Solid Hardwood Installation
The above-grade living and dining rooms that deserve a real wood floor, not a look-alike. The home being kept for decades where a floor that can be refinished five or six times is the right investment. The character home where solid oak or maple belongs underfoot. Solid hardwood installation is the genuine-article floor — true solid planks acclimated to your home, nailed down over a wood subfloor with a vapor barrier, then sanded and finished on site or laid prefinished. From $8,000 for a room or two up to $20,000 for a main level in a premium species and a site finish. It costs more than the look-alikes and it lasts generations, refinishing again and again as the years pass.
Service
What Solid Hardwood Installation Includes
Solid hardwood is a single piece of real wood through the full thickness of the plank, which is what lets it be sanded and refinished many times over a lifetime. It is installed nailed down over a wood subfloor, above grade, and it is the floor for homeowners who want the genuine article and the multi-generation lifespan. We acclimate it, prep the subfloor, nail it down right, and finish it on site or lay it prefinished.
Acclimation to Your Home
Solid wood moves with humidity, so the planks have to acclimate in your home for days before installation, reaching equilibrium with your indoor conditions. Skipping acclimation is the number-one cause of gapping and cupping in a new solid floor. We deliver and stack the wood to acclimate before a single board goes down.
Subfloor Flattening, Moisture Check, and Vapor Barrier
The wood subfloor is flattened to the tolerance solid hardwood needs, checked for moisture (solid wood goes above grade over wood, never over a damp slab), and covered with a vapor-barrier paper. Squeaks are screwed down before the new floor goes on, because they cannot be reached after.
Blind-Nailed Installation
Solid strip and plank is blind-nailed or stapled through the tongue with a flooring nailer so no fasteners show, staggered for strength and looks, with a perimeter expansion gap so the floor can move with the seasons. Wide solid planks may also be glued-and-nailed for stability.
Site Finish or Prefinished
Site-finished floors are installed raw, then sanded flat and finished on site for a seamless, fully customizable color and a smooth surface with no bevels — the highest-end result. Prefinished floors arrive factory-finished with micro-beveled edges and install faster with no finishing downtime. We do both and explain the trade-offs.
How Solid Hardwood Installation Works
Six sequential steps from acclimation through subfloor prep, blind-nailing, and site or prefinished finishing — the sequence Handis runs on every solid hardwood floor.
Deliver and Acclimate the Wood
Deliver the solid hardwood and stack it in the home to acclimate to your indoor humidity for several days before installation. This equilibrium step is what prevents gapping and cupping later, so it is never skipped.
Flatten the Subfloor and Check Moisture
Flatten the wood subfloor to the tolerance solid hardwood needs, screw down squeaks while the deck is open, and check subfloor and ambient moisture. Solid wood goes above grade over a wood subfloor, not over a damp or below-grade slab.
Lay the Vapor Barrier
Roll a vapor-barrier building paper over the subfloor to manage moisture from below and reduce squeak between the wood and the deck. Snap working lines so the floor runs straight to the room.
Blind-Nail the Field
Set the first rows straight, then blind-nail or staple through the tongue with a flooring nailer so no fasteners show, staggering end joints for strength and appearance and holding a perimeter expansion gap. Wide planks may be glued-and-nailed for stability.
Site-Sand and Finish, or Set Prefinished
For a site finish, sand the installed raw floor flat through the grits and apply stain and topcoat for a seamless, bevel-free surface. For prefinished, the factory-finished boards are simply set and the floor is done with no finishing downtime.
Transitions, Base, and Final Walk
Detail transitions at doorways and finish the perimeter with base or shoe over the expansion gap. Walk the floor for flatness, tight seams, and finish quality, and provide care guidance for a real-wood floor.
Solid Hardwood Installation Pricing
Final pricing depends on the square footage, the species (domestic oak versus premium hickory or ash), site-finished versus prefinished, board width, the subfloor condition, and the finish system. Acclimation and subfloor prep are included. Material grade is the biggest variable. Request a free estimate for an accurate quote.
Tell us the rooms, the species you want, and site-finished versus prefinished, and we will quote a real solid hardwood floor that refinishes for generations.
Why Handis for Solid Hardwood
The two ways a new solid hardwood floor goes wrong are both about moisture and patience. Skip the acclimation and the floor gaps in its first dry winter or cups in its first humid summer, because the wood never reached equilibrium with the home. Lay it over a damp or below-grade slab where solid wood does not belong and it cups no matter how well it was nailed. We acclimate every floor to your home before a board goes down, install solid wood only where it belongs (above grade over a wood subfloor), and check moisture first — so your real-wood floor behaves for the generations it is meant to last.
Acclimation is never skipped
Solid wood moves with humidity, and the single most common new-floor failure is gapping or cupping from wood that was installed before it reached equilibrium with the home. We deliver and stack your hardwood to acclimate for several days before installation. It adds a few days to the schedule and it is the difference between a floor that behaves and one that gaps its first winter.
Installed only where solid wood belongs
Solid hardwood goes above grade over a wood subfloor, never over a damp or below-grade slab where it will cup. If your space is below grade or over a problematic slab, we will tell you honestly that engineered hardwood or a rigid-core floor is the right product there, rather than selling you a solid floor that the location will destroy.
The floor that refinishes for generations
The reason to pay for solid hardwood is its lifespan — full-thickness real wood can be sanded and refinished five or six times over many decades, outliving every look-alike. We install it to last that long, with proper nailing, expansion gaps, and a quality finish, so the investment pays back across generations of use and refinishes.
Site finish or prefinished, explained honestly
A site finish gives a seamless, bevel-free, fully custom-color floor and is the highest-end result, with finishing downtime and dust control. Prefinished installs faster with no downtime but has micro-beveled edges and factory colors. We do both and tell you which fits your priorities and budget rather than defaulting to whichever is easier for us.
Estimate
Tell us the rooms and square footage, the species you are considering, whether you want site-finished or prefinished, and whether the space is above grade over a wood subfloor. Photos of the rooms and the current floor help. We will quote a solid hardwood install with acclimation and subfloor prep included.
Customer Reviews
Recent solid hardwood installation reviews from verified Handis customers.
Solid white oak site-finished in our living and dining. The seamless bevel-free surface and the custom color are exactly the high-end look we wanted. They acclimated the wood for days first and explained why. A year in, not a gap or a cup. A real floor.
We are keeping this house for decades, so we wanted a floor we could refinish for generations. Handis installed prefinished solid oak across the main level. Nailed tight, dead flat, transitions clean. The investment makes sense over the lifespan they explained.
I asked for solid wood in the basement and they talked me out of it — said solid would cup over the slab and engineered was the right call down there. Then did solid upstairs where it belongs. Appreciated being told no instead of just taking the bigger job.
Wide-plank hickory, glued and nailed for stability because of the width. Beautiful character floor and rock solid underfoot. They clearly knew how to handle the wider boards. Premium result, premium species, worth it.
Prefinished solid oak in two rooms. Fast install with no finishing downtime since it was prefinished, and they matched the direction and the transitions to the existing hall. Clean, solid, and done in a few days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Handis solid hardwood installation.