Engineered Wood, Parquet Board or Solid Wood: How to Choose Flooring

The difference between engineered wood, parquet board and solid wood flooring isn’t in the name — it’s in the construction, and that construction decides how the floor behaves through humidity swings, whether it can go over underfloor heating, and how many times it can be sanded over a 20–30 year lifespan. A mistake at the construction-choice stage doesn’t show up in the showroom — it shows up a season later, as gaps between boards, cupping, or swelling near a window. Here’s a breakdown of the three flooring types and what to lock down when ordering from a factory.

Solid wood: a single board of hardwood

Solid wood flooring is milled from a single hardwood plank (oak, ash, walnut, teak) with no layered structure. Thickness is typically 15–22 mm, and board width is limited by trunk diameter — which is why solid boards run narrower than their engineered counterparts.

• Pros. Maximum wear-layer thickness — the floor can be sanded 4–6 times over its life, lasts decades, and stays fully refinishable.
• Cons. Wood is a living material that expands and contracts with air humidity. Through the seasons the floor cups, gaps open between boards in winter (dry heated air) and boards can crown in summer under excess humidity.
• Underfloor heating. Usually incompatible or compatible only under tight restrictions on surface temperature and air humidity — confirm with the factory in writing, not verbally.
• Installation. Typically glued or nailed down (not floating), which further limits how much the boards can move with temperature.

Engineered wood: a stable multi-layer construction

Engineered wood flooring pairs a hardwood wear layer (3–6 mm) with a stabilizing core — most often multi-ply birch plywood, sometimes softwood lamellas. The layers are cross-bonded like plywood, which absorbs temperature and humidity stress.

• Stability. The multi-layer core cuts deformation dramatically compared with solid wood — engineered flooring stays flat where solid wood already shows gaps.
• Underfloor heating. Compatible as standard with most manufacturers — the plywood core conducts heat evenly and doesn’t move under heating up to 27°C.
• Installation. A click-lock joint allows floating installation without glue — faster to install, and individual boards are easier to replace.
• Sanding life. Depends on wear-layer thickness: 2–3 mm allows 1–2 sandings, 4–6 mm (“premium three-ply”) allows 3–4 sandings.

Parquet board: the classic three-layer structure

Parquet board is historically a narrower category within engineered flooring: a classic three-layer build with a hardwood top layer, a middle layer of pine lamellas running perpendicular to the top layer’s grain, and a stabilizing veneer base. Budget lines run a thinner top layer (0.6–2.5 mm) — that grade can’t be sanded at all, or only once with minimal margin.

When ordering from a factory, don’t rely on the label “parquet board” or “engineered wood” on its own — require an exact spec: core material (plywood or softwood lamellas), top-layer thickness in mm, and total number of layers.

Wood species and hardness: the Janka scale

Surface hardness determines resistance to dents from heels, furniture legs and pet claws. It’s measured on the Janka hardness scale in kilonewtons (kN) — the force needed to press a steel ball halfway into the surface.

• Oak (3.7–4.0 kN) — the all-purpose choice, moderate hardness, classic grain, takes both lacquer and oil well.
• Ash (4.0–4.5 kN) — lighter than oak, bold grain, slightly harder — suited to high-traffic zones.
• Walnut (4.5 kN) — dark tone with no staining needed, premium segment, harder than both oak and ash.
• Teak (around 3.5 kN) — lower on hardness, but its natural oil content gives inherent moisture and fungal resistance without treatment — a strong fit for humid tropical climates and covered poolside floors.
• Bamboo (engineered bamboo flooring) — hardness varies heavily with pressing technology (strand-woven reaches 6+ kN), a budget-friendly segment, but check the adhesive formulation for formaldehyde content.

Finish: lacquer or oil

• Lacquer (UV-cured, matte/satin/gloss). Forms a protective film over the wood — resists water and scratches, needs no maintenance beyond cleaning. Spot-repairing a scratch is difficult and usually requires sanding the whole section.
• Oil / oil-wax. Penetrates the wood, keeps a natural matte, “breathing” finish, and lets you spot-touch a worn patch without sanding the whole floor. Needs reapplication every 1–2 years and handles spills worse.

Comparison table: three types of wood flooring

What to lock into the spec when ordering from a factory

• Wear layer thickness in mm and core material (birch plywood / softwood lamellas) — in writing, not just “premium engineered wood” without numbers.
• Wood moisture content leaving the factory — export standard is 7–9%; higher risks shrinkage and gapping after shipping to a different climate.
• Finish grade and lacquer coat count (typically 7–11 UV-lacquer coats on a factory line) or oil type.
• Batch and tone — wood is cut from different trunks; one room needs boards from a single batch, or a visible tone shift is inevitable.
• Slip rating and finish wear resistance for commercial projects (hotels, restaurants) — premium-tier factories provide test reports.

For related flooring categories, see the guide on laminate, SPC and LVT flooring classes, and for batch acceptance and lab reports, see quality control on goods from China.

Sourcing wood flooring from China through Dream View

Dream View is a sourcing agent with a fixed 10% commission on order value. We match factories to the task — from engineered wood for a villa’s underfloor heating to teak solid wood for a temperate-climate project — lock down wear-layer thickness, wood moisture content and batch in the spec before production starts, and check tone during pre-shipment inspection. For more on sourcing finishing materials, see the guide on building materials from China. Buying direct from the factory typically saves up to 70% versus local suppliers.

Outfitting a project and need wood flooring matched to your climate and subfloor type? Email orders@dreamviewchina.com or submit a request on our services page — we’ll shortlist factories and quote production plus delivery for free.