Chamomile Engineered Hardwood starts at $8.99 per square foot installed in Fort Myers — a warm caramel oak-look floor from LW Flooring’s Riverside collection. The embossed-in-register texture follows the grain lines of the wood, giving it natural depth without looking artificial. It’s a grounded, livable color that works as easily in a beachside condo as in a family home.
At 7.8mm thick with a 9-inch-wide plank and a 59-inch length, Chamomile reads as real hardwood from across a room. The 5G locking system floats above the subfloor, which makes it a practical choice for the concrete slab foundations common throughout Southwest Florida — no glue-down required, and seasonal movement is absorbed by the floating assembly.
The 20 mil wear layer is substantial enough to hold up under pets, kids, and the sand that gets tracked in from the beach. For snowbird households that sit empty part of the year, the engineered construction is more dimensionally stable than solid wood through the humidity swings Fort Myers sees between summer and winter.
| Plank Width | 9” |
|---|---|
| Plank Length | 59” |
| Thickness | 7.8mm |
| Wear Layer | 20 mil |
| Finish | Polyurethane |
| Species | Look |
Flooring Queen installs Chamomile at $8.99 per square foot, and that price covers the full scope of a standard job: delivery to your home, removal of the existing floor covering, surface prep for a level substrate, the installation itself, baseboard reinstallation, transition strips between rooms, and cleanup and removal of all debris when we leave.
A few things fall outside that flat rate. Significant subfloor leveling — common in older slab homes — is quoted separately once we see the floor. Stair nosing, custom inlay borders, and diagonal or herringbone layouts also carry an upcharge. Call or click to schedule a no-cost in-home measurement; you’ll receive a written quote before any work begins.
Solid hardwood and Chamomile share the same oak aesthetic, but they’re built differently and suited to different conditions. Solid hardwood is a single piece of wood from top to bottom — it can be refinished many more times over its life, but it expands and contracts with humidity changes in ways that make it a risky choice over concrete slabs or in high-humidity climates like Southwest Florida’s.
Chamomile’s engineered construction layers a real oak veneer over a stable core, which holds its shape far better in humid conditions. The trade-off is refinishing potential — you get fewer passes than solid. If you’re in a dry, climate-controlled home with a wood subfloor, solid hardwood is a legitimate option. For most Fort Myers homes on slab, engineered is the more reliable long-term choice.
| Chamomile | Solid Hardwood | |
|---|---|---|
| Water resistance | Better — stable in high humidity | Susceptible to swelling over slab |
| Scratch resistance / wear layer | 20 mil polyurethane finish | Thicker wood, but no defined wear layer |
| Comfort underfoot | Warm, solid feel | Warm, solid feel |
| Installed price | $8.99/sq ft | Typically $10–$14/sq ft installed |
| Best room | Living areas, bedrooms, slab homes | Above-grade rooms, wood subfloor homes |
Sweep or vacuum with a soft-bristle attachment regularly — fine sand and grit from Southwest Florida’s beaches are the biggest source of surface scratches on any hardwood finish. For damp mopping, use a hardwood-specific cleaner such as Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner or a comparable pH-neutral product applied on a nearly dry mop, never a soaking wet one. Avoid steam mops entirely; the heat and moisture can work into the seams and compromise the core over time. Skip vinegar, ammonia-based cleaners, and anything marketed as a multi-surface spray — acidic or alkaline cleaners dull polyurethane finishes and void most warranties. For technical guidance, see the National Wood Flooring Association consumer hardwood information.
In Southwest Florida’s humidity, LW Flooring recommends acclimating Chamomile in the installation space for at least 48 hours before install. Keep the boxes flat, break the stacks so air can circulate, and run the home’s HVAC at normal living conditions — not a vacant, closed-up house — during that window.
Chamomile can be lightly refinished, but the number of passes is limited by its 20 mil wear layer — thinner than solid hardwood, so you’re looking at one or two light screen-and-recoat jobs rather than a full sand-down. For most homeowners, a professional recoat every 8–10 years is the realistic maintenance path.
Engineered hardwood bonds a real wood veneer to a layered core, which resists the expansion and contraction that solid wood goes through when humidity shifts. Florida slabs hold moisture and experience wide seasonal humidity swings — that cycling causes solid hardwood to gap, cup, or buckle over time, while engineered construction stays stable.
A single bedroom typically runs one day for installation once the floor is acclimated. A whole-home project — say, 1,200 to 1,800 square feet — usually takes two to three days for the install crew. The 5G locking system on Chamomile clicks together quickly, so large open floor plans move faster than rooms with lots of cuts and obstacles.
In many cases Chamomile can float over existing hard surfaces like tile or vinyl if they’re flat, firmly bonded, and in good condition — the 5G locking system doesn’t require adhesive. However, the total floor height increases, which can create clearance issues at doors and transitions. We check all of that during the in-home measurement before quoting.
Chamomile’s engineered construction handles seasonal vacancy better than solid hardwood, but the home still needs to stay within a reasonable humidity and temperature range while you’re away. Set the thermostat no higher than 80°F and keep a dehumidifier or the AC running on a schedule — letting a Southwest Florida home go unconditioned through summer can stress any wood-based floor.
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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