66 posts, read 171,050 times 2,408 posts, read 8,629,314 times Originally Posted by kraigk1 It depends on the species of the hardwood and installation method. It seems high but not too far off-base. I believe I spent about $17k for less than 1000 sq ft. 20,793 posts, read 43,226,025 times 831 posts, read 3,910,356 times 9,498 posts, read 9,369,832 times I just did a little research for one of my own clients, and I will share that info with you. They were given a price of $12,622.16 (material and labor) for Bruce/Ellington in Honey Engineered hardwood floor from our flooring contractor. The area they are flooring is 1034 s.f. They are on a tight budget, and the homeowner would like to lay his own flooring to save money. Now they are paying for material only, which took the price down to about $9,000. You can buy your own hardwood on-line, as well, and find an installer of your own. The only problem there, is knowing what you need in addition to the actual flooring, such as trims or underlayment.

Often we use our trimmer over the flooring installer. Our trimmer charges less to lay the floor than our flooring guy. Our flooring guy charges $3.50 s.f. to lay the floor, but our trimmer will do it for $2.00 s.f. Wood Flooring - Wholesale Wood Flooring - Prefinished Wood Flooring - Plank Wood Flooring - Strip Wood Flooring whatever you do, best of luck! I just want to see you keep some of that money in your pocket - that way maybe you can furnish the place a bit! 10,427 posts, read 37,327,411 times 13,048 posts, read 15,805,729 times Originally Posted by desertsun41 It helps a ton -- thank you! After poking more into exact wood, turns out the sales person over estimated. Even at Lowes, I can get the same for about $17k. Are you saying that I can go to a flooring contractor specialty store and get it for even cheaper? I drive by those places all the time. The fees at Lowe's are $3.75 a sqft install.A basic definition of prefinished flooring is when the boards that are to be installed already have finish on them.

In fact, most companies put from 5-9 coats of finish on their prefinished wood.Used Swing Set For Sale Michigan Prefinished Hardwood floors are quite popular right now, because they have many advantages over the alternative, site-finished floors:Panel Mount Ac Connector There are, however, a few disadvantages to prefinished floors:How To Clean Plastic Bathtub Faucet Handles For most people, the only disadvantage to prefinished flooring is #2. Since the floor is not sanded after it is installed, there will be unevenness that the installer has no control over.The installer should set all nails and fill all holes. As a result, there should be no visible nail heads or nail holes. However, if you kneel down and look closely, you should be able to find where the nail holes used to be, because no wood filler (or wood putty) can be a perfect match to a wood grain.

Also, there should only be a few nail holes in most floors. In fact, most of the time, a simple, square room can be installed without any nail holes at all. But keep in mind that many situations will require a board to be top-nailed, resulting in nail holes.Any time a board comes together with another board, it forms a crease. These creases are what make hardwood floors look how they do. On a prefinished floor, these creases are much more pronounced, because the edges of each board are beveled down at about a 45 degree angle. there is nothing the installer can do about these bevels, except to sand down the whole floor and refinish it, which negates the purpose of a prefinished floor, and is not the installers responsibility (In other words, you would have to pay extra for it (probably at least $2.50 per square foot extra)). When you look at a hardwood floor, there are the creases that go along the length of the wood, and go all the way across the floor (with the grain), and there are small creases inbetween boards in the same row (against the grain).

The smaller creases, as a general rule, should be fairly evenly distributed around the floor, with none coming within 6 or 8 inches of eachother. Seams that are close together, or clumped in one area, leaving another area somewhat seamless, are the signs of a poor installation job. They are not, however, a good enough reason to demand that your floor be ripped up and reinstalled at the installers expense. Usually in those cases, you’ve hired a very inexpensive installer, and you got what you payed for. If it is a big deal to you, you might talk about getting the floor redone at a discounted cost. Any crease in a wood floor has a chance of becoming a crack, for various reasons. One may a milling imperfection in some of the boards (such as one board being slightly thinner than another). Expansion and contraction may be another reason a crack might open up. In general, wood will expand in the summer and contract (shrink) in the winter. This causes gaps to open up between boards.

It is not always good to fill these cracks, because when the boards expand again, it could push the filler out, or even buckle the wood. The best way to avoid these cracks is to keep the moisture level in your house constant. Where we live in Colorado, that means using a humidifier. In many other places, you may need a dehumidifier. There are many types of humidifiers and dehumidifiers out there, so before making a decision, you should shop around. On the other hand, cracks that are caused by milling imperfections or installation mistakes/problems, should be filled by the installer (with the possible exception of smaller cracks if significant expansion is expected after the installation). After installation, there should be (in most cases) no visible cracks when viewed semi-casually from a standing position (and without a magnifying glass, please). Scratches, gouges and other surface problems should not be visible when the installer is done. If the board was damaged when it arrived at your house, the installer should not have installed it.

If it happened after the installation, but the damage was caused by the installer, he/she is responsible to fill it, fix it, or replace the boards affected. If, however, the damage is caused by another contractor or worker, or any residents, guests or pets in the house, the installer is not responsible to fix it, and is perfectly within his/her rights to charge extra if you want it fixed (However, charging extra to fix one small scratch that he/she can fix in two minutes, may be considered a little rude).Because wood expands and contracts (due mostly to changing humidity and temperature), installers will leave expansion gaps between the wood and everything else (walls, other floors, etc.). In general, these gaps are between 1/4 inch and 1/2 inch. This can create a problem sometimes on remodeling jobs, especially in kitchens. Many houses do not have any trim (or baseboard) around the bottom of the cabinets in the kitchen. When wood floors are installed in these conditions, there will be a visible, ugly expansion gap left over.

The homeowner should work with the installer to select (and pay for) a baseboard, trim, or caulk solution.It is common for the installer to remove and reinstall baseboards when he is hired to install a floor (for a price that should be included in the estimate). This can sometimes cause problems with older baseboards. The installer is responsible for any damage done to the baseboards due to his/her own negligence or hurriedness. The installer is not responsible for any damage that already existed, or that occurred because of the brittle state of the baseboards or excessive fastening to the wall (ie too many nails and/or glue). Be prepared to deal with at least one broken peice of baseboard. Many times the damage can be fixed with a little painter’s caulk and a coat of paint, so don’t get too broken up about it. In conclusion, please remember that it is a floor and it’s meant to be walked on. If you get down on your hands and knees and study the floor, you will find cracks, holes, scratches, and many other imperfections.