Wide Plank Hardwood Flooring Pros and Cons

Updated: June 02, 2025

Wide plank hardwood flooring has taken the design world by storm, popping up in trendy modern farmhouses as well as upscale city lofts. These extra-wide floorboards (typically anything over 5 inches in width) exude charm and showcase wood’s natural beauty in ways that standard 2-3″ boards often can’t But if you’re considering upgrading to wide plank floors, it’s crucial to weigh the pros and cons. Are those expansive planks worth the higher price tag? Will they hold up in your climate? In this in-depth guide, we’ll explore wide plank hardwood flooring pros and cons with help from experts and real homeowners.

• What Are Wide Plank Wood Floors?

  What Are Wide Plank Wood Floors?

  “Wide plank” wood flooring refers to floorboards that are significantly wider than the typical hardwood strips. Standard hardwood planks are often 2¼″ to 4″ in width. By contrast, wide plank flooring usually means boards at least about 5″ wide, and often 6″, 7″, 8″ or even up to 10″–12″+ wide in some products. These broader boards can be made from solid hardwood or engineered wood. Originally, very wide planks were cut from the trunks of large old-growth trees – which is why they’re rarer and more expensive (you can’t get a 12″ board out of a small tree!). Today, wide planks are available in many species (oak, maple, hickory, walnut, etc.) and in both reclaimed wood (salvaged from old barns or warehouses) and newly milled lumber.

  It’s worth noting that the term “wide plank” focuses on width, not thickness or length. You can find thick or thin wood flooring boards that are wide; what they share is that dramatic width. Also, wider boards are often longer to keep proportions looking right, so you get larger expanses of unbroken wood grain. There are even laminate, vinyl and tile products marketed as “wide plank” for their dimensions, but here we’ll focus on genuine hardwood. Finally, when someone says “plank wood flooring,” they simply mean wood floors that come in board/plank form (as opposed to parquet or wood tile patterns) – wide planks are just a special subset of plank flooring.

Pros of Wide Plank Hardwood Flooring

Why do homeowners swoon over wide plank floors? Here are the key advantages:

• 🌟 Striking Aesthetic & Spacious Look: Wide planks create a visually impactful, luxurious look. With far fewer seams on the floor, the eye sees an expansive, continuous stretch of wood. This can make rooms look larger and more open – a kind of optical illusion that many designers and homeowners appreciate.
• 🌲 Showcases Natural Wood Beauty: Because each plank is broader, you see more of the wood’s authentic grain, knots, and tone variations in every board. Instead of a fragmented puzzle of skinny pieces, a wide plank floor might only have 2-3 boards spanning a doorway, for example. This highlights the natural patterns in oak, maple, hickory, etc., giving a floor with rich character.
• 🧹 Fewer Seams = Easier Maintenance: With fewer seams and joints, there are less gaps for dust and debris to accumulate. It’s easier to sweep or vacuum a wide plank floor because you’re not dealing with as many little grooves. And aesthetically, fewer seams mean an uninterrupted look – you don’t get those many horizontal lines that can interrupt the flow of the room.
• 💰 Higher Home Value & Luxury Appeal: Wide plank hardwood is considered a premium upgrade. It’s not as ubiquitous as standard hardwood, so it can make your home stand out. Realtors often note that quality hardwood floors add value, and wide planks, in particular, are seen as a luxury feature. They can enhance resale value and desirability – one remodeling blog even noted the value boost is more significant with wide planks than with narrower boards.
• ⏱️ Potentially Faster Installation: Each wide plank covers more area than a narrow plank, so in theory, fewer boards need to be laid to complete the floor. For example, a 7″ plank is like laying two 3½″ boards at once. This can translate to quicker hardwood floor installation times and slightly lower labor needs – one source estimates you might save ~20–30% in installation time with wide planks.

In summary, the pros of wide plank flooring center on its stunning appearance – a blend of rustic charm and modern expansiveness – along with practical benefits of fewer seams and a unique high-end appeal. But no flooring is perfect; wide planks come with some caveats you need to know.

