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The Ultimate Deal on Wood Flooring Installation

Author: Max Ruby
by Max Ruby
Posted: Aug 23, 2020

While choosing a custom flooring design, you need to take into account the shade of your walls and lighting into your consideration for tying the room together. If you desire a new wood floor, you should consider treading prudently. You have a wide array of options at an extensive range of costs.

Primarily the expense for custom flooring depends on certain factors such as:

  • The wood species

  • The cut and grade, describing qualities including the variations of color, the visibility of knots as well as the grain direction

  • Whether the wood is engineered (multiple wood veneer layers) or solid

  • The preparation amount and cleanup work

Material and Labor Costs

While preparing an estimate, hardwood floor contractors usually divide the costs between materials and labor. You will get to see the most variation in material costs and you can consider adding or subtracting from the baseline.

What is a Cut Allowance?

The flooring cost is calculated per square foot and contractors add a certain extra percentage as ‘cut allowance’, accounting for the leftover. To give an example, if your room requires 100 square-foot flooring, you need to purchase 105 to 110 square feet of hardwood because the installer will cut the planks for adjusting the size and the leftover will be considered as the cut allowance.

Labor Costs

Labor costs follow the similar rule, charging by the square foot. It can differ from contractor to contractor, so it is always a good idea to get quotations from several contractors. If you are planning to install floors with irregular shapes and vents, then you will need to spend more money for flooring installers.

Considering where you will Install

Make sure to review the specifications and instructions of the product before purchasing. There are many products not suitable to install in the bathroom or laundry room. If you consider installing over concrete slab or in a basement, you should go for engineered hardwood in place of solid hardwood.

Knowing the Installation Options

The method of installation may vary from product to product. Professional wood floor installers staple, nail and glue down the solid hardwood. Custom floors made of engineered hardwood can be floated where planks are connected to each other in place of the subfloor.

Doing-it-yourself or Hire a Professional?

If you consider doing it yourself, floating engineered hardwood floor installation would be the easiest and fastest choice. Hardwood installation requiring nails, staples or glue is quite challenging, even for the professional installers. Your flooring retailer can recommend an experienced installer who they have referred before to other customers and got positive feedback.

Preparing the Room

Your furniture and furnishing should not create obstructions, moving them out of the way beforehand. You should also remove and dispose of your old flooring if required. Gently pull off the wall base, millwork or trim, if you want to reuse. The subfloor needs to be clean, flat and dry. Acclimation is an important factor, giving the hardwood time for adjusting to the normal environment of the room.

About the Author

Max enjoys writing on the important topics in life.

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Author: Max Ruby

Max Ruby

Member since: Mar 26, 2019
Published articles: 15

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