The Value & The Costs of
Wide Plank Wood Flooring
The Value
Wide plank hardwood floors are made up of boards that were milled to have a width wider than what’s commonly available. The width of typical floor boards are between 2” to 5” whereas wide plank flooring can range up to 12” in width.
While wide plank wood flooring is often sought after for its historic appeal, it is becoming increasingly popular in modern home designs. This is because the fewer seams between boards, and the fewer changes in natural grain lines, helps to create a more uniform and consistent aesthetic.
The Costs
New wide plank floor boards are often milled from older trees. Since these are less abundant in timber forests, the costs of these will be notably more expensive. Another resource for wide plank flooring is reclaimed lumber. Similarly, the price of these pieces is also significantly higher since the process of salvaging and restoring the wood is quite labor intensive.
In either scenario, wide plank hardwood floors will also require skilled craftspeople to install them in a way that will avoid warping and gaps. This will likely add additional costs to the overall construction budget as well.
In modern homes with large areas of hardwood flooring any increase in material costs can quickly multiply to a very significant impact on total building costs.