Solid Wood - Comparison With Engineered Wood

Comparison With Engineered Wood

Perhaps the greatest advantage of solid wood is that the wood is the same all the way through, so repairs are relatively easy. Repairs to veneer are much more difficult and sometimes impossible.

Solid wood furniture is strong enough to easily satisfy all furniture applications, and it can last for centuries. The jury is still out on whether furniture made of plywood (often made from pine) can do the same. Plywood and other engineered wood products used to make furniture are typically covered with a veneer such as Cherry.

Unfortunately, it is common today for furniture manufacturers and retailers to advertise such veneered plywood furniture as made of "wood solids with cherry veneers". Most customers naturally believe that to mean solid planks of less expensive woods such as poplar, etc., with expensive woods such as cherry used for veneers. However, "wood solids" is simply a term of art. The so-called "wood solids" are simply plywood, or another engineered wood product.

The Federal Trade Commission doesn't allow furniture to be advertised as made of "solid wood" unless all exposed surfaces are in fact solid wood. Solid wood is expensive. Engineered wood (often advertised as wood solids) is not.