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Choosing Hardwood Flooring for a New House: Solid or Engineered, Species, Width, Finish and Where Each One Belongs
Finishes and upgrades Flooring From a builder
Choosing Hardwood Flooring for a New House: Solid or Engineered, Species, Width, Finish and Where Each One Belongs
People choose a hardwood floor from a 6-inch sample in a showroom and then live with 1,500 square feet of it for thirty years. The sample answers one question, colour. The other six questions decide whether the floor is still flat and beautiful in 2056, so here they are.
Short version: For most new Ontario houses: engineered white oak, 5 to 7 inches wide, prefinished in a matte or satin waterborne finish, character or select grade depending on taste, $10 to $20 per square foot installed in 2026. Solid 3/4-inch hardwood where you want a floor that can be sanded four or five times and you will hold the humidity at 35 to 50 percent, in narrower boards. Hickory and maple for dogs and kids, walnut for the look if you accept dents, ash as the value hardwood. Wood in living areas, halls and bedrooms; tile in baths and the mudroom; engineered or vinyl in the basement. Decide before the cabinets are ordered, because the floor goes under them and the counter height depends on it.
Solid or engineered
| Solid (3/4 in) | Engineered | |
|---|---|---|
| Construction | One board of wood | A hardwood wear layer (2 to 6 mm) on a cross-ply or HDF core |
| Humidity movement | Most; needs 35 to 50 percent all year | Much less; the core resists cupping and gapping |
| Over slab or radiant | No (solid over concrete is a mistake); radiant only in narrow quartersawn boards | Yes, glued or floated; rated products over radiant |
| Refinishing | Four or five full sandings | One or two with a 4 mm plus wear layer; none with a 1 to 2 mm veneer |
| Width | Up to about 4 in before movement shows | 5 to 9 in planks stay flat |
| Cost installed, 2026 | $12 to $22 per sq ft | $10 to $20 |
| Best for | Upper floors over wood joists, people who will own the house for 40 years and hold the humidity | Everything else, which in an Ontario house with a basement and maybe radiant floors is most of the house |
The humidity argument decides it in our climate. Humidity in a new home explains why a solid floor at 10 percent winter humidity splits; flooring over radiant heat explains the temperature limit that goes with it.
Species
| Species | Janka hardness | Look | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| White oak | 1,360 | Straight grain, takes stain, the current favourite | Stable, water-resistant tannins, every stain colour works |
| Red oak | 1,290 | Pink undertone, open grain | The classic; cheaper; harder to stain grey or white |
| Hard maple | 1,450 | Pale, subtle grain | Hard, blotchy with stain; best natural or whitewashed |
| Hickory | 1,820 | Wild grain and colour variation | The dog floor; busy in large rooms |
| Ash | 1,320 | Like oak with a lighter colour | The value hardwood; stains well |
| Walnut | 1,010 | Dark, rich | Soft; dents; beautiful in a low-traffic room |
| Birch | 1,260 | Fine grain, warm | Good value, dents |
| Brazilian cherry and exotics | 2,000 plus | Very hard, strong colour | Darkens in sun, moves more, supply chain questions |
Width, grade and cut
- Width: wider planks look better and move more. 5 to 7 inches engineered is the sweet spot; 8 to 10 inches wants a premium engineered product and perfect humidity control.
- Grade: select or clear has little colour variation and few knots; character or rustic has knots and mineral streaks and costs less and hides more.
- Cut: plain-sawn shows the cathedral grain and moves most; rift and quartersawn show straight grain, cost more, and are the most stable, which is why they are the only solid boards to put over radiant.
- Length: longer boards look better and cost more; a floor with a lot of short pieces reads as busy.
Finish
- Prefinished: factory-applied aluminum-oxide urethane, very hard, done the day it is installed, with a tiny bevel at every edge. The usual choice.
- Site-finished: sanded flat and finished in place, no bevels, a seamless look, custom colour; takes a week, smells, and needs a quiet house. Worth it in a high-end house.
- Sheen: matte and satin hide scratches and dust; gloss shows everything and is out of fashion for good reason.
- Waterborne polyurethane dries clear and fast; oil-modified yellows and smells; hardwax oil gives a natural look that is easy to spot-repair and needs re-oiling every few years.
- Colour: mid-tone naturals and light finishes hide dust and date slowly; grey and very dark floors show everything and date fast.
Where wood goes, and does not
Living, dining, halls, bedrooms and the office: wood. Kitchens: wood works until the dishwasher leaks, so engineered rather than solid and a good mat at the sink. Baths, laundry and mudroom: tile. Basement: engineered over a proven-dry slab with a vapour barrier, or vinyl plank. Stairs: solid treads in the same species, which is where the solid budget goes. The flooring buying guide covers the rest of the house, and hardwood floor tips is how to keep whatever you choose.
When to decide and what to keep
The floor is chosen before the cabinets are ordered, because the cabinets sit on it or against it and the counter height depends on which. It is installed after the drywall and paint and before the trim and cabinets in most sequences, in a heated house, after a week of acclimatization. Keep a box of boards, the lot number and the finish name; a repair in year twelve needs all three. The selections schedule has the date.
Related guides on this site
Sources and further reading
Questions people ask
Solid or engineered hardwood for a new house in Ontario?
Engineered for most of the house: it moves far less with our humidity swings, works over slabs and radiant floors, and comes in the wide planks people want. Solid 3/4-inch for upper floors over wood joists when you want a floor that can be sanded many times and will hold the humidity at 35 to 50 percent.
What is the best hardwood species for a family with dogs?
Hickory or hard maple for hardness, in a character grade and a matte finish that hide what happens anyway. White oak is the all-round choice; walnut is too soft for claws.
How wide should hardwood planks be?
5 to 7 inches in engineered is the sweet spot: the look of wide plank with manageable movement. Solid boards over 4 inches, and engineered over 8, need premium products and tight humidity control to stay flat.
Prefinished or site-finished hardwood?
Prefinished for durability, speed and price; site-finished for a seamless look with no bevels and a custom colour in a high-end house. Matte or satin sheen either way.
Have a plan already?
Send it to ICFhome.ca and we will tell you what it costs to build and where the drawing is spending money you may not want to spend.
Reviewed and updated October 2026. Costs are Ontario ranges, not quotes; code references are to the Ontario Building Code in force at that date.
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I appreciate the information on flooring to choose and I agree that it is important to have an array of options but not too wide of a selection. That way you will be able to narrow it down much more easily. I also think that breaking it up into categories like color, style, and design would help a lot. By doing that, you wouldn’t be persuaded by the design or style instead of the color.
My husband and I are looking to have hardwood floors in our kitchen and living room this summer. We want to make sure that the style will match the rest of our home. Thanks for the tip about how very light or very dark finished typically don’t do well in the kitchen. We’ll be sure to pick something in between that will match the other colors in our kitchen.