Cons of Wide Plank Hardwood Flooring

Before you decide on those beautiful wide boards, consider these disadvantages and challenges:

• 💵 Higher Cost of Materials: Wide plank hardwood almost always costs more than the equivalent narrow flooring in the same wood species and grade. There are a few reasons for this: Wide boards require larger, older trees (limited supply), and milling them has more waste. Prices vary, but to give a sense: standard 2-3″ oak might run $3–$7 per sq ft for materials, while wide plank hardwood in oak could be anywhere from around $8–$15 per sq ft for engineered planks and $15–$25+ per sq ft for very wide, solid planks. Exotic woods or premium finishes can push it even higher. In fact, newly manufactured solid wide planks are among the most expensive wood flooring options on the market.
• 🏗️ More Complex Installation (Not DIY-Friendly): Installing wide plank floors is trickier than installing narrower hardwood. Why? Wider boards are more prone to issues like bending or gaps if not perfectly flat, so professional installers take extra steps. Typically, the boards are both nailed and glued down for stability. The glue-down helps prevent the wide planks from cupping or shifting, while nails (often hidden in the tongue) hold them in place. This dual installation method is more labor-intensive (and messy) than a simple nail-down for narrow strips. One Houzz professional warned that you may need to “double your budget or more for materials and install” with wide plank, noting that engineered wide planks “need nailing and gluing” and even recommending upgraded HVAC humidity control.
• 🌡️ Susceptible to Cupping, Gaps & Movement: This is often cited as the #1 con of wide planks. Wood expands and contracts with changes in humidity and temperature. The wider the board, the more dramatic this movement can be across each plank. So in dry winter months, wide planks can shrink enough to open noticeable gaps between boards, and in humid summer, they can swell and even cup (edges curl up) if the humidity is absorbed unevenly. This doesn’t mean all wide plank floors will have such issues, but the risk is higher compared to narrow boards.
• 📦 Limited Availability & Longer Lead Times: Not every flooring retailer carries a wide selection of wide planks. You might find a couple of options locally, but for specific widths, species (say, a wide plank maple flooring in a certain finish), you often need to order from specialty mills or suppliers. This can mean waiting weeks or months for your flooring to be milled and delivered. If you’re the impatient type or on a tight reno schedule, that’s a potential downside.
• 🔧 Difficult Repairs and Replacements: Hopefully you won’t need to repair your floor often, but life happens. If a wide plank gets seriously damaged (say a big gouge or water damage on one board), replacing that single board can be more challenging than replacing a couple of narrow boards. Because the plank is larger, it may be glued and nailed very securely, and removing it without disturbing adjacent boards takes skill.

Despite these cons, many homeowners decide that the pros outweigh the cons for wide plank flooring – but it’s important to go in with eyes open. Next, we’ll discuss a key decision that can mitigate some cons: choosing engineered vs. solid wide planks.

Engineered vs. Solid Wide Plank Floors (and Their Pros/Cons)

When opting for wide hardwood planks, you’ll encounter two main types: solid wood planks and engineered wood planks. Both look identical on the surface (real hardwood top layer), but their construction differences can influence performance, especially at greater widths.

Solid Wide Plank Hardwood

This is one solid piece of wood milled to a wide board. If you get a 3/4″ thick, 8″ wide oak plank, it’s oak all the way through. The upside is it’s the traditional, time-tested flooring – solid wood can be sanded and refinished multiple times over decades. It might also have a slight edge in prestige for some buyers (the idea of “solid hardwood throughout”). However, as we described above, solid wide boards are very prone to moisture movement. The entire plank will expand or contract as humidity changes. Solid planks wider than ~5″ are generally not recommended in environments with big humidity swings unless you take serious precautions. Installers often will use extra nails, glue, and will insist on a strict acclimation period for the wood to adjust to your home. Even then, a sudden seasonal change could cause gaps.

