For most Melbourne homes today, engineered timber is the better pick. It handles our humidity swings without cupping, it goes straight over a concrete slab, it comes in wide long planks that solid timber can’t match, and a good one with a 4mm to 6mm wear layer can still be sanded back three to five times. That’s plenty for a lifetime of normal use.
Solid hardwood still wins in one specific scenario: a period home on timber joists, where you want a floor that can be sanded eight or ten times and passed on to the next owner, and you’re happy to live with a bit more seasonal movement.
So the honest version is this. It isn’t really “which timber is better.” It’s “which one suits your subfloor, your climate exposure and how long you plan to stay.” Below we’ll walk through each of those so you can work out your own answer in about five minutes.
One myth worth killing straight away: engineered timber is not a fake or laminated lookalike. The top layer you walk on is real hardwood, usually European Oak or an Australian species like Blackbutt or Spotted Gum. Once it’s down, nobody can tell the difference by looking at it.
We offer premium Flooring Melbourne for all types of spaces.
Side by Side Comparison Table
| Engineered Timber | Solid Hardwood | |
| What it is | Real hardwood top layer over a cross ply or HDF core | One solid piece of hardwood, top to bottom |
| Typical thickness | 12mm to 21mm | 19mm (also 12mm and 14mm overlay) |
| Stability in humidity | Very good, cross ply resists cupping | Moves more, expands and shrinks seasonally |
| Concrete slab | Yes, direct stick or floating | Not directly, needs a battened or plywood subfloor |
| Timber joists | Yes | Yes, this is its home ground |
| Underfloor heating | Approved by most brands | Rarely warranted |
| Times it can be sanded | 1 to 5, depends on wear layer | 6 to 10 over its life |
| Max practical plank width | Up to 300mm | Usually 80mm to 180mm |
| Plank length | Up to 2.2m+ | Random short lengths, often under 1.5m |
| Finish | Prefinished in the factory, walk on it same day | Sanded and coated on site, needs dry time |
| Install mess and smell | Minimal | Sanding dust and coating fumes for several days |
| Supplied and installed | Roughly $110 to $220 per m² | Roughly $180 to $300 per m² |
| Realistic lifespan | 25 to 40 years | 50 to 100 years |
Explore the main categories we have for you:
Which One Moves Less in Melbourne’s Climate?
Melbourne is genuinely hard on timber. We can go from a dry 38 degree northerly to a cold damp week within a couple of days, and indoor humidity follows along. Timber responds by taking on and giving up moisture, which means it swells and shrinks.
Solid hardwood is a single piece of wood, so it moves as one. Across the year you’ll typically see gaps opening up in the drier months and closing again in winter. That’s normal and not a fault, but it’s noticeable on wide boards, and in an extreme case you get cupping (board edges lifting) or crowning (the middle sitting proud).
Engineered timber is built to fight that. The layers underneath the hardwood surface run at right angles to each other, so when one layer wants to expand sideways the layer below physically holds it back. The result is a board that stays flat and keeps its width through the seasons.
For an apartment with big north facing glass, a home with ducted heating running all winter, or anywhere you can’t control humidity tightly, this is the single biggest practical reason people land on engineered.
A quick reality check though: engineered is more stable, not immune. You still need expansion gaps at the walls, you still shouldn’t flood it with water, and you still want the boxes sitting in the room for a few days before install so the timber settles into your home’s conditions.
Will It Work on Your Subfloor? (Concrete Slab vs Timber Joists)
This is where a lot of decisions get made for you, so check it before you fall in love with a product.
If you’re on a concrete slab, which covers most homes built after roughly the 1990s and effectively every apartment, engineered timber is the straightforward answer. It can be glued straight down (direct stick, which feels solid and quiet underfoot) or floated over an acoustic underlay (faster, and usually what strata rules require).
Solid hardwood can’t sit directly on a slab. To make it work you’d need to build a battened or plywood subfloor on top first, which adds cost and lifts your floor height by 20mm or more. That then flows on to door heights, kitchen kickboards and step downs. It’s doable, it’s just rarely worth it.
