Can engineered planks go right onto the slab in a ground-floor house?

Yes, once the concrete passes a moisture test. Fixr says engineered boards can go over concrete, and an NWFA magazine article says they suit any grade level because the layered core moves less than solid wood. The same article warns that every on-grade slab keeps some moisture, so the test result decides the method and any sealer.

Is a 2 mm wear layer enough if I want to sand the floor years from now?

Probably not. Writing for the NWFA's magazine, Brett Miller says sanding isn't recommended once the wear layer is under 3/32 inch, about 2.4 mm, and one sand job takes off 1/32 to 1/16 inch. HomeGuide treats 4 to 6 mm veneers as the ones built for repeat refinishing.

Which comes in cheaper on a quote, glue-down or a floating floor?

Usually floating. HomeGuide calls click-lock and floating installs the most affordable because they need less labor and no adhesive, though floating adds $0.50 to $1.00 a square foot for underlayment. Glue-down costs more in prep and adhesive but leaves a floor that feels solid underfoot.

What should the installer show me before the first box is opened?

A Pompano Beach Business Tax Receipt number and certificates of general liability and workers' compensation insurance, or an approved exemption; Florida has no flooring license to ask for. Add a written payment schedule that ties the deposit and each later payment to a stage of the job.

Does every engineered floor carry a TSCA Title VI label?

Not necessarily. EPA's formaldehyde rule covers hardwood plywood, MDF and particleboard, plus laminated products with a veneer on one of those cores. Whether a given engineered plank falls inside depends on its core and resin, so ask for the product's own compliance statement rather than assuming.

Engineered Hardwood Installation in Pompano Beach, FL

Installed price: HomeGuide's national guide puts a mid-range engineered floor, labor included, between $9 and $20 per square foot; Fixr's range is $8 to $14.
Crew time: Fixr gives a crew of two installers one to three days for anything under 1,500 square feet.
Wear layer: HomeGuide lists top veneers from 2 to 6 mm and says the 4 to 6 mm range allows several refinishes.
Indoor humidity: two makers' instructions hold the house at 35% to 55% relative humidity for as long as the floor is down.

Pompano Wood Flooring puts you in touch with an engineered-floor installer for glue-down planks, floating floors over underlayment, click-lock boards and wide oak with a thick sawn face. Tell us the rooms and what's on the floor now; the visit to measure should include a look at the slab, so ask for one.

Engineered Hardwood Installation Methods for Slab Homes

An engineered board can be stuck to the concrete, floated over it or clicked together on top of it, and each method changes the prep, the price and the sound underfoot. The fourth choice, a wide plank with a thick top layer, is made at the showroom.

Gloved hands setting an engineered oak plank into ridged glue on bare concrete

Glue-down engineered on concrete

Adhesive goes across the slab with a notched trowel and the planks are set into it, so nothing flexes or clicks underfoot later. That bond only holds on a flat, dry surface. Provenza's instructions spell out how flat, and what happens when the concrete is too damp: a moisture retardant approved as a concrete sealant for wood flooring goes down before the boards.

Flatness (Provenza): within 1/8 inch over 6 feet, or 3/16 inch over 10 feet.
Labor alone (HomeGuide engineered guide): $3 to $8 or more a square foot.
Before gluing: a passing slab moisture test.

Engineered oak planks laid over gray foam underlayment on a concrete floor near a sliding door

Floating engineered over underlayment

A floating floor joins plank to plank and rests on a sheet underlayment without being fixed to the slab. HomeGuide says the underlayment adds moisture protection, sound dampening and some cushioning over small dips, and also says a floating floor is less durable and needs a level subfloor. Because the floor moves as one piece, a gap is left at every wall and hidden by the trim. Upstairs in a condo, the underlayment also has to pass the city's sound test (condo rules).

Underlayment (HomeGuide): $0.50 to $1.00 a square foot on top of the boards.
Wall gap: a good installer leaves the space the maker specifies; on one locking floor (Pergo) that's 3/8 inch on all sides.

