Hardwood Flooring Prices and Installation Cost 2026

While there are over a dozen types of flooring you can use throughout your house, only a handful actually add value to your home. Hardwood flooring is the top option if you want to increase the price of your abode, and it’s not nearly as expensive as it used to be thanks to a new breed of engineered products.

Whether you want solid hardwood flooring or prefer engineered planks, deciding to install hardwood flooring in your home isn’t something to take lightly. Our guide will walk you through all the important factors that come into play with hardwood flooring prices while touching on the price of installation as well.

Types of Hardwood Flooring

Consumers have been able to purchase flooring in various forms for decades, from sheet laminate to vinyl tiles and click-lock PVC planks. With hardwood, you have two choices as you can use solid hardwood flooring in your home or purchase an engineered product.

Hardwood Flooring Cost Factors

Choosing a type of hardwood for your home can have a lot to do with the cost of installation, but it’s not the only factor you need to consider. The areas below all affect hardwood flooring prices, regardless of how it’s made.

Species

This is where a lot of homeowners can have their heartbroken. Species refers to the type of tree that’s used in your flooring, and there are two main classifications with Domestic and Exotic species. The most popular domestic trees used in flooring are Red Oak, White Oak, and Hickory.

All three are considered affordable and durable, whereas Walnut and Maple tend to be more expensive. You can also find flooring made from Cherry, Beech, Ash, and Birch at various price points. With domestic species, expect to pay around $4.00 to $9.00 per square foot.

Any wood that’s listed as “Exotic” comes from outside the United States and is more expensive. These unique planks can bring some interesting options to the table, however, like the incredibly durable IPE or Tigerwood.

Other popular options include Brazilian Cherry, Santos Mahogany, Wenge, Teak, and Rosewood. While it can be difficult to impossible to find some exotic species in solid hardwood form, engineered boards are easier to track down and cheaper. Prices for exotics start at around $5.00 but can exceed $15.00 per square foot.

Thickness

After you consider the cost of which species you’ll use, it’s time to think about how thick you want your floors. Solid hardwood flooring that’s ¾” thick is going to last a long longer than flooring that’s only 3/8” thick, but you’ll have to pay more. On average, you can usually give ¾” planks a “major” sanding at least 3 to 4 times if you have significant surface damage.

With engineered flooring, the thickness also affects the price, but it’s the veneer you need to focus on – not the overall thickness. Only engineered flooring with a thick veneer can be refinished, and how thick the veneer or wear layer varies from 1mm to 8mm thick on premium products. As a rule of thumb, anything under 2mm can’t be sanded, and you may be pushing your luck at the 2mm range as well.

Length & Width

Bigger isn’t always better, especially if you are on a tight budget. Hardwood flooring prices are affected by this rule, and it’s something you’ll have to seriously consider when browsing through extra wide planks.

Hardwood flooring can range from around 2 ½” to over 8” wide, depending on your needs and preferences. There has also been an influx of engineered and solid boards that are longer than usual, which also increases the overall price. Simply put, if more wood is required to produce the planks, they will be more expensive.

Colors and Style

Stains or coloring won’t have a big impact on prefinished wooden flooring, but it may play a part in which brand you choose. Grey Oak planks from the Home Decorators collection are going to look completely different when compared to the same style of Grey Oak boards from Kährs. Larger brands with more expensive products usually have more expensive catalogs with more colors and styles to choose from.

The biggest factor that raises the cost of hardwood flooring from a style standpoint would be finishing techniques. Smooth boards can be less expensive than hand-scraped planks, and you’ll need to pay a premium if you want flooring that has been weathered by artisans the old fashioned way. Whether you prefer your planks sanded and smooth or full of knotholes in a rustic grade, there’s an option for you as long as your budget can handle it.

Quality

Quality is always important with any product, but it isn’t as much of a concern with solid hardwoods as it is with engineered flooring. Solid hardwood flooring is milled from a piece of timber, so there’s no chance of structural failure unless moisture and rot take hold.

For every solid hardwood manufacturer, there are a dozen companies making engineered products. That means quality control is something you don’t want to take lightly, especially considering the number of unfamiliar brand names and small companies producing this style of hardwood flooring.

The warranty will give you a good idea of the quality of engineered flooring, and many products have separate guarantees for structural defects and general wear. As you’d expect, you’ll pay top dollar for boards with a lifetime guarantee, while cheaper planks may only be warrantied for 15 to 25 years. With solid boards, the warranty generally only applies to the factory wear layer or finish.

Hardwood Flooring Cost

As you can see, a variety of factors can affect the price of engineered or solid hardwood flooring. Before you think about whether you want to install floors yourself or hire a professional, it’s important to understand how much the material will cost. While there are too many styles and species for us to list, our table covers the most popular options from brands, both big and small. 

To know how much flooring you’ll need for your project, you need to find the square footage by multiplying the width and length of the room. It’s also important to keep the waster factor in mind as well, so always order a bit more flooring than you’ll actually need for the job.