Services
Wide plank flooring
Are wide plank hardwood floors a bad idea in an apartment?
Wide planks move more than narrow ones, because a board expands across its width. In a New York apartment with seasonal humidity swings and radiator heat, a wide solid plank will gap in winter. Engineered wide plank with a stable multi-ply core solves this, which is why nearly every wide-plank floor we install above 7 inches is engineered rather than solid.
- Width range
- 7"–12"
- Recommended construction
- Engineered, 4–6mm wear layer
- Fastening
- Full-spread adhesive
- Target indoor RH
- 35%–55%
The failure people describe as bad wood is almost always a moisture problem. Wood gains and loses width with ambient humidity, and a 10-inch board moves roughly twice as much as a 5-inch board over the same swing.
Engineered construction crosses the grain direction in the core, so the movement largely cancels. A quality engineered plank with a 4mm or 6mm wear layer can be sanded and refinished two to three times, which is enough for the life of most floors.
Full-spread adhesive is the correct fastening method for wide plank over concrete. Nail-only fastening on a wide board leaves the middle of the board free to cup.
Humidification matters. We tell clients to hold the apartment between 35% and 55% relative humidity year-round. That single habit prevents most of what goes wrong.
Where we do this work
Wide plank flooring is available throughout New York County (Manhattan), Kings County (Brooklyn), Queens County, Bronx County, Richmond County (Staten Island), Westchester County, Hudson County, Essex County, Union County, Bergen County, Passaic County, Monmouth County, Middlesex County, from the showroom at 1809 NJ-35, Oakhurst, NJ.