tuftex engineered wood products. 

How Does the Best Engineered Wood Flooring Compare to Other Floors?

Choosing floor swatches

Although many of the best engineered wood flooring brands offer top-of-the-line products, it’s important to know how they stack up to other flooring options. Here’s how engineered wood compares to solid wood, laminate, and vinyl plank flooring.

Engineered Wood vs. Solid Wood

We’ve covered this a bit already, but let’s review!

Since solid wood is one piece of wood throughout, it can be refinished over and over. On the other hand, even the best engineered wood floors can only be refinished a few times at most. This is one of the biggest engineered wood disadvantages there is. But again, this isn’t relevant if your floors have a factory finish.

As we mentioned above, engineered wood can go where solid wood can’t. And if you buy from one of the best engineered wood flooring brands, you know you’ll be getting a product that can stand up to anything.

The cost to replace carpet with hardwood can be prohibitive for some buyers, but engineered wood makes it affordable. Many of the best engineered wood floor brands sell click-together flooring which can be installed quickly and easily. That’s not usually an option for solid wood.

Finally, as we mentioned before, the cost of engineered wood is often cheaper than the cost of solid wood for rare wood species. And that’s because engineered products use less of the expensive wood! So if you want to install something like ash flooring (or if you’ve been weighing the disadvantages of hickory flooring), engineered is a good option.

Engineered Wood vs. Laminate Flooring

Unlike engineered wood, laminate flooring is not actually wood. So what is laminate flooring, exactly? It’s a composite floor made of fiberboard, a photo-realistic image, and a hard plastic wear layer. 

Laminate is one of the most durable and beautiful hardwood floor alternatives around. But if you decide to go the laminate route, be sure you opt for a high-end product like Mohawk’s waterproof RevWood

You can read up on some RevWood reviews if you’re interested in that (and we wouldn’t blame you). After all, if you’re looking into the best engineered wood flooring brands, you should know about the best laminate flooring brands too.

Engineered Wood vs. Vinyl Plank Flooring

If you compare vinyl plank vs. laminate, you’ll find the two floors are very similar. But while laminate is made from numerous different materials, vinyl plank is made almost entirely out of vinyl (aka plastic).

That doesn’t mean vinyl flooring is low-quality, though! Vinyl plank is one of the best hardwood floor alternatives on the market. It’s waterproof, it’s durable, and these days, it looks really similar to real wood. In fact, there aren’t many disadvantages of vinyl plank flooring at all.

Many people choose vinyl plank over the best engineered wood flooring brands because it’s so durable and long-lasting. Vinyl plank floors can go where even the best engineered wood floors can’t.

And now that there are low-VOC vinyl flooring options on the market, it’s a relatively environmentally friendly flooring choice, too. If you’re interested in vinyl plank, check out some Pergo Extreme reviews (Pergo Extreme is one of the most popular vinyl plank products around). 

The Best Engineered Hardwood Flooring Brands: Conclusion

If you never thought you could afford to install hardwood flooring throughout your home, engineered wood may be the solution. If price made you feel as if you had no choice in whether you had carpet or hardwood in your bedroom, your options just opened up. If you thought… well, you get the point.

Engineered hardwood is an amazing product. And as you can see from our list of the best engineered wood flooring brands, there are plenty of manufacturers to suit every taste. 

So what’s the best engineered wood flooring brand for you? Armed with this list, head to a top-rated flooring store near you to find out! We promise you’re going to love what you find. Good luck and happy flooring! 

And don’t forget to check out: 

Special thanks to Courtney Daily for contributing the first edition of this article.

About The Author

Bo Arnold

November 24, 2020

Associate Copywriter at FlooringStores (and its parent company, Broadlume), Bo is an avid traveler, former English teacher, and unashamed extrovert. When he’s not writing, you'll usually find him at a local hardware store looking for his next project.