Weles hardwood professional on noted 90% of their projects stick to ≤3.5″ boards largely because narrower planks are more dimensionally stable, whereas “the wider the plank, the better the install needs to be” to avoid issues.

Bottom line: Solid wide planks offer authenticity and longevity, but expect higher risk of cupping/gapping. If you do choose solid, keep your home’s humidity controlled (consider using humidifiers in winter and AC or dehumidifiers in summer) to protect the floor.

Engineered Wide Plank Hardwood

Engineered wood planks are a layered product – they have a top layer of real hardwood (called the veneer or wear layer) typically 2-6mm thick, bonded to underlying layers of plywood or hardwood base. From the surface, they look the same as solid wood. The big advantage for wide planks is stability: the cross-ply construction of engineered boards resists expansion and contraction. The plywood core doesn’t swell as much across the grain, so the whole plank moves less with humidity changes. This means an engineered 7″ or 9″ plank will likely stay flatter and have smaller gaps over time compared to a solid plank of the same size. In fact, many manufacturers won’t even make ultra-wide boards in solid; they’ll only offer them as engineered. Another perk is installation flexibility – engineered wood can often be glued down directly to concrete or even floated in some cases, which can be handy for basements or condos where you want wide planks. You can also get engineered planks in exotic woods or tricky species: for example, wide plank engineered maple flooring or birch flooring might be more stable than if those softer woods were solid.

Now the downsides: engineered planks can usually only be sanded/refinished a limited number of times (depending on veneer thickness, maybe 1-3 times lightly). However, many come pre-finished with extremely durable coatings, so you might not need to refinish as often. Another consideration is quality – you want a good quality engineered plank; cheap ones might have very thin top layers or weak cores. But a high-quality engineered wide plank is often the best choice for most homes because it gives you the wide look with less risk.

One Reddit flooring installer flatly advised a homeowner wanting wide planks: “absolutely go engineered… [solid] will definitely cup and move”. This speaks volumes about the confidence in engineered boards for width stability.

Disadvantages of Engineered Wood Flooring:

To ensure we cover that keyphrase – the main “cons” of engineered wood flooring in context of wide planks are:

1. Limited refinishing (if you scratch or wear through the veneer, you can’t sand it endlessly);
2. Potential for delamination or core issues if exposed to extreme moisture (e.g. a flood can ruin engineered boards by separating layers, whereas a solid plank might be sanded and reclaimed if not too warped);
3. And sometimes a slightly hollow sound if floated (though wide planks are usually glued or nailed, not floated, so that’s less an issue here).

Additionally, purists might not like that it’s not one piece of wood. That said, modern engineered hardwood is very robust – many people have it and never face these issues, especially when using professional-grade products.

Which to choose?

If you live in an area with high humidity swings or you’re installing over concrete (like in a basement or on a slab foundation), lean strongly toward engineered wide plank flooring for peace of mind. If you insist on solid, try to stay at the lower end of the wide spectrum (maybe 5″–6″) unless your installer and environment are well-prepared. Also, consider the wood species: some woods are more dimensionally stable than others. Oak and teak, for example, handle humidity better than maple or hickory. An engineered hickory wide plank will outperform a solid hickory wide plank in most cases of environmental changes. Many homeowners ultimately choose engineered wide planks and report great results – achieving the wide look without seasonal gaps.

Design & Style Considerations

Beyond basic pros and cons, think about how wide plank flooring will look and feel in your space, and whether it aligns with your style:

Fits Many Aesthetics (Rustic to Modern)

One of the cool things about wide planks is their versatility in design. If you want a country farmhouse or rustic cabin feel, wide planks (especially hand-scraped or distressed ones) are almost a must – they immediately give that sense of historic, handmade flooring. You’ll see knots, mineral streaks, saw marks, which add to the character. On the flip side, in a modern minimalist home, very smooth, wide boards in a light or neutral finish create a seamless, contemporary look. For example, a wide plank white oak with a subtle matte finish can look ultra-sleek in a modern condo. Wide planks can even work in industrial or urban loft styles, where the broad planks showcase raw wood grain as a counterpoint to metal and concrete. Essentially, width alone doesn’t lock you into one decor; it’s the finish and wood species that will tilt it rustic or modern.

