Engineered hardwood

A solid hardwood board is one piece of wood all the way through. An engineered board is built in layers. The top layer, called the wear layer, is real wood. Under it are layers of plywood or other wood, glued together so the board moves less with changes in moisture.

From the top, engineered hardwood looks and feels like solid wood, because it is real wood. It also has a clear finish on top that wears the same way. Shoes, pets and furniture dull it, and traffic lanes show up over time.

That makes it a good fit for a recoat. The wear layer can be thin, so some engineered floors can be sanded only a few times, and some not at all. A screen and recoat does not take any wood off. It only renews the finish, so it protects that thin top layer.

Do not mix it up with laminate or vinyl plank. Those floors can look like wood, but the wood look is a printed picture under a plastic top. Laminate is not recoated. LVP (luxury vinyl plank) can be: a light scuff with a fine maroon pad and one coat, after testing a spot first. The first step of every recoat job is to check what the floor is, and that its finish is still on it.

Many engineered floors come prefinished from the factory. Those need a careful check before a recoat, because some factory finishes are very hard.

A buff and recoat brings back a dull, scratched hardwood floor in about 3 hours, without sanding. What it is, what it fixes, what it doesn't, and what it costs.