|
  |
|
Search over 1,400 topics on CostHelper.com
|
|
|
CostHelper.com > Home & Garden > Hardwood Floors
|
Hardwood Floors Cost |
|
How Much Does Hardwood Floors Cost? |
 | Average: $8/square foot |
|
 | High: $12/square foot |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
| Typical costs: | - Installing a standard solid-strip hardwood floor averages about $8 a square foot for materials, insulation and site finishing, and up to $12 a square foot for wide pine planks, or $1,150-$1,750 for a 12x12-foot room.
- Factory-finished wood starts at $8 a square foot installed, but generally runs $10-$14, or $1,140-$2,000 for a 12x12 space.
- Bamboo runs $4-$6 a square foot, uninstalled, or $575-$865 for material for a 12x12 space Other pre-finished, environmentally-harvested exotic woods such as Brazilian cherry or Australian cypress are $4-$13 a square foot, or $575-$1,870 (installation extra) for 12x12-feet.
- Complete installation of laminate flooring is $7-$11 a square foot, including foam underlay and glue, or $1,000-$1,585 for a 12x12-foot floor.
- HardwoodInstaller.com lists estimates for various installation tasks. Fees in urban areas may be higher and rural projects can cost less.
What should be included: | - Wood floors can be solid, engineered or laminate; BetterHomesandGardens.com gives a good overview of each type as well as a quick list of exotic options, such as cork or Santos mahogany. ThisOldHouse.com gives ideas for custom-designed laminate projects with borders and multiple patterns, as well as how to choose environmentally-friendly "green" flooring.
- Floor installation takes at least intermediate-level handyman skills; detailed do-it-yourself instructions for laminates are provided by DIYNetwork.com; for solid hardwood floors visit HomeTips.com.
- New wood flooring should be stacked inside the room for up to a week before installation to allow it to adjust to your home's indoor humidity level. Always buy a waste allowance of 5 to 15 percent extra, depending on the project's complexity. Unfinished floors must sit for a week or two after being installed, the finishing process can require several coats, and the floors can't be walked on for several days. The fumes can be strong, and some people aren't able to stay in a house where the floors are being finished.
Additional costs: | - Custom borders and patterns can look fantastic but bump up installation costs by $1-$2 or more a square foot, adding at least $144-$288 for a 12x12-foot room. The more custom the project, the higher the additional expense. Ripping out old flooring, moving furniture out of the room, odd-shaped layouts or steps can all add to the bottom line.
Discounts: | |
Shopping for hardwood floors: | - HoskingHardwood.com, consultant to the This Old House television show, provides a wide range of products, available with installation; iFloor.com also features a range of wood floor products and brands.
- Check a company with the Better Business Bureau and ask for and contact references. Get at least three on-site estimates where they measure the room and see all aspects of the project. Ask about experience, training, licensing and insurance. If you can see a previous flooring project, notice the finishing touches on the edges of the room, at thresholds and along stairs.
- Ask if the installer will move furniture, seal off nearby rooms with plastic, cut the wood outside (it's an extremely dusty process) and if the estimate includes quarter-round trim to cover gaps between the wood flooring and baseboards. Finishing details vary widely, know exactly what approach each contractor plans to use.
- A written contract should include all specific materials to be used, the work to be done, cost, dates within which the project will be completed and a payment schedule. Try for the minimum possible deposit, and tie payments to actual material deliveries and specific work done.
