Wide Plank Hardwood Flooring Guide: Best Brands, Cost, Pros and Cons

Wide plank hardwood flooring delivers classic good looks and makes any room feel open, airy and comfortable.

This is your concise but informative guide to this classic hardwood flooring style that might be trendy, but it hasn’t really gone out of style for centuries.

What is wide plank hardwood flooring? 

It is flooring with planks 6” wide or wide. Some manufacturers express it this way: “wider than 5.” Much of it is 8” to 10” wide, and occasionally you will find a manufacturer offering wider widths in stock and custom choices.

Wide Plank Hardwood Floors Overview

Top brands are discussed below and include affordable options from Bruce and other “big box” store brands, midrange choices like Carlisle, and expensive wide plank flooring like Monarch Plank Hardwood Flooring and K.D. Woods, a company that specializes in reclaimed hardwood flooring.

Is wide plank flooring more expensive?

Yes, it can be, because larger, more rare sections of wide timber are used when making it. It’s available in engineered hardwood and solid hardwood.

Expect engineered wide plank flooring to start at a reasonable $4.00 to $6.00 per square foot. An average cost for engineered hardwood and solid hardwood is around $8.00 to $12.00 per square foot, and the most expensive tops $20.

Wide plank wood flooring has its pros and cons.

Higher cost being one of the obvious disadvantages. Fewer seams is one of several key advantages. All the pros and cons are discussed in a later section.

Now, let’s explore the best brands and what they offer, the cost of wide plank hardwood flooring, its pros and cons and FAQ.

Best Wide Plank Hardwood Flooring Brands

The best brands of wide plank flooring put forethought and their best efforts into producing engineered and solid hardwood of the highest quality and beauty in planks from 6” to more than 12” wide.

Here are the top wide plank hardwood flooring brands with a look at their floors and prices. We list them in alphabetical order, not in order of quality or price.

Bruce

Bruce is a household name in the flooring industry. It is known for its affordability and availability – selling a huge volume of flooring across the U.S.

All Bruce wide plank hardwood is engineered wood flooring. There is no Bruce wide plank solid hardwood.

Styles: Smooth, distressed, brushed, hand scraped and traditional. The majority of its wide plank flooring is richly textured for authentic feel.

Top Lines: Brushed Impressions is one of those nicely textured brushed options in white oak and a range of hues with widths to 9”. Dogwood distressed wide plank hardwood offers more species – red oak, walnut and hickory in addition to white oak from 6.5” to 8.5”. Next Frontier is a line of 10 hickory wide plank flooring choices while American Honor features red oak at 6.5”.

Prices: $3.90 - $5.50 / square foot

Remember, Bruce only sells engineered hardwood in wide plank options, so costs are lower.

Carlisle

If you’re looking for a manufacturer dedicated to wide planks, consider Carlisle. Planks are at least 5”, and most are 6” to 10”.

Carlisle seeks out old growth standing timber as the source of its wide plank hardwood flooring.

Species include birch, cherry, white pine, hickory, red oak, white oak and walnut.

Styles: You’ll find everything from smooth and traditional styles to rift sawn and quartersawn rustic options plus reclaimed barnwood.

Top Lines: Earthen features earth-tone wide plank flooring in hickory. Elegant is a rift & quarter sawn flooring that boasts premium beauty in warm browns. Empirium is richly textured and shows plenty of wood character including knots and color variation. Manhattan is a sophisticated choice in 6” planks in mostly cool tones with a couple warm options.

Prices: $9.50 to $16.00 per square foot

Hull

Here is another wide plank hardwood flooring specialist, and Hull delivers some of the best-looking floors anywhere.

Hull sells directly to their customers from their location in Connecticut, which is an advantage in that you get custom service without paying a middleman. The downside is that you can’t see as much of the flooring as you would at a showroom.

Species are white oak, red oak, pine, ash, birch, cherry, maple, spalted maple and walnut – all in wide plank flooring.

Styles: Select a species, and you can view options. For example, Hull red oak wide plank flooring is produced in Select, Quarter and Rift Sawn Select and Premium, standard Rift Sawn, Premium, Natural and Select Grade Curly.

Top Lines: Rather than grouping their floors into lines, they list them by wood species. See Styles above.

Prices: $7.00 to $18.00 per square foot

K.D. Woods

Reclaimed hardwood crafted into wide plank flooring is something to behold. If you want a floor produced from old growth wood that is filled with character from previous usefulness, consider K.D. Woods.

Note – The company has begun making new wide plank flooring too!

Species of wood include oak, chestnut, hickory, walnut, white pine, maple and beech. The widest planks in most options is 10”

Styles: Reclaimed wood floors include remilled, distressed, select, character with knots and natural mineral staining, tavern plank, skip sawn and more.

Top Lines: Like Hull, K.D. Woods doesn’t create lines. They focus on style and what they have in their current inventory. See Styles above for a good idea of what you’ll find.

Prices: $8.50 to $12.00 per square foot. You might also find some flooring on sale for $5.00 to $6.00.

Malibu

This is a newer brand originating in California, as you’d expect from the name. And wide plank engineered hardwood is what it produces. Malibu flooring is sold exclusively at the Home Depot.

Species available are maple, hickory, birch and French oak, also called European oak.

Styles: All Malibu hardwood flooring is wire brushed.

Top Lines: All lines are referred to as Malibu Wide Plank along with the wood species.

Prices: $3.75 to $6.50 per square foot

Monarch

This high-quality brand offers prefinished and unfinished wide plank hardwood flooring.

