What flooring will last a lifetime?

Porcelain and natural stone tile, and solid hardwood, each for a different reason. Tile installed properly over a sound, prepared substrate can outlast its owner, and it is usually the grout and the assembly beneath that fail first rather than the tile. Solid hardwood lasts because it is renewable: three-quarter-inch boards can typically be sanded and refinished several times, so the floor is restored rather than replaced. Engineered hardwood can be refinished too, but only as often as its wear layer allows.