If you’re on timber joists, which is most Victorian, Edwardian, Federation and post war homes, both options are open. Solid 19mm hardwood is designed to be nailed straight to joists at 450mm centres. Engineered works too, either over a plywood layer or directly over the existing floorboards.
A few subfloor notes worth knowing:
- Any slab needs a moisture test before timber goes down. Concrete keeps releasing moisture for months, and skipping this test is the most common cause of a failed floor.
- A slab that isn’t flat needs levelling first. This is a real line item, not an upsell, and it’s usually somewhere around $10 to $80 per m² depending on how bad it is.
- Apartments almost always need acoustic underlay to meet body corporate requirements, which adds roughly $8 to $25 per m².
How Many Times Can Each Be Sanded and Refinished?
This is the question people worry most about, and the answer depends entirely on the wear layer, which is the thickness of real hardwood on top.
Each full sand takes off around 1mm. So:
| Wear layer | Realistic sands | What that means in practice |
| 2mm | 1, maybe 2 | Fine for a rental or a short stay home |
| 3mm | 2 to 3 | Good middle ground for a family home |
| 4mm | 3 to 4 | Comfortably a lifetime for most owners |
| 6mm | 4 to 5 | Basically the same as solid in real world terms |
| Solid 19mm | 6 to 10 | The genuine multi generation option |
So yes, you can sand engineered timber flooring, as long as the wear layer is thick enough and the person doing it knows what they’re doing. Anything under 4mm should never see an aggressive drum sander, because it can take off 1mm to 2mm in a single pass.
Here’s the part that gets left out of most comparisons. Very few people actually sand a floor five times. Most homeowners recoat once every 10 to 15 years, which just refreshes the top coating without touching the timber, and only do a full sand if there’s real damage. On that basis a 4mm engineered floor and a solid floor will both comfortably outlive your ownership of the house.
Underfloor Heating: Which One Is Actually Approved?
If you’ve got hydronic or electric underfloor heating, or you’re planning it, this decides the question for you.
Engineered timber is the one that’s actually approved. Most manufacturers warrant their engineered products over underfloor heating provided the floor surface stays under about 27 degrees and the system is commissioned and run in before the floor goes down.
Solid hardwood is almost never warranted over underfloor heating. The constant heat cycling drives moisture out of the boards and then lets it back in, and solid timber responds by shrinking, gapping and sometimes cupping. Some installers will do it anyway. If yours does, ask to see the manufacturer’s written approval before you commit.
Direct stick installation is generally preferred over underfloor heating, because glue transfers heat far better than an air gap under a floating floor.
Cost Comparison: Supplied and Installed per m²
These are realistic Melbourne ranges for 2026, supplied and installed, before subfloor prep.
| Option | Supply only | Supplied and installed |
| Engineered European Oak, 14mm to 15mm | $50 to $110 per m² | $110 to $190 per m² |
| Engineered European Oak, 20mm to 21mm wide plank | $90 to $160 per m² | $160 to $250 per m² |
| Engineered Australian hardwood (Blackbutt, Spotted Gum) | $70 to $130 per m² | $140 to $220 per m² |
| Solid Australian hardwood, 19mm | $60 to $130 per m² | $180 to $300 per m² |
Two things people get caught out by:
- Solid timber’s install cost is higher because it has to be sanded and coated on site. That’s typically $40 to $80 per m² of labour on its own, plus three to five days where you can’t use the space.
- Engineered arrives prefinished, so the day the last board goes down, the floor is done. No dust, no fumes, no waiting.
Add ons that apply to both: floor levelling $10 to $80 per m², removal of old flooring $10 to $30 per m², acoustic underlay $8 to $25 per m², and stairs quoted separately per tread.
If you’re comparing quotes, make sure they’re all describing the same thing. A quote that looks $30 per m² cheaper often has prep excluded, or a 2mm wear layer where the other has 4mm.
