Cattail Engineered Hardwood starts at $8.99/sq ft installed in Fort Myers — a wide-plank hickory-look floor from LW Flooring’s Riverside collection in a rich walnut tone. The embossed-in-register texture follows the wood grain realistically, giving it the feel of real hickory without the maintenance demands. At 9-3/8 inches wide and 60 inches long, each plank covers serious ground with a natural, unhurried look.
Cattail is a good fit for main living areas, open-plan kitchens, and primary bedrooms in Southwest Florida homes. The 7.8mm construction with a polyurethane finish holds up to the humidity swings common along the Gulf Coast, and the 5G locking system floats over concrete slabs without glue — which matters in slab-on-grade construction that dominates Fort Myers and Cape Coral.
For snowbird owners or seasonal rentals, the lifetime residential warranty and durable surface mean the floor can sit closed up through a humid summer and still perform when you return. It is not waterproof, so avoid bathrooms or areas with standing water risk.
| Plank Width | 9 3/8” |
|---|---|
| Plank Length | 60” |
| Thickness | 7.8mm |
| Wear Layer | 20 mil |
| Finish | Polyurethane |
| Species | Look |
Flooring Queen installs Cattail at $8.99 per square foot, covering delivery to your home, removal of your current floor covering, standard subfloor preparation, the installation itself, new baseboards, and transition strips between rooms, plus full cleanup and debris removal when the crew leaves.
Costs beyond the base price include significant subfloor leveling (beyond routine prep), stair nosing, or any custom layout work like diagonal runs or feature borders. Schedule a free in-home measurement and we’ll put everything in writing before a single plank moves — no surprises at the invoice.
Cattail gives you the look and feel of real hickory flooring, but the engineered construction behaves more predictably in Southwest Florida’s climate. Solid hardwood expands and contracts more dramatically with humidity changes — the kind that happen seasonally here — which can cause gapping or cupping over concrete slabs. Engineered hardwood keeps a real wood veneer on top but layers it over a dimensionally stable core, reducing that movement.
Where solid hardwood wins: it can be sanded and refinished more times over its life, giving a true generational floor. Cattail has a polyurethane finish over its wear layer, so refinishing is possible but more limited. If you want real wood character in a Florida home built on slab, engineered hardwood is generally the more practical choice.
| Cattail | Solid Hardwood | |
|---|---|---|
| Water resistance | Low — avoid wet areas | Low — avoid wet areas |
| Scratch resistance / wear layer | Polyurethane finish, 7.8mm plank | Varies by finish; no set wear layer |
| Comfort underfoot | Warm, wood feel | Warm, wood feel |
| Installed price | $8.99/sq ft installed | $10–$14/sq ft installed, typically |
| Best room | Living areas, bedrooms, slab installs | Living areas, bedrooms, wood subfloor |
Sweep or dust-mop Cattail daily in high-traffic areas to keep sand and grit — Fort Myers homes track in a lot of it — from grinding against the polyurethane finish. For regular cleaning, a hardwood-specific cleaner like Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner applied with a damp (not wet) mop works well; avoid excessive moisture, steam mops, and any cleaner with vinegar or ammonia, which break down the finish over time. Do not use a vacuum with a rotating beater bar on the surface. If the finish dulls in a high-traffic zone, consult Flooring Queen about spot recoating before full wear-through occurs. For technical guidance, see the National Wood Flooring Association consumer hardwood information.
LW Flooring recommends acclimating engineered hardwood for at least 48–72 hours in the room where it will be installed. In Southwest Florida, where indoor humidity can swing between a cool, air-conditioned 50% and a summer-storm 80%, letting the planks settle in your actual environment prevents gapping or buckling after install.
Cattail can be lightly refinished, but the number of times is limited by the thickness of its polyurethane finish layer rather than a deep raw-wood veneer — it is not a floor you can sand back to bare wood multiple times the way 3/4-inch solid hardwood allows. One careful screen-and-recoat is typically feasible if the finish is worn but the wood underneath is intact.
The 5G locking system is a floating installation, so in many cases it can go over an existing hard, flat surface without full removal. However, height transitions, flex in the existing floor, or any raised lippage between tiles can cause click-joint stress over time. We assess the existing surface during our free measurement visit before making a recommendation.
A whole-home install in a typical three-bedroom Fort Myers house — roughly 1,000 to 1,400 square feet — generally takes two to three days for Flooring Queen’s crew once materials are on-site and acclimated. Larger homes, more doorways, or irregular layouts add time. Single-room jobs are often completed in one day.
Engineered hardwood consistently tests well with buyers and appraisers in the SWFL market, generally performing better at resale than vinyl or laminate and roughly on par with solid hardwood. The caveat is that buyers here are increasingly aware of flood risk and humidity, so pairing a wood floor with proper humidity control matters for maintaining that perception of quality.
LW Flooring backs Cattail with a lifetime residential warranty and a 15-year light commercial warranty. Manufacturer warranties on engineered hardwood typically cover finish wear, structural defects, and edge integrity under normal use — they do not cover damage from standing water, improper installation, or lack of maintenance. Keep your purchase documentation and installation records to support any future claim.
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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