Paxos Engineered Hardwood starts at $8.99 per square foot installed in Fort Myers — a wirebrushed European White Oak floor in warm caramel tones from LW Flooring’s Paradise Island collection. The wide 10-1/9″ planks and high natural variation give it an authentic, lived-in character that reads as genuinely wood, not a wood look. It’s a serious floor for homeowners who want real oak without the limitations of solid hardwood.
Engineered hardwood is built for the realities of Southwest Florida homes, and Paxos is a strong example of why. Its layered construction handles the humidity swings that come with long, wet summers without the cupping and gapping that solid oak would develop over a concrete slab.
The 4 mm wear layer is thick enough to sand and refinish if the floor picks up scratches over years of use — a real advantage in rental properties, snowbird homes, and high-traffic rooms. Float, glue, or nail installation means it works across a range of subfloor situations common to the region, from poured slabs to older wood-framed construction near the coast.
| Plank Width | 10-1/9″ |
|---|---|
| Plank Length | 86-5/8″ Random Length |
| Thickness | 5/8″ |
| Wear Layer | 4 mm |
| Finish | Polyurethane with Aluminum Oxide |
| Species | European White Oak |
Flooring Queen installs Paxos at $8.99 per square foot, with no hidden line items for the standard scope of work. That price covers material delivery, removal of your existing floor covering, subfloor preparation for typical conditions, installation of the planks, and fitting of baseboards and transition strips. Old flooring gets hauled off the site.
Some projects carry upcharges: significant subfloor leveling work, stair nosings, or intricate layout patterns like herringbone or diagonal runs. Our team will walk through the specifics of your space, measure at no charge, and hand you a written quote broken down by line item before any work is scheduled.
The most common cross-shop for Paxos is solid hardwood — same European White Oak species, same authentic grain, but a fundamentally different construction. Solid hardwood is milled from a single piece of wood and expands and contracts more aggressively with moisture changes. Over a concrete slab in Southwest Florida, solid oak requires extensive moisture mitigation and is almost always installed as a floating floor at best, or avoided entirely in ground-floor rooms.
Engineered hardwood like Paxos uses a cross-ply plywood core that resists seasonal movement. You get the same visual character — real oak surface, real texture — with more installation flexibility and better long-term stability in humid climates. The trade-off: solid hardwood can typically be refinished more times over its lifespan, though Paxos’s 4 mm wear layer supports multiple refinishing cycles before that matters.
| Paxos | Solid Hardwood | |
|---|---|---|
| Water resistance | Resists humidity; avoid standing water | More vulnerable to moisture movement |
| Scratch resistance / wear layer | 4 mm wear layer, refinishable | Full thickness, more refinish cycles possible |
| 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 | Main living areas, slab-on-grade homes | Upper floors, low-humidity climates |
Sweep or vacuum Paxos regularly using a soft-bristle attachment — avoid beater bars, which can dull the wirebrushed finish over time. For damp mopping, use a hardwood-specific cleaner like Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner or WOCA Wood Floor Cleaner; both are pH-balanced and won’t break down the polyurethane-and-aluminum-oxide finish. Skip steam mops entirely — sustained heat and moisture will work into the seams and compromise the core layer. Wipe spills promptly. Felt pads under furniture legs are worth the effort, especially on the wide planks where a dragged chair leg shows. For technical guidance, see the National Wood Flooring Association consumer hardwood information.
Engineered hardwood generally needs 3 to 5 days of acclimation inside your home before installation. In Southwest Florida, where indoor humidity can run higher than the national average, letting the planks adjust to your actual living conditions — not just warehouse conditions — reduces the risk of post-install movement. Keep your AC running at normal levels during the acclimation period.
Yes — Paxos can be refinished, and the 4 mm wear layer gives you real flexibility to do so. A standard light sanding removes roughly 1 mm, which means this floor can realistically be refinished two to three times over its life before you’d approach the core layer. That’s a meaningful advantage over thinner engineered products with 2 mm wear layers.
Solid hardwood is one solid piece of wood that expands and contracts significantly with humidity. Engineered hardwood uses a real oak surface bonded to a cross-ply core, which keeps the plank dimensionally stable. On a concrete slab — the standard foundation type throughout Southwest Florida — engineered construction is the practical choice because it tolerates the moisture vapor that concrete releases and doesn’t require the same level of moisture mitigation that solid hardwood demands.
Flooring Queen installs Paxos throughout Southwest Florida, including Cape Coral and Naples. If your project is in the surrounding area, reach out and we’ll confirm coverage for your zip code during the quoting process.
Paxos is well-suited to main living areas, dining rooms, bedrooms, and home offices — anywhere you want the look and warmth of real wood. It can be floated, glued, or nailed, so it works at grade over a slab or above-grade on a wood subfloor. Avoid full bathrooms and laundry rooms where standing water is a routine risk; engineered hardwood is moisture-tolerant, not waterproof.
A single large room typically takes one day once installation begins. A whole-home project of 1,500 to 2,500 square feet usually runs two to four days depending on subfloor conditions, furniture moving, and the number of transitions between rooms. Paxos’s three installation methods — float, glue, or nail — give the crew flexibility to match the method to your subfloor and keep the schedule efficient.
When you invest in hardwood, the install matters as much as the wood. Flooring Queen is licensed, insured, and family-run from a single Fort Myers showroom — no franchise, no national-chain shuffle. Free in-home measure: (239) 763-0770.
Continue exploring:
Considering a different material?
Reviewed by Jack Maya, Lead Installer at Flooring Queen — 20+ years installing flooring in Southwest Florida.
Let’s Discuss Your Flooring Project Today