One interior designer noted that you should match the plank style to your home’s vibe: “if you want a country/casual/rustic look, wider plank works. For a modern or formal traditional look, thinner plank is better”. It’s a good guideline, but not a hard rule – creative use of wide planks in formal settings can work too, especially with the right stain color.

Room Size and Plank Width

It’s generally true that wide planks complement large rooms best. Big spaces or long sightlines allow those broad boards to show off without overwhelming the room. In a huge living room, using narrow strips can appear busy or “too many lines,” whereas wide planks will ground the space. Some designers also suggest using wider and longer planks in open floor plans to make them feel continuous and high-end. For small rooms, the conventional wisdom is to use narrower planks to avoid visually shrinking the space. However, many homeowners successfully use moderate wide planks (5″, 6″, etc.) in small bedrooms or kitchens and love the result – it can actually trick the eye into feeling the room is larger because of fewer breaks in the floor pattern. The key is proportion: extremely wide boards (e.g. 10″+) in a tiny powder room might look odd or out of scale, but something in the 5–7″ range could work well.

💡 Weles suggested 5–8 inch width as a safe range that provides the wide look without risk of looking too planky for most homes. And if you have a very narrow hall, sometimes wider planks can make it look even narrower (boards running lengthwise act like big stripes), so orientation and layout also matter.

Mixed-Width Plank Designs

Can’t decide between wide or narrow? You can actually have both. Some installations use mixed wood plank sizes – for instance, alternating rows of 4″, 6″, and 8″ boards. This can create a very unique, custom look that adds texture to the floor design. It’s a nod to historical floors (old homes often had varying plank widths due to using the whole log), and it’s a growing trend for those who want something different. The cons are it complicates installation and ordering (you have to calculate how much of each width you need), but the end result can be stunning. Random widths can blend the expansive feel of wide planks with the detail of narrower ones, and they can suit both rustic and eclectic modern styles depending on finish.

Wood Species and Grain

Consider how the wood species will look in a wide format. Woods with bold grain (like red oak, hickory, ash) will be very prominent in wide boards – you’ll see knots, cathedral grain patterns, etc., large and center. This can be beautiful and full of character, but if you prefer a more uniform look, you might choose a species with a subtle grain (maple, birch, cherry) or a grade that has fewer knots (select grade vs. character grade). For example, wide plank oak flooring is popular because white oak has a nice grain that isn’t too wild, and it takes stain well; wide plank hickory will show a lot of contrast (hickory has light sapwood and dark heartwood variation). If you don’t want too much “action” on the floor, go for select grade wood (fewer knots) and maybe a cleaner species like maple – the wide boards will then give you a clean, contemporary canvas. On the other hand, if you love knots and distressing, wide planks in pine or an antique-look oak will really emphasize those perfectly. Remember also that stains and finishes affect the look: a dark stain on wide planks can look very dramatic and formal, while a natural or light finish will emphasize a casual, airy feel.

Will Wide Plank Look Dated?

Some people worry that wide planks are a trend that might go out of style. The consensus from both experts and experienced homeowners is that wood floors in general are timeless – 2″ strip or 8″ plank, if it’s real wood and fits the home’s style, it won’t “date” the home like, say, a fad tile might. In fact, very wide planks are as old as wood flooring itself (think 18th-century colonial homes with 12″ pine boards). Oak & Broad, a wide plank flooring company, noted that there are centuries-old houses with their original wide plank floors – proving they stand the test of time. The key is to choose a classic wood and finish that you love. Grey-toned floors, for instance, were a super-trend in the 2010s and some consider that color already dating itself. But a medium brown, a natural matte, or a warm tone in wide plank will likely remain appealing. In short, wide planks are not a mere fad – they’ve been around for ages and are here to stay.