Overview
Engineered hardwood is real wood on top of a stable plywood core. It's the right answer over concrete slabs, in basements, and over radiant heat, places where solid plank can cup or buckle.
Engineered Hardwood Installation by Kovich & Savard starts at $10/sq ft* for labor, with material quoted separately and the final number set after a free in-home estimate. We service every Massachusetts town listed below, Greater Boston, the South Shore, MetroWest, and Cape Cod, with three generations of family experience. Every job is owner-led.
We use engineered when the substrate or environment demands it. The top wear layer is real hardwood, typically 3mm to 6mm, meaning the floor can be sanded and refinished one to two times, and reads identically to solid plank to the eye.
Engineered installs go down as floating, glue-down, or nail-down depending on the substrate. Concrete and radiant get glue-down with elastomeric adhesive. Floating is fast and cheap but feels different underfoot, we'll be honest with you about the trade-off.
About this service
Engineered Hardwood, the honest one-paragraph version.
Engineered hardwood is real wood on top of a stable plywood core. It's the right answer over concrete slabs, in basements, and over radiant heat, places where solid plank can cup or buckle. We do this work across Massachusetts for homeowners, builders, property managers, and small-business owners. Labor starts at $10/sq ft*. Engineered installs over slab require glue-down with elastomeric adhesive, adhesive alone runs ~$4/sq ft and is included on top of labor. Final number set after substrate test. Every job starts with a free in-home estimate, a written itemized proposal inside 48 hours of that visit, and a fixed completion date. Owner-led, fully insured, three generations of family craftsmanship since 1928.
Engineered Hardwood is one of eight service lines we offer. Most homeowners who book engineered hardwood also end up using one or two related services from the same crew on the same project, common combinations include refinishing plus custom staining, install plus board-repair on adjacent rooms, and engineered hardwood plus luxury vinyl plank for a basement transition. We coordinate all of them under one proposal so you do not have to manage multiple contractors against each other on schedule.
Three generations of doing this work across Eastern Massachusetts has taught us that the same standards produce floors that hold up for forty years regardless of which service is on the proposal. Subfloor preparation before wood, proper acclimation before installation, three-coat premium finish where the system calls for it, scribed transitions at every doorway, daily cleanup, and an owner on every site every day. Tim and Steve are the people you talk to, and the people on your floor.
Why choose this
What you get when we do this work.
Works over slab and radiant heat
Solid plank cups over slab. Engineered handles temperature swings without bowing.
Real hardwood face
It's actual oak, walnut, or hickory, not a printed laminate photo.
Wide-plank without the cost
Engineered makes 7, 9" wide plank achievable in homes where solid would over-budget.
How it goes
The 4-step process for this work.
- 01
Substrate test
Calcium chloride moisture test on slab, RH test on plywood. Numbers go on the proposal.
- 02
Choose install method
Glue-down, nail-down, or floating, we recommend based on the substrate, not the easiest install.
- 03
Underlayment
Vapor retarder over slab, acoustic mat where noise transmission matters.
- 04
Install, trim, transitions
Same craftsmanship as solid, just a different fastening method.
Considerations for Massachusetts homes
What we look at before quoting engineered hardwood.
Subfloor and structure: Massachusetts housing stock spans pre-1900 plank-on-joist construction, mid-century plywood-on-2x10, and modern engineered I-joists, and we adjust technique for each. Pre-1960 homes routinely have original pine plank subfloor with hardwood nailed directly to it; post-war ranches and capes show 1/2" plywood; newer builds use 3/4" tongue-and-groove OSB or plywood. Each calls for different fastener length, different acclimation tolerance, and a different read on whether the subfloor needs screwing-down before any new flooring goes over it. We test moisture content with a probe meter at every job because cupping and buckling are almost always a subfloor-moisture story, not a wood-selection story.
Material specification: species (red oak versus white oak versus walnut versus hickory), board width (2 1/4" strip versus 5" plank versus 7"+ wide-plank), grade (select clear versus character versus rustic), and finish chemistry (water-based polyurethane versus oil-based versus hardwax oil) each move both the price and the lived experience of the floor for the next 30 years. We bring physical samples to the estimate so you see and feel the difference rather than choosing from a catalog page. Pricing scales: a 1,000 sq ft room can run anywhere from $4,000 in select red oak strip to $18,000 in wide-plank European white oak depending on those choices.
Adjacencies and transitions: almost every engineered hardwood project touches a kitchen tile threshold, an exterior door, a stair nose, and at least one HVAC register. We scribe-cut every transition rather than capping with quarter-round, mill stair nosing from matching stock, and feather refinish work into adjacent rooms so the new work doesn't read as a stripe of fresh wood against tired surroundings. That detail work is included in the labor rate, not added as a separate line item.
