Anyone ever installed hardwood flooring?

I thought install was $2/ft. I'll have to ask the wife, she's been checking around.

 

Let me know what you end up doing. I want to put hardwoods (or laminate) in the house I'm moving into next week. I am not a handy man at all though, so I'll more than likely be hiring someone. I was actually planning on starting a topic about this myself, so hopefully I can get some ideas from here.

 

I installed a bamboo floor in my upstairs bedroom last month. My subfloor is wood, so I ended up nailing the bamboo planks down into the subfloor. It was a lot of WORK!!! I hope you have someone to help because its a tough job to take on by yourself. You might be able to get a better deal on the floor if you go to Floor & Decor. http://www.flooranddecoroutlets.com/

They have good prices.

 

Putting the laminate is pretty easy as long as you can make basic cuts. Floor and Decor does has pretty good prices.

 

i did it with my dad last summer, it wasnt too bad. we pulled out our carpet, and installed wood panel floors. It was about a 2 week project. We didnt go full time since we both worked also, but pretty interesting to do.

 

Laminates (Wilson Art) were installed throughout the house about 5 or 6 years ago. The stuff is awesome. You can damp mop it. It rarely scratches. As long as you don't allow any water or anything wet to sit on it for long periods (it will buckle at the seams), the stuff is remarkable. It looks as good today when it is clean as when it was purchased.

I constantly get compliments on it.

 

TBar,

I installed a laminate with my brother and it wasn't that bad.

The video and instructions on the web site look the same for the wood floor in regards to tongue & groove

Installation Tips


1. Have your tools together along with a few extra saw blades and anything else that you think might be needed.

2. Spend a few minutes planning things in regards to how the pattern will look when you put the pieces together.

3. Have a helper...............it makes the time go by easier.

4. Kneepads aren't a bad idea since you will be kneeling for most of the day.

5. If the room doesn't have any angles or anything that requires constant measuring & cutting........it should be pretty smooth. Stopping to measure, get up & go make another cut is were time seems to get wasted.

6. Take your time and don't rush the job.



If you hire somebody, your estimate on labor seems high.

Floor Installation

 

Lumber liquidators has a list of installers if you want to call around and check prices. They sell a quality product and stand behind it. You've chosen a pretty nice product, hence the expense. You can also get an install price from Home Depot or Lowes.

You didn't say what the subfloor is in your bedroom. If it is concrete, then you will float the floor on a foam pad that you unroll on the concrete, then glue the panels together. First you put down a moisture barrier - like visqueen, or really thin blue plastic, then a soft cushion pad. Get a really good pad if you can - you will have more spring and cushion in the finished floor. Then you assemble the floor from the center of the room going out. That's pretty simple. You tie-in at the walls with finishing strip, shoe moulding and quarter round.

If there is a wood subfloor, you can still float but will probably be nailing or glueing down the new floor. If you're nailing to a plywood subfloor, you'll probably have a roll of tar paper go first, maybe a thin pad if you want, then nail the planks down going out from the center. You draw a crosshair line to the center of the room from the center of each wall to align the strips. Using nail guns, two guys will knock that out pretty quick, about 6 hrs.

Glue-down has the least integrity, but is really simple. You glue down your tar paper and you glue down the floor. Some people forget the tar paper, but it serves an important purpose as a moisture barrier. The floor on top will move as much as the sub-floor does, and stress in the same spots.








Some ways to save - you can go with a thinner board. The wood comes in thicknesses - 3/4 , 5/8, 3/16 , so on.

 

I have the name and number of a guy we used in our Heights house who was as cheap as we could find and he did an excellent job. Let me know if you want his number.

He laid tounge in groove unfinished hardwoods, laced into the existing hardwoods, and sanded and finished all on site and they look great.

 

How cheap is cheap? I really have no idea how much I should expect to spend on a job like this.

 

I installed the laminate flooring last year. Prego i think was the brand. (scratch resistant, and i have an overactive border collie)

Easy to install, basic cuts, over a concreate floor.

Only problem I ran into was the uneven slab. I had alot of lowspots that I had to level out.
The padding kinda helped out but it still needed leveling.
You could probably get away with not doing it but when your done and you walk on the floor you'll feel the floor flex a little.
Minor to some but annoyed the hell outta me..so i ripped up the floor and leveled it out...and started over.

Other than the low spots installation was easy. Did it alone and really didn't need any extra hands.

 

Did anyone buy hardwood or Laminate from Costco or Ikea, their price seems very competitive.

 

I corrected your post, x.

 

I went for the Home depot/Lowes No interest for a year deal.

 

I pee in a crowded elevator one time and you never let it go...geez.

 

Its not hardwood, but I installed a laminate 'hardwood looking' floor about a year ago, and I love it. I have a very active Rhodesian Ridgeback, so hardwood was never an option. The laminate has no scratches, and looks just as good now as it did day 1. Its not wood, but its still great. We went with a dark oak look, with planks that are probably 8 inches wide for our kitchen, hallway, and entryway.

 

I want to say it was around 2500 bucks and the next closest estimate I had was for 5000 with most being in the 6500 to 7000 range.

I have all my paperwork packed for my move or I'd check my receipt.

 

My parents own a few flooring stores and I have worked there every summer for the past 5 years.

Wood prices can vary because of thickness and warranty. The wood we carry varies from 2.79/sf to 10/sf.

These guys that are installing the laminate. Dont let their good stories fool you. Acutally Pasox has pretty much given you alot of good information. Now you can get a good independant installer for a little less than $2/sf. We charge 2.50 but that includes all the installation materials and 2 year warranty on labor. So if you decide to go ahead and do this yourself. I have a few suggestions:

- Make sure you float the floor to get it level. Its not like laminate where you can get away with not doin it.

- Get a video and learn it step by step. See if you think you can do it.

I might be making it sound a little harder than it is. Its just alot of work.

Laminate is also alot cheaper and that can be done by anyone with time.

But if yall ever need flooring let me now, I would be happy to hook some clutchfans up Our stores are called U.S. Carpets & Floors

 

Samar got a web site?