When you walk into your home with hardwood, it takes you into nature, bringing the outdoors in. The natural character and inherent blemishes of each piece can remind us of the tree's original existence.
There are lots of options in this type of flooring, there are exotics from other places around the world; there are domestic species and there are reclaimed woods from riverbeds and the bottoms of streams and ponds. Any species or type can be found in both solid and engineered flooring options.
Solid is just what it says...it is a solid piece of wood. Engineered has a top layer of actual wood, placed on top of an engineered core of crisscrossed material that gives it dimensional stability.This means that you can put hardwood that is engineered in your basement or below grade, because it can tolerate humidity. Solid hardwood is not recommended for below grade or basement installations.