Solid Wood Flooring Guide

Read our guide to the pros and cons of each type and find out how much your wood floor will cost.

Solid wood flooring guide.

Wood flooring is available in several styles. Solid hardwood is one solid species of wood throughout the plank. Except for engineered wood floor no other wood or wood type flooring gives you that same feeling of solidity. Pre finished solid wood flooring prices start at about 4 and can cost as much as 12 per square foot but most is found in the 4 10 per square foot price range.

This solidity is due to solid hardwood s structural properties bridging minor gaps smoothing minor bumps engineered wood provides this but laminate and resilient flooring do not. 2 per square foot up to about 5 per square foot for unfinished domestic hardwoods. Whereas solid wood is generally installed over one or two layers of plywood which can. For basements and apartments with concrete subfloors engineered flooring offers an installation advantage.

The flooring comes in strips with widths that range from 1 1 2 through 2 1 2 and thicknesses of 5 16 through 3 4. Exotic and imported woods may cost more. However most can be refinished only once or twice and some can. The type of installation you choose will depend on your subfloor budget lifestyle and the type of wood flooring you select.

Solid hardwood feels solid. Because solid floors expand more when exposed to moisture than engineered floors you can only install them over a plywood subfloor at or above ground level. A well maintained solid hardwood floor can last for decades. Can be installed over most properly prepared subfloors making them suitable for installation on or above performance or installation techniques and methods.

From laminate to engineered wood to solid wood flooring there are lots of decisions to make when choosing a new wood floor. Depending on the thickness of the veneer some engineered wood flooring can be refinished as many times as solid hardwood flooring. Average price range for solid hardwood flooring.