Blog > What Type of Hardwood Flooring Is Best?

What Type of Hardwood Flooring Is Best?

• Updated on: July 3, 2026
• Author: Monarch Floors 1953 team

Authentic Hardwood

The visible layer of engineered hardwood is real hardwood, so each plank is truly unique, imbued by nature with its own character, grain patterns, knots, and color variations. No plank looks exactly the same as another, resulting in a one-of-a-kind floor.

An endless array of designs come in different wood species like oak, white oak, hickory, maple, birch, and walnut, each with distinct character. Some species are inherently more uniform in color and pattern, while others naturally offer greater contrast from plank to plank or even within a single plank.

Stains and other treatments give the hardwood enhanced colorways from bleached to charcoal looks and warm to cool tones, so you can easily find just the right look for any décor.

Durable Engineered Construction

Between the hardwood layer and the backing, a stable wood core minimizes wood’s tendency to expand and contract, giving engineered hardwood additional strength and durability. This dimensional stability helps keep your floors looking their best, even in basements or humid climates where traditional wood flooring could fail.

This same layered construction also allows for longer, wider planks — another longstanding trend in interior design. Solid hardwood, without a stabilizing core, tends to warp in these larger dimensions.

Protective Layers

Left unprotected, hardwood is susceptible to scuffs, scratches, and dents. Choosing the wrong finish or skipping proper protection are just a couple of the common hardwood flooring mistakes and how to avoid them that can shorten the life of your floors. To make sure your new floor looks its best longer, look for an engineered wood flooring with a urethane finish.

Mohawk’s TecWood®, for example, is protected with TruFinish®, a tough urethane layer with the ultra-matte look of a true oil finish that helps bring out the wood’s natural beauty.

For active households, especially ones with children, Mohawk’s UltraWood offers EverLast® technology, which reinforces the hardwood layer with four times greater scratch protection and five times greater dent protection for more peace of mind.

Waterproof Engineered Hardwood

While most engineered hardwood is only water resistant, Mohawk’s UltraWood® goes a step further, offering waterproof engineered hardwood with WetProtect®, proprietary technology featuring a waterproof finish and watertight joints, all backed by a lifetime surface and subfloor warranty.

With UltraWood, you can have engineered hardwood in kitchens, baths, laundry rooms, basements, mudrooms, and other damp areas where ordinary engineered or solid hardwood floors might fail. If you're weighing waterproof hardwood against luxury vinyl plank for those spaces, our hardwood vs luxury vinyl plank guide breaks down the cost, durability, and style differences to help you decide.

Engineered Hardwood for Pets

If you have pets, you may worry whether hardwood can stand up to the havoc your fuzzy friends can wreak on your floors. Our guide to the best engineered flooring for homes with pets covers which finishes, textures, and colors hold up best against claws and everyday wear.

UltraWood Plus engineered hardwood comes with Mohawk's All Pet® warranty, covering all pets, all accidents, all the time.

UltraWood Plus also comes with CleanProtect®, an innovative antimicrobial technology designed to inhibit the growth of bacteria that may harm your floors over time. CleanProtect is built into every plank, so it won’t wash or wear off.

Engineered Hardwood Maintenance

Engineered Hardwood can be fairly easy to clean and maintain. Rugs or mats at entrances will minimize tracked-in dirt and grime, and regular sweeping or vacuuming will help prevent wear and tear. For more detailed guides on cleaning, fixing scratches, and keeping your hardwood looking its best, explore our Hardwood Flooring 101 resource hub.

For spills and messes, Mohawk’s UltraWood includes EasyClean®, proprietary technology with enhanced resistance to soil and stains for quicker cleanup, so you can spend more time enjoying your floors.

Features at a Glance

Engineered hardwood is the only flooring that gives you premium hardwood authenticity with enhanced performance features for floors that are durable, easy to clean, and suitable for any room in the house.

• Every plank has a beautifully unique look designed by nature.
• Engineered hardwood allows for wider and longer planks.
• Urethane layers like TruFinish and EverLast protect against scuffs and scratches.
• UltraWood with WetProtect offers waterproof engineered hardwood.
• CleanProtect offers antimicrobial properties to protect your floor.
• Engineered hardwood with All Pet® covers all pets, all accidents, all the time.