Dust, schedule, and living in the house: we run HEPA-filtered dust-containment sanders that capture 95%+ of airborne dust, and we seal off adjacent rooms with zip walls. Most families stay in the house through a refinish. For an install, plan on the floors being walkable in stocking feet at day 4 and fully ready for furniture at day 7. We coordinate around your life and can work in phases when whole-house occupancy matters.
FAQ
Common questions about engineered hardwood.
Got a question that's not here? Call (508) 962-1962 or email us. Tim and Steve answer themselves.
How many times can engineered be refinished?
Depends on wear layer. 3mm wear layer = once. 6mm = twice. We'll spec product so you know your future runway.
Will it work over my radiant heat?
Yes, with the right product and adhesive. We've installed engineered over hydronic radiant on Cape Cod and the South Shore for years.
How long does engineered hardwood take from start to finish?
For a typical 800 to 1,200 sq ft project, an install takes the floors walkable in stocking feet at day 4 and fully ready for furniture at day 7. A refinish runs 4 to 5 days end-to-end. We coordinate around your life and can work in phases when whole-house occupancy matters.
Will Tim or Steve be on-site for my engineered hardwood job?
Yes. An owner is on every site, every day. Not a project manager, not a salesperson, not a subbed-out crew. The person who measured your floor is the person who runs the work and is the person you call if you have a question two years later.
What insurance do you carry for engineered hardwood work?
$2,000,000 general liability and full workers' compensation. Certificates of insurance furnished on request, including additional-insured endorsements for condo associations or property managers that require them.
Do you offer a warranty on engineered hardwood?
Yes. Written workmanship warranty on every job, plus the finish manufacturer's product warranty on the coating system. If something we did fails, we come back. We answer the phone for years afterward.
How quickly can you start a project?
Most projects start two to four weeks after sign-off. The on-site estimate happens within a few business days of your call, the written proposal lands inside 48 hours of that visit, and the wood acclimates on-site for 5 to 7 days before any nail goes in.
What's included
What you actually get with engineered hardwood.
Included in the labor rate: in-home assessment of the subfloor and existing material, written itemized proposal within 48 hours, moisture-content testing at delivery and at install, on-site acclimation of raw boards (5 to 7 days for solid, 3 to 5 for pre-finished), three-pass sanding with HEPA dust containment (where applicable), three coats of premium polyurethane with intercoat abrasion (where applicable), scribed transitions at doorways and adjacencies, owner-led job supervision, furniture moving and protection within the work zone, daily site cleanup, and a final walk-through with written care kit. The labor rate is not stripped down to a teaser number that grows once we are on-site.
Quoted separately on top of labor: the wood or product itself (priced by species, board width, grade, and quantity); any subfloor repair we find during prep (rotted plywood, sister-joist work, leveling beyond minor float); stair treads, nosings, and risers; custom stain blends beyond a single tone; specialty moldings and transitions we need to fabricate rather than buy stock; and after-hours scheduling for commercial work. Each line item appears on the proposal so you see the math before signing.
Not included, and we will tell you up front: any work outside the scope on the proposal. If we find something during prep that changes the scope, we stop, photograph it, email you a change-order with a real number, and wait for your sign-off before proceeding. We do not silently expand scope and present a larger invoice at the end.
Warranty: written workmanship warranty on every project, plus the finish manufacturer's product warranty on the coating system. If something we did fails (a cup, a lifted board, a finish failure that we caused), we come back. We have been doing this work since 1928 and we plan to be answering the phone for the same floor in twenty years.
Where we provide this service
Engineered Hardwood across Eastern Massachusetts.
Honest expectations
What we will and will not promise on engineered hardwood.
What we will promise: owner-led work from start to finish, a fixed completion date in writing, full HEPA dust containment where the service calls for it, three coats of premium polyurethane where the finish system calls for it, scribed transitions at every doorway and adjacency, daily cleanup, written workmanship warranty, and a phone number staffed by an owner for the years after the job. Free in-home estimate, written itemized proposal within 48 hours.
What we will not promise: a price quoted sight-unseen, a refinish on a floor whose wear layer is gone, a finish system that we know will yellow over the stain you chose, an install schedule that cannot accommodate proper wood acclimation, or work outside the scope on the proposal. We will tell you honestly at the in-home visit if what you are asking for is not the right answer for your situation and what we recommend instead, even when the recommendation is a smaller project than the one you called about.
