Moonlight Engineered Hardwood starts at $8.99/sq ft installed in Fort Myers — a handscraped Acacia floor with rich walnut tones from LW Flooring’s Traditions collection. The hand-distressed surface gives each 5-inch plank a character that factory-smooth floors simply don’t replicate. It’s a grounded, warm look built to age honestly.
Acacia is a hard, dense wood species, and the handscraped surface on Moonlight hides the minor dents and scuffs that come with real daily use — pets, kids, furniture movement. The 3/8″ engineered construction holds up better than solid hardwood on concrete slab foundations, which are standard throughout Fort Myers and Cape Coral.
Southwest Florida’s humidity swings are hard on wood. Engineered construction resists the seasonal expansion and contraction that causes solid planks to gap or buckle. A lifetime residential warranty backs the floor, and the glue-down or nail installation method gives installers flexibility when working on slabs or plywood subfloors common in coastal homes.
| Plank Width | 5″ |
|---|---|
| Plank Length | 47-1/4″ Random Length |
| Thickness | 3/8″ |
| Wear Layer | 1.2 mm |
| Finish | Polyurethane with Aluminum Oxide |
| Species | Acacia |
At $8.99 per square foot installed, Moonlight is priced to include everything from our warehouse to your finished floor: delivery, removal of your old flooring, subfloor inspection and routine prep, the installation itself, new baseboards, and transition strips between rooms. Debris is loaded and removed the same day.
Some jobs do carry upcharges — significant floor leveling or grinding down high spots on an older slab, stair nosing, herringbone or custom-pattern layouts, and specialty border work all take additional labor time. Flooring Queen offers a free in-home measurement with a written quote so you see the full number before any commitment.
Moonlight is engineered Acacia — a real wood surface bonded over a multi-ply core. Solid hardwood is milled from one piece of wood, top to bottom. In a dry climate with consistent temperatures, solid hardwood can last longer and be refinished more times. In Southwest Florida, the case for solid hardwood weakens considerably.
Concrete slabs, which make up the majority of homes in the region, don’t hold fasteners well for solid-wood nail-down installs and create moisture vapor concerns that solid wood handles poorly. Engineered construction tolerates that environment better. The trade-off is fewer refinishing passes over the product’s life — but the dimensional stability and installation flexibility on a slab make engineered the practical choice here.
| Moonlight | Solid Hardwood | |
|---|---|---|
| Water resistance | Surface-resistant; not waterproof | Surface-resistant; vulnerable to moisture below |
| Scratch resistance / wear layer | 1.2 mm wear layer; poly/aluminum oxide finish | Full-thickness solid; refinishable but softer finishes |
| Comfort underfoot | Warm, real wood feel | Warm, real wood feel |
| Installed price | $8.99/sq ft installed | Typically $10–$14/sq ft installed |
| Best room | Living rooms, bedrooms, over slab | Above-grade rooms with wood subfloor |
Sweep or dust-mop Moonlight daily if you have pets — grit and sand tracked in from outside are the primary cause of finish wear on any hardwood floor. Damp-mop with a hardwood-specific cleaner like Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner or a diluted WOCA soap; avoid oversaturating the planks. Never use a steam mop on engineered hardwood — prolonged heat and moisture can delaminate the core layers and void the finish warranty. Acidic or ammonia-based household cleaners will strip the polyurethane finish over time, so stick to pH-neutral products labeled safe for finished hardwood. For technical guidance, see the National Wood Flooring Association consumer hardwood information.
Engineered hardwood generally needs 48–72 hours of acclimation inside the installation space before install. In Southwest Florida’s humidity, open the boxes and let the planks adjust to your home’s actual climate-controlled conditions — not the garage. This reduces movement after install and helps the finish warranty hold.
A 1.2 mm wear layer is on the thinner side for refinishing — realistically, it supports one very light sand if done carefully by an experienced professional. Most homeowners get a full finish refresh once at most. Plan for screening and recoating rather than a full sand, which removes less material and extends the floor’s life.
Moonlight installs via glue-down or nail-down, so it cannot float over existing flooring the way a click-lock plank can. The old surface will typically need to come up to ensure a flat, sound substrate. Height transitions and subfloor flatness are verified during our in-home measurement before the job is quoted.
Moonlight’s polyurethane finish with aluminum oxide resists surface moisture from everyday spills if wiped up promptly. It is not waterproof — standing water, flooding, or moisture seeping through a slab can damage the wood core and cause warping. Clean spills immediately and address any plumbing leaks before they reach the floor.
Engineered hardwood bonds a real Acacia veneer over a dimensionally stable plywood core, which resists the expansion and contraction caused by humidity swings far better than solid wood. Most Fort Myers homes sit on concrete slabs — a challenging environment for solid hardwood installs — while engineered construction is designed to glue directly to that surface.
A standard bedroom or living room typically takes one day once acclimation is complete. A full home install of 1,500–2,000 square feet generally runs two to three days, depending on subfloor conditions and the number of transitions. Glue-down installs add cure time before furniture goes back. Your written quote will include a project schedule.
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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