Elvira

We have finally decided to get rid of the old carpets and get a wooden floor. It's a huge open-plan living area, so we are talking serious money... So we want to get it right first time.

Home Depot and Lowes - shock-horror......

So the choice is between the bespoke 'sign-here-and-pay-a-king's-ransom' local store who'll do it all, or buying the wood somewhere (where?) and find someone to install it.

Looking for wire-brushed, hand-distressed, carbonized,engineered oak.

Those of you who've done this - what should we bear in mind, what are the pitfalls, any suggestions?

Thanks!!! :-)

lansbury

It's not just the installing of the floor itself, there is also the work involved in making sure the sub floor is level and well secured. My step son was a floor installer, he now sells the wood wholesale, when he did our floors he spent more time getting the sub floor right than installing the floor itself.

jjmb

Ask your good friends. We had whole down stairs done just before Christmas. We got several quotes and a friend gave us a recommendation of guy used by several of his friends It was a local yard where they specialise in end of run items. We had nearly 1400 sq ft installed plus additional 350 sq ft of tile. We bought the base board separately as we wanted 4.5 inches but they also installed that as well. Our floor is concrete so we had it glued down. Tile was done one day and the wood floor a few days later. Saved us several thousands. Helped we had it done just before Christmas so his crew were eager for work.
Unfortunately we aren't having as much luck with countertops and a new kitchen island. Just a quote for the island was about 50% of the cost of the floor! Admittedly I want a large island but I really wish my husband or myself were good at DIY. Biggest cost is countertops. Even IKEA insists on a professional install.

Boomhauer

Getting an installer who has a good reputation is the way to go, especially if you live in an area that sees big temperature changes.

You want to let the wood sit in the house for awhile to let it stretch/shrink to the average house temps. Our wood floor guy installed in the spring when the wood had somewhat expanded. At first gaps started showing up in the first winter , which is to be expected, but the gaps seemed too large .Eventually the floor has expanded and shrunk to where now there isn't any gaps in any season.

ellio

yes ask your friends?

ddsrph

I am a chronic DIY'er and have installed all the hardwood and tile in my present house which was 18 years ago. Also doing same in new house I am presently building. There is a good website (DIY chat room) that offers good info from both pros and amateurs. The reason I bring this up is even if you never do your own DIY project it is a good idea to learn as much as you can so you will be in a better position to require your contractor to it right.
It also helps a lot in the selection of materials and methods. The website has a whole section on floors.

Jerseygirl

10 years ago hubby installed approx 5K sq ft of unfinished white oak. It was back breaking work but very satisfying. Fast forward 10 years and we have had approx 1K sq ft of engineered distressed hickory flooring installed in our condo. This time we decided to let the professionals lay the flooring. Have to say hubby would have done a much better job!

Pulaski

I have undertaken several hardwood flooring projects, nail-down only. ..... Make sure that the installer knows to remove the baseboard (skirting), and cut the door jambs, so the flooring goes underneath. Putting down flooring is a good opportunity to upgrade the baseboards.

Like Lansbury said, ensuring the subfloor is in good shape is critical, and it might require an overlay of plywood because hardwood requires a smoother surface than a carpeted floor, so many houses don't have a good quality subfloor that can directly take a hardwood floor installation.

Also older OSB (oriented strand board) subflooring might not grip the flooring nails properly, leading to irritating squeaks from moving hardwood boards. And older subfloors were nailed down, so prior to putting down the hardwood it is the "last opportunity" to add screws to make the subfloor squeak resistant. That opportunity should not be passed up.

My largest project was about 1,200 sqft of cherry-stained 3\4" hardwood, complete with 5.5" "colonial" baseboard that I installed for my in-laws. A few years later a visiting hardwood flooring contractor asked me who had installed it. I took a deep breath, told him I had installed it myself, and waited for his comment. ........ He said it had been very well installed. Phew!

In my opinion a competent DIYer with patience and plenty of time, can do a better job than most flooring contractors working to a time constraint.

One of my first ever "big DIY jobs" was tiling my parents' bathroom floor. 23 years after I installed it, it still looks good, ...... and it has survived the complete gutting and replacement of everything else in the bathroom. The contractor who did the remodel told my mother that the floor would have to be replaced because when he removed the skirting and tiled right down to the floor there would be a gap "because the floor tile didn't go all the way to the wall". My mother had to inform him that the skirting had been removed when the floor tile was installed all the way to the wall, then the skirting than been cut down and replaced, .... until it was time to tile the walls. The contractor was more than a little surprised.

ddsrph

That's why I do most things myself. You spend a lot time waiting for some contractor to show up, and when they do their emphasis is usually speed over quality.

With the pre-finished solid hardwoods going over a wooden floor it's not that hard of a job. Air powered nailers make it much easier than in the past with ones you had to hit with a big hammer.

AmerLisa

My husband has installed our floors as well and after seeing professionals do the work at my friend's house, I'm convinced my husband did a better job as well. Neither here nor there though.....

Jerseygirl

If we have workmen in to do anything...you can bet that my husband will turn to me and say...'if I did that you'd make me re-do it'. He's right I would.

ellio

And that would definitely NOT be <<<snip>>>flooring. They messed up a friends dry wall so badly they just left, all she got was $1500 to go and find someone to fix it.

Elvira

Thanks, Mr P - this is really useful information

For those who said 'ask friends'......... Well, yes, that had occurred to me as well - but we drew a blank on that. We found recommendations surprisingly hard to come by.

DIY is not an option for us, so we are still debating whether to choose an 'all-inclusive' supplier, or go on searching for that elusive reputable local installer who'll do a perfect job.

Anyway, thanks, guys

Elvira

Oh dear - what went wrong with your most recent flooring project? Any tips on how to ensure we get the best possible job?

Jerseygirl

The reason is that we are 10 years older...so is our achy backs! When we lived in NJ we had a large house so we could move furniture into other rooms and work on a room at a time with hardly any disruption. Now we have a small 2 bed/2bath condo...everything would be on top of each other.

My pet hate is the quadrant that is laid between the skirting board and the solid floor. It's a dirt trap and scuffs very easily. I refused to have it and haven't had a problem with the wood flooring expanding and contracting.