Top recommended flooring options for every style and space:
- Tasmanian Oak Flooring
- Blackbutt Engineered Flooring
- Jarrah Engineered Flooring
- Spotted Gum Timber Floors
- Herringbone Flooring
- Chevron Flooring
Which Should You Choose? Recommendation by Situation
| Your situation | Go with | Why |
| Apartment or townhouse on a slab | Engineered, floating with acoustic underlay | Meets strata acoustic rules, no subfloor build up |
| Newer home on a slab | Engineered, direct stick | Solid underfoot, quiet, handles slab moisture |
| Period home on joists, staying long term | Solid hardwood or 20mm engineered | Both sand back many times, matches original character |
| Underfloor heating | Engineered only | It’s the one that’s warranted |
| You want wide planks over 190mm | Engineered | Solid boards that wide are unstable and rare |
| Investment property or quick refresh | Engineered with a 2mm to 3mm wear layer | Best value, fastest install, no site finishing |
| Matching existing hardwood floorboards | Depends, get advice | Species, width and coating all have to line up |
| Herringbone or chevron pattern | Engineered | Solid parquetry is far more expensive and moves more |
Still Weighing It Up? Come and See Both
Honestly, the fastest way to settle this is to hold both in your hand, in your own light. Colour and grain look completely different in a showroom than they do in your lounge at 4pm.
At Flooring Expert we supply and install both engineered and solid timber across Melbourne, with more than 200 colours of engineered European Oak, engineered Australian hardwood in Blackbutt, Spotted Gum, Jarrah and Tasmanian Oak, plus herringbone and chevron parquetry. Because we run our own install teams rather than subcontracting out, the advice you get in the showroom is the same advice that shows up on install day.
What we’d suggest:
- Book a free measure and quote and we’ll check your subfloor before quoting, so there are no surprise levelling costs later.
- Take samples home so you can see them against your walls, joinery and light.
- Or drop into the Balwyn North showroom on Doncaster Road and see full boards laid out rather than 100mm offcuts.
If you already know your slab is uneven, you have underfloor heating, or you’re trying to match existing floorboards, tell us upfront. Those are the three things that most often change the recommendation, and they’re much cheaper to solve before the order than after.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is engineered timber as good as solid timber?
For stability, slab compatibility and plank size, it’s better. For total number of sands over a very long life, solid still leads. In a normal home, most people won’t notice a practical difference.
Can you tell the difference once it’s installed?
No. The surface is real hardwood, so the look, grain and feel underfoot are the same. The only visible tell is the plank size, and that usually favours engineered.
Does engineered timber sound hollow?
Only if it’s floated over an underlay with an air gap. Glue it down direct stick and it sounds and feels the same as a solid floor.
Can I put engineered timber straight onto a concrete slab?
Yes, that’s one of its main strengths. The slab needs to be moisture tested and reasonably level first, but no battens or plywood are needed.
How long does engineered timber flooring last?
Typically 25 to 40 years with normal care, and longer if it has a 4mm or thicker wear layer and gets recoated every 10 to 15 years.
Which one is better with dogs and kids?
They scratch roughly the same, because the surface timber is the same. What actually matters is the species hardness and the coating. A matt finish and a harder species like Spotted Gum hides wear far better than a gloss coated soft oak.
Is engineered timber waterproof?
No. It’s real timber, so it handles a wiped up spill fine but not standing water or a slow leak. For laundries, bathrooms and full wet areas, hybrid or vinyl is the right product.
Why is solid timber more expensive to install?
Because it’s finished on site. Sanding, filling and three coats of polyurethane take several days of skilled labour, and you can’t use the room while it happens.
Can I lay engineered timber over my existing floorboards or tiles?
Usually yes, provided the existing surface is sound, level and dry. It saves demolition cost, though it does raise your floor height, so doors may need trimming.
How long does an install take?
For a typical 80m² to 100m² home, engineered is two to three days. Solid is more like five to seven days once sanding and coating dry times are included.
What thickness should I choose?
For most homes, 14mm to 15mm with a 3mm to 4mm wear layer is the value sweet spot. Go to 20mm or 21mm if you want very wide planks or maximum refinishing life.
