The substrate narrows the list before taste does
People usually arrive having chosen a look, and the substrate then rules half the options out. Over a concrete slab, solid hardwood is off the table unless you build a wood subfloor over it first, which costs money and ceiling height. Below grade, laminate is a two-year floor because its fibreboard core swells permanently the first time water reaches it through a joint. Over radiant heat, engineered behaves and solid fights you. In a condo, whatever you pick has to pair with an underlay that carries a third-party certificate meeting the declaration’s number. None of that is visible in a showroom, which is why the first conversation is about what is under your floor rather than what goes on top of it.