Burlington Engineered Hardwood starts at $8.99 per square foot installed in Fort Myers — a warm caramel oak floor from LW Flooring’s Uptown Avenue collection that brings genuine wood character to the rooms where you spend the most time. The wide 9-inch plank and embossed texture give it the grounded, natural look of traditional hardwood without the limitations of solid wood over a concrete slab.
Burlington is built for the living spaces and bedrooms that define a Southwest Florida home. The glue-down installation method makes it an especially strong match for the concrete slab foundations that dominate construction across Fort Myers and the surrounding coastal areas — it lies flat, stays flat, and won’t telegraph movement the way a floating floor sometimes does in high-humidity conditions.
The polyurethane finish and 12-mil wear layer hold up to everyday foot traffic, including the sandy grit and salt air that coastal homeowners deal with year-round. It’s also a practical choice for snowbird properties where the floor sits empty for months at a time, because the engineered construction handles humidity cycling better than solid hardwood.
| Plank Width | 9” |
|---|---|
| Plank Length | 60” |
| Thickness | 2.0mm |
| Wear Layer | 12 mil |
| Finish | Polyurethane |
| Species | Oak |
Flooring Queen installs Burlington at $8.99 per square foot, and that number covers the full scope of a standard job: delivery to your Fort Myers-area home, removal of your old flooring, standard subfloor preparation, the glue-down installation itself, baseboard reinstallation, transition strips at doorways, and cleanup and disposal when the crew is done.
Some situations fall outside that baseline. Heavy subfloor grinding or leveling, stair nosing, intricate room layouts, or custom border work are quoted separately because they add real labor time. The best first step is our free in-home measure — you’ll walk away with a written line-item quote specific to your home before any commitment is made.
Burlington is engineered oak, meaning it’s a real oak veneer bonded to a layered core. Solid hardwood is oak milled from a single piece of wood. The core difference for Southwest Florida buyers is dimensional stability: solid oak expands and contracts with humidity swings in ways that can cause cupping, gapping, or buckling over a concrete slab — a serious concern here. Burlington’s engineered construction resists that movement, and glue-down installation anchors it directly to the slab without risking moisture pockets.
Where solid hardwood has the edge: a thick plank can be sanded and refinished more times over its life. Burlington’s 12-mil wear layer permits light sanding, but it won’t survive the aggressive refinishing a 3/4-inch solid plank can take. For most Fort Myers homeowners, the stability advantage of engineered far outweighs that limitation.
| Burlington | Solid Hardwood | |
|---|---|---|
| Water resistance | Engineered core, glue-down seal | Poor — expands significantly with moisture |
| Scratch resistance / wear layer | 12-mil polyurethane finish | Varies; thick plank allows heavy sanding |
| Comfort underfoot | Warm, real wood feel | Warm, real wood feel |
| Installed price | $8.99/sq ft | Typically $10–$14/sq ft installed |
| Best room | Living areas, bedrooms over slab | Above-grade rooms with controlled humidity |
Sweep or vacuum Burlington regularly to clear the fine sand and grit that gets tracked in from Southwest Florida patios and driveways — abrasive particles are the main source of finish wear over time. Use a hardwood-specific cleaner like Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner or a product your installer recommends; avoid anything acidic, oil-soaps, or steam mops, which can break down the polyurethane finish and work moisture into the seams. Don’t allow standing water to sit on the floor after mopping — wring your mop thoroughly and work in small sections. A felt pad under furniture legs goes a long way toward protecting the finish in high-use areas. For technical guidance, see the National Wood Flooring Association consumer hardwood information.
Engineered hardwood should acclimate in the installation space for at least 48 to 72 hours before the crew begins work. In Southwest Florida’s humidity, that window matters — it lets the planks adjust to your home’s ambient moisture level so the glue-down bond isn’t fighting movement from day one.
Burlington can be lightly buffed or screen-and-recoated, but full sanding is limited by its 12-mil wear layer — that’s thinner than what a full sand-and-refinish requires. You’d likely get one very light refinish before reaching the core. For most homeowners, a recoat is the practical maintenance option.
Burlington uses a glue-down installation method, so the existing surface must be smooth, firmly bonded, and at the right height relative to adjacent rooms before it can go down over it. Loose tiles, high grout lines, or peeling vinyl would need to be addressed first. We assess the substrate during the free in-home measure.
Burlington’s engineered construction handles seasonal homes better than solid hardwood. As long as your home stays within a reasonable humidity range — typically 35–65% — with the AC maintaining a set-back temperature, the floor should remain stable. Letting the space go fully unconditioned for extended periods is the scenario to avoid.
Engineered hardwood has a real wood veneer over a layered core, which makes it dimensionally stable in high-humidity environments. Solid hardwood is milled from a single piece of wood and expands and contracts significantly with moisture changes — a real problem over the concrete slabs that are standard in Fort Myers construction. Engineered is the practical recommendation for our climate.
A single bedroom or living room typically takes one day. A whole-home installation covering multiple rooms will usually run two to three days depending on square footage and layout complexity. Glue-down installation requires cure time between phases, so the crew may stage the work across consecutive days for larger projects.
Real hardwood in Florida needs an installer who’s worked through every season here. Our crew knows how to acclimate, fasten, and finish wood floors so they don’t gap in January or cup in August. Free written quote: (239) 763-0770.
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Reviewed by Jack Maya, Lead Installer at Flooring Queen — 20+ years installing flooring in Southwest Florida.
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