Flooring
Engineered Hardwood Flooring in Charleston, SC
Real wood on a stable core — the usual answer over slab.
Real wood on a stable core — the usual answer over slab.
Quick answer: Engineered hardwood is a real wood surface on a plywood or composite core that moves far less with humidity than solid wood, which is why it is the usual choice over a slab here. Compare products by wear layer: it decides whether and how often the floor can be sanded. A Mount Pleasant showroom publishes $7–$14 per sq ft installed (cost guide; not our quote). Licensed SC general contractor CLG.127339. Call (843) 718-8177.
Related: Why Are My Hardwood Floors Cupping (and Will They Flatten Out)?.
That stability is why it is the common recommendation over a slab and in rooms where solid hardwood would be a risk. The visible surface is the same species and finish you would get from solid; the difference is underneath.
The number that matters when comparing products is the wear layer — the thickness of real wood above the core. It decides whether the floor can ever be sanded and how many times. A thin wear layer is not automatically wrong, but it is a floor you will replace rather than refinish, and that belongs in the decision.
It still needs acclimation and expansion gaps. Less movement is not no movement, and a floor fitted tight to the walls will find somewhere to go.
We take this work across greater Charleston, from Summerville and Goose Creek to Mount Pleasant, West Ashley and the sea islands, and on the York County side around Rock Hill, Fort Mill, Tega Cay and Lake Wylie. More on our flooring services.
The surface is, and it is the same species and finish as solid. What is different is the core underneath, which is built to move less with humidity — the reason it is usually the better choice over a slab here.
It depends entirely on the wear layer, the thickness of real wood above the core. Some can be sanded once or twice; some cannot be sanded at all.
Ask for the wear layer thickness before you compare two products on price.
Often, over slab or anywhere humidity swings hard. Solid hardwood is not worse — it is less tolerant, and tolerance is what this climate tests.