Engineered plank being angled into a click-lock joint beside a wood T-molding in a doorway

Click-lock engineered planks

Locking edges snap together without glue, which is why HomeGuide counts click-lock among the cheaper installs to pay for. The catch is in the maker's rules. Pergo's instructions for its locking engineered floor are a fair example of what a click system asks for:

T-moldings: in every doorway 4 feet wide or less, and in any room 40 feet or more in length or width.
Free to move: no glue, nails, screws or fixed objects holding the floor down.
On concrete: a vapor barrier under the planks with seams overlapped 8 inches or more.
Flatness: no more than 3/16 inch of unevenness in 10 feet.

Ask whether those T-moldings are on the quote; a long open-plan room can get a break where you didn't expect one.

Wide natural oak engineered planks across a bright living room floor

Wide-plank and thick-wear-layer engineered

The sawn face on top is the only part that can ever be sanded, so its thickness sets the floor's working life. HomeGuide lists veneers of 2 to 6 mm. Writing in the NWFA's magazine, Brett Miller puts engineered wear layers between 1/16 and 1/4 inch and says sanding isn't recommended below 3/32 inch. Width is the other choice. In solid oak an 8-inch plank shrinks twice as much as a 4-inch one, the same magazine notes, and engineered boards are more stable than solid. That's the case for buying a wide plank as engineered.

Wear layer to ask for: 3/32 inch (about 2.4 mm) as the floor for any future sanding; 4 to 6 mm if you want several.

Installer kneeling on a bare concrete slab and checking it with a moisture meter before a wood floor goes down

Why Pompano Beach homeowners call Pompano Wood Flooring

One local flooring contractor calls back, not a bidding list
Asking costs nothing and commits you to nothing
Ask for the slab moisture readings in writing
Florida doesn't license flooring: ask for the business tax receipt and insurance certificates

Engineered Hardwood Prices: What Moves the Quote

The guides don't agree on engineered pricing, so a quote is worth checking against more than one of them.

Core build (HomeGuide)
a budget 3-core, 3/8-inch board runs $5 to $17 a square foot installed; a mid-range 5-core, 1/2-inch board $9 to $20.
Other guides
Fixr puts engineered at $8 to $14 installed; This Old House lists $6 to $23 a square foot without saying whether labor is included.
Boards alone (HomeAdvisor)
$4.50 to $16 a square foot for engineered.
What's on the slab now
tile, glue or an old floor has to come off first, and a dished slab gets self-leveler. Those are separate lines (tile removal, floor leveling).

Engineered Hardwood and South Florida Humidity

Wood takes on and gives off water with the air around it, and this is the stretch of the country where the air carries the most.

The NWFA's range
its installation guidelines, quoted in the association's magazine, treat 30% to 50% relative humidity as normal and want boards acclimated to the conditions the room will actually live in.
The makers' range
Provenza and Pergo both write 35% to 55% into their instructions as a condition that lasts the life of the floor.
Acclimation time
Wagner says most makers ask for at least 3 days with no upper limit; Pergo's locking floor asks for 48 hours, Provenza's for 5 days.
The outdoor side
the National Weather Service dates the southeast Florida summer from about May 21 to October 17, with summer dew points staying in the lower to middle 70s.
Air conditioning first
Pergo wants the HVAC running 14 days or more before anyone tests the slab or lays a board.

A seasonal house shut up with the AC off from May to October drifts outside every one of those ranges. Ask the installer what humidity setting to leave behind.

Engineered Hardwood Paperwork: License, Labels and Payment

No state flooring license
Florida Statutes 489.117(4)(a)1 lists flooring among the jobs a city or county may not require a license for. Pompano Beach stopped recognizing Broward County's flooring license for permits in August 2025.
What the city takes instead
A city Business Tax Receipt number on any permit application, plus proof of general liability and workers' compensation insurance or an approved exemption. Ask to see both.
Formaldehyde labels
Since March 22, 2019, hardwood plywood, MDF and particleboard sold in the US must be labeled TSCA Title VI compliant, and the hardwood plywood limit is 0.05 ppm. Rules for laminated products, a veneer on one of those cores, took effect March 22, 2024. Whether an engineered plank is covered depends on its core and resin.
Payment terms
Get the payment schedule and deposit in writing, each payment tied to a finished stage.

See hardwood floor refinishing.