Solid or engineered, oak or hickory, prefinished or site-finished. The choice depends on your subfloor and your house, not on what is stacked highest at the warehouse.
They look identical once they are down. What separates them is what is underneath and how the house behaves through a New Jersey summer.
One piece of timber all the way through, which means it can be sanded and refinished several times over its life. It moves with humidity, so it wants a plywood subfloor and a level that is above grade.
A real wood wear layer over a cross-laid core. The core is what keeps it flat, so it handles humidity swings and concrete slabs that solid wood will not tolerate.
Prefinished arrives sealed from the mill and you walk on it the same day. Site-finished is sanded and coated in place, which gives you a seamless surface with no bevels between boards.
Central New Jersey runs humid in August and bone dry once the heat comes on in January. Wood answers by swelling and shrinking, so the install has to leave it room to do that.
Mills that have been making floors longer than most flooring stores have been open.
Solid hardwood, no. Below grade is too damp and the boards will cup. Engineered wood can work over a properly prepared slab, and luxury vinyl is the safer answer if the basement has ever taken water.
Solid hardwood usually takes several sandings across its life. Engineered depends entirely on how thick the real wood wear layer is, which is one of the first things Frankie will tell you about a board.
Nails mark softer species like pine far more than they mark oak or hickory. A harder species with a factory finish handles pets well, and hickory in particular hides scratches in its own grain pattern.
It depends on the size of the job and the condition of the subfloor, which is why the estimate happens in your house rather than over the phone. Both come with a real number and no surprise line items.
Yes. Furniture out, old floor up, new floor in, and everything back where it belongs. That is part of the job, not an add-on.
Every material we carry, side by side, with the same straight talk.
Tell us the room and the floor you’re dreaming about, carpet, hardwood, laminate, or LVP, and we’ll bring the samples and a straight price.
Financing through Synchrony — 0% available for qualified buyers.
