Brooklyn · brownstones & apartments
Engineered wood flooring vs solid hardwood in Brooklyn
In Brooklyn, choosing engineered wood or solid hardwood mostly comes down to humidity, the subfloor and how many times you expect to sand the floor, and a good flooring contractor will walk you through all three. Call our flooring company at (718) 690-3435.
Neighborhoods we serve: Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights, Bay Ridge, Williamsburg, Bushwick, Prospect Heights, Flatbush, Sunset Park, Carroll Gardens, Midwood, Borough Park, Crown Heights, Bed-Stuy, DUMBO.
Working in Brooklyn
Engineered wood and solid hardwood look alike once they are down, because the top of an engineered board is real wood. The difference is underneath: solid is one piece of wood, while engineered puts a real wood wear layer over a reinforced, stable core. For Brooklyn brownstones, walk-ups and apartments, the main advantage of engineered over solid is humidity resistance, since the core stays steadier when the air swings from damp summers to dry, steam-heated winters. Calls for engineered wood flooring come from Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Prospect Heights, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO, Boerum Hill, Williamsburg, Bushwick, Crown Heights, Bed-Stuy, Flatbush, Midwood, Borough Park, Bay Ridge and Sunset Park. Services other than engineered wood flooring in Brooklyn are listed on our Brooklyn flooring page.
Engineered floors still need room to move at the walls, so we either reset the baseboards or run shoe molding or quarter round along them to cover the expansion gap.
Solid or engineered in a Brooklyn brownstone
Above grade on a sound plywood subfloor, solid hardwood is still the classic choice, and it gives the most refinish life because the whole board is sandable wood. Engineered earns its place where conditions are harder on wood: a garden level on concrete, a room over a boiler, or an apartment where radiator steam dries the air every winter. Many brownstone owners end up with both, keeping solid oak on the parlor and upper floors and using engineered on the garden level.
Garden levels and concrete
Brooklyn garden apartments often sit on a slab that was poured or patched during a renovation. Solid boards need a nailing surface and do not suit concrete well, while engineered is often preferred over concrete and below grade, when the product allows it. The slab is checked before any wood goes down, and we choose between gluing and floating based on its condition. Where the garden level has a kitchen, bath or laundry, we point you toward vinyl or tile for those wet rooms, as the live guidance recommends.
How we install engineered boards
Nail
Over a plywood subfloor, engineered can be nailed like solid.
Glue
Over concrete, a full-spread adhesive holds the boards flat.
Float
Click or tongue-and-groove boards over an underlayment, where the product allows.
Gaps
Engineered is still wood, so expansion gaps at walls follow the maker's rules.
Walk-ups and co-op apartments
Carrying boxes up four flights is part of many Brooklyn jobs, and prefinished engineered boards help because the floor is finished as soon as it is laid. In co-ops and condos we provide insurance paperwork, plan around elevator reservations and work hours, and use low-odor finishes when boards are finished on site. See our main engineered wood flooring page and hardwood floor installation.
Wear layer and future refinishing
How often an engineered floor can be sanded depends on the thickness of its wear layer. Thick wear layers can be sanded and refinished much like solid; thin ones may only allow a light screen and recoat. We look at the product specification with you before ordering, so you know what the floor can take in twenty years, not just how it looks on day one.
Radiant heat on a renovated floor
Brooklyn gut renovations sometimes add radiant heat to a garden level or bath. Radiant can pair with hardwood, engineered, cork, ceramic, stone or LVP where the system allows, and engineered is often the wood choice over it because its stable core copes with the heat. Only products rated for radiant heat are used. More detail is on our flooring over radiant heat in Brooklyn page.
Photos from our work
No Brooklyn engineered-wood job is posted yet, so these gallery photos show wood floor installation and are captioned by type of work only. Full gallery →
What affects the cost
Square footage and the engineered product itself, including wear-layer thickness, width and species, drive most of the scope. The install method changes things too, since glue-down over concrete takes more prep than a floating floor. Stairs and subfloor repairs are added separately, and you can get an instant preliminary estimate.
Frequently asked questions
Should I use engineered or solid on a brownstone garden level?
Engineered is often preferred over concrete and below grade, when the product allows. Solid suits above-grade plywood subfloors.
Can prefinished engineered boards go up a walk-up?
Yes. Prefinished boards are finished as soon as they are laid, which suits walk-up apartments.
Does engineered wood still need expansion gaps?
Yes. It is still a wood product, so gaps at the walls follow the maker's install rules.
Which Brooklyn neighborhoods do you cover?
Our engineered wood flooring crews cover Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Prospect Heights, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO, Boerum Hill, Williamsburg, Bushwick, Crown Heights, Bed-Stuy, Flatbush, Midwood, Borough Park, Bay Ridge and Sunset Park. Ring (718) 690-3435 to check your address for engineered wood flooring.
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