Hardwood Flooring in Vancouver

If you value that premium, natural wood look, you can’t beat Hardwood.

Milled from a single piece of wood, solid hardwood flooring is a natural product that reacts to fluctuations in temperature and moisture by expansion and contraction.

Therefore, we recommend that solid hardwood is only used in areas with little moisture to reduce the risk of the floor suffering from these conditions.

The right hardwood for your home depends less on the colour you like and more on what sits under the floor and how much moisture the room sees. Our coast is damp for half the year and dry once the heat comes on, and wood moves with it. Here is how we help you choose.

Solid hardwood

Solid boards are one piece of wood from top to bottom, so they can be sanded and refinished several times over their life. They suit above-grade rooms on a wood subfloor: living rooms, dining rooms and bedrooms in a house. We do not recommend solid hardwood over concrete, over radiant heat or in basements.

Engineered hardwood

Engineered boards put a real hardwood wear layer on a cross-layered core that resists swelling and shrinking. That stability is why engineered is our usual recommendation for condos, concrete slabs, radiant floors and wide planks. More on engineered hardwood in Vancouver.

Species, width and finish

Choose from oak, maple and walnut in a range of plank widths, stains and finishes. Wider planks show more of the grain but move more with the seasons, which is another point in engineered's favour. Matte and low-sheen finishes hide everyday scratches better than gloss in a busy family home.

Most Metro Vancouver strata corporations set a minimum sound rating for new hard floors and want to approve your flooring and underlay before work starts. We can give you the product and underlay specifications your council will ask for.

Read our strata flooring approval guide, how IIC and STC sound ratings differ, and why engineered often beats solid on our coast.