Monarch’s specialty is engineered hardwood floors that can be installed anywhere including below grade. Yes, engineered, but the sanding surface on some options, like Domaine II, are just as thick as those on solid hardwood, so they can be refinished multiple times.

The Unfinished flooring offered is French oak in prime and rustic, fumed oak (rustic), walnut in select and rustic and rustic hickory.

Styles: Smooth, brushed and lightly scraped flooring is produced.

Top Lines: Domaine II is an elegant flooring in neutral tones with planks a robust 9.5” wide. Produced in European / French oak, the wood is smoked and treated with reactive stains to achieve unique beauty. The Windsor Collection planks are 7.5” wide in neutrals with both lightly cool and warm choices. It is also French oak. New World is crafted in Appalachian hardwoods – maple, hickory, walnut, white oak and red oak. Planks 6” and 7” are manufactured in warm tones from medium to dark.

Prices: $7.50 to $13.50 per square foot.

Honorable Mentions

If those brands don’t have the “perfect” wide planks for your project, consider a few others that didn’t make the list but still offer fine hardwood flooring in wider widths – i.e., wide plank hardwood. They are:

Shaw ($$-$$$), Bellawood from Lumber Liquidators ($-$$$), Mohawk ($$), Cali Hardwoods ($$-$$$), Mannington ($$) and Virginia Millworks ($$-$$$).

Wide Plank Hardwood Flooring Cost

There is a wide range of pricing, from less than $4.00 per square foot for engineered hardwood options to more than $20.00 for the most elegant and rare solid hardwood wide plank flooring.

Most homeowners find what they like for between $4.50 and $10.00 per square foot.

The cost is generally higher than narrow and strip plank flooring for one simple reason. The pieces of timber must be larger, and larger sections are less available.

So, you’ll pay a premium of 15% to 30% for wide plank flooring over planks 3” to 5” wide. The wider the plank, all else being equal, the higher the cost.

Because it costs more, is wide plank flooring better? It’s only better if it fits the style of floor you want. In terms of quality, there is a range from decent to superior, just as there is with all types of floors.

Pros and Cons

All floors have their good and bad.

Pros

• Fewer seams in the flooring to break up the elegant wood look
• Installs faster than narrow planks
• Favors traditional, casual and rustic designs, though cooler tones can be used in contemporary settings
• Raises the value of your home compared with vinyl plank flooring and laminate
• Makes your home easier to sell

Cons

• Cost is higher than narrow plank flooring and wood-look alternatives like luxury vinyl plank
• Fewer design options, but you’ll still find enough good choices to fit your style
• Some manufacturers require special orders, but again, you’ll find in-stock options that should work for your plans
• If improperly installed or installed in damp areas, it is slightly more prone to humidity and moisture damage – in humid areas, use vinyl or choose engineered hardwood wide plank flooring

Alternatives

There are a few lower-cost alternatives. But it is worth noting that the most affordable wide plank hardwood flooring from Bruce and other manufacturers sold at local stores is comparable to them in cost.

So, don’t give up on wide plank engineered wood flooring just yet.

Low-cost alternatives: Wide plank laminate and vinyl plank flooring

Alternatives for damp areas: If your desired location is too damp for hardwood, first determine why and fix the issue if possible. In those areas, it makes sense to use waterproof flooring like engineered vinyl plank (EVP) flooring, a type of LVP with a waterproof rigid core.

FAQ

Does wide plank flooring make a room look bigger or smaller?

Wider planks produce an open, airy feel. Most people say that their rooms feel bigger after installing it. We recommend asking friends who have had wide width hardwood installed to see what they think – and visit their homes to develop your own opinion. But generally, wide plank flooring in small spaces is a good choice.

There’s one exception. If you use super-wide planks, like 10” to 14” planks, in a small space like a bathroom or small office, they can look out of place. Stick with 6” to 8.5” wide planks in smaller bedrooms, offices, kitchens, etc.

Is wide plank better than narrow plank?

They are equal in quality from the same manufacturer. Visually, whether they are better is subjective. Some people prefer the look while others like narrower planks.

Is wide plank flooring a DIY option?

Sure, especially some of the engineered wood floors. They are made with “click-together” edges for easy installation. Of course, if your carpentry skills are good, you can install any type.

What is the return on investment for wide plank solid hardwood and engineered hardwood?

Most realtors agree that it has about a 70-80% return on investment. That makes it one of the better cost-to-value home renovation materials.

Another bonus in this regard is that hardwood makes your home easier to sell compared with laminate and even some cheaper vinyl plank floors.

Selling tip: If most homes in your area have hardwood, then yes, you’ll get a good return and wide plank hardwood flooring will help you sell your home. But if surrounding homes like yours typically have less expensive flooring like laminate or carpet, then installing hardwood might produce a much lower return on investment.

Is this environmentally friendly flooring?

All of the products on our list above are certified by FloorScore as low-VOC flooring. And wood is a very sustainable source when it is properly managed.

For this reason, we recommend looking for flooring certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, or FSC, which ensures you are buying ethically sourced wood.

Can wide wood planks be refinished?

All solid hardwood floors can be refinished a couple times at least. With engineered hardwood, it depends on the thickness of the solid wood layer. Most can be refinished at least once. Some can be sanded and finished several times.

Where can I buy wide plank hardwood flooring?

You’ve got plenty of options. Big box stores carry affordable options in stock and might have more expensive choices you can order. Flooring specialty stores are a very good local option. And of course, you can find wide plank hardwood from many online sellers.