|
| |
Article updated November 2006 |
|
|
|
|
|
What People Are Paying - Recent Comments |
| Laminate Floors - Honey Oak look |
| Amount: $3,400.00 |
| Posted by: Josalyn in Hollister, CA. | Posted: November 23rd, 2009 04:11PM |
| Sq Ft of Flooring: 400 | Installer: Empire Today |
| Brand: Empire Today |
| Had living room and hallway carpets replaced with a honey oak laminate. Installation was done in one day and included new 3" basebards, transition in 6 doorways. They took away the old carpet & pad and moved emptied furniture. So happy with it!!! Looks great and they had great service. |
|
|
| @ Josalyn in Hollister, CA |
| Amount: $3,400.00 |
| Posted by: ApplyForMe.net in Chicago, IL. | Posted: December 4th, 2009 11:12AM |
| Sq Ft of Flooring: 1096 | Installer: |
| You way overpaid. That\'s like $9 a square foot. You should have paid no more than $600. Empire Today preys on people who are unaware of pricing or will not research contractors. With the number of home improvement warehouses why would anyone go with such a company? I just did my floors 1,096 SF for a total of $1350. |
|
|
| empire floors |
| Amount: $0.00 |
| Posted by: kippa in San Bernardino, CA. | Posted: January 27th, 2010 10:01PM |
| Sq Ft of Flooring: 700 | Installer: |
| Brand: laminate floors |
| we called empire for laminate floors for 700sf and they told us 9900.00 and thats with buy 1 room get 2 free ya right we told them your crazy they are way over priced |
|
|
| Empire Floors |
| Amount: $0.00 |
| Posted by: Unlimited Hardwood Floors Of NY,Inc in Bayshore, NY. | Posted: May 3rd, 2010 09:05PM |
| Sq Ft of Flooring: | Installer: Empire |
| Brand: No brand |
| this company empire hires out sub contractors & has no experience or right to be in the flooring business ,not there ads only say reliable & service & not how many yrs they have been in business what they are installing? people get a grip & do ya research & go to a flooring company that has over 25yrs or more in the business ! ! ! |
|
|
| sanding and refinishing |
| Amount: $10,000.00 |
| Posted by: a user in Fairfax, VA. | Posted: May 23rd, 2010 06:05PM |
| Sq Ft of Flooring: 3000 | Installer: |
| Brand: oak hardwood |
They gave me a choice between pre-finished in "natural color" to match the hardwood floor in the rest of the house for $6,80 per sq/ft of new flooring or any color I wanted if I sanded and stained all the wood in the house (sanding, staining, three coats of poly, baseboard, toe molding, etc) for $6.80 for the new hardwood and $2.50 for the existing hardwood. It took them a week and another week before the floor was dry enough that you could spend the night (it smells pretty bad even with the windows open for the first week or two, it wouldn't have smelled at all if we went with the pre-finished wood).
They did a great job and even came back to buff and refinish spots that got scratched as I was moving furniture (they even brought little felt pads to put on the bottom of my furniture so they wouldn't have to come back).
If i got ripped off then please break it to me gently because I feel pretty good about the value i got. |
|
|
| Refinish Wood Floors |
| Amount: $2,000.00 |
| Posted by: Doug H. in Lakehurst, NJ. | Posted: May 25th, 2010 09:05AM |
| Sq Ft of Flooring: 1100 | Installer: 1z2 Hardwood Floors |
| Brand: 1z2 Hardwood Floors |
| "I have a 65 year old house with floors that are really thin from multiple refinishing attempts. The floors were also very discolored in spots 1z2 floors did a great job refinishing them!!! Floors look great Extremely happy with the results A+++, price was $1.90 with stain and was more than fair so I leave a tip $200" |
|
|
| hardwood floors |
| Amount: $3,100.00 |
| Posted by: frantic in philly, PA. | Posted: May 31st, 2010 08:05PM |
| Sq Ft of Flooring: 228 | Installer: empire |
| Brand: empire |
I have only had an estimate from empire today and want to make sure I do not get ripped off.....also had one phone est. for $1600.00,...is there anyone out there who thinks $3100.00-$1600.00 is a rather extreme gap??
need helpful advice for the philly region..ASAP |
|
|
| Bedroom floor |
| Amount: $2,000.00 |
| Posted by: a user in Santa Monica, CA. | Posted: August 11th, 2010 04:08PM |
| Sq Ft of Flooring: 204 | Installer: Madison Flooring |
| Brand: Red Oak |
|
|
| Renovating just-purchased house |
| Amount: $4,000.00 |
| Posted by: jsun_g in Richardson, TX. | Posted: September 18th, 2010 10:09PM |
| Sq Ft of Flooring: 880 | Installer: self |
| Brand: Versini Buckeye Hickory |
Bought 880sqft of engineered hardwood for 800sqft project. My first hardwood floor project is underway after a lot of research and a few tips from my general contractor who is working other projects on my new house. Total came to about $4000 including T-molding, adhesive, etc. Borrowed miter saw from bother-in-law.
Going well so far; first room is about halfway done, and saved $4/sqft on labor, learning something new to boot. |
|
|
| Dinning room |
| Amount: $900.00 |
| Posted by: n-silvers pring in washington, DC. | Posted: October 5th, 2010 06:10PM |
| Sq Ft of Flooring: 200 | Installer: jmc services. |
| Brand: Engineered maple wood floor |
| This guy make a really good work in my ,dinner room. i spend $900 for all the wood and labor and glue also shoe molding. was nice. |
|
|
| LIVINGROOM & DINNING |
| Amount: $2,500.00 |
| Posted by: MIKE HARPER in PHILADELPHIA, PA. | Posted: October 6th, 2010 07:10PM |
| Sq Ft of Flooring: 700 | Installer: FREEMANS CONTRACTING |
| Brand: MARPLE WOOD FLOOR |
| THIS GUYS DID REALLY GOOD WORK ON MY TWO FLOORS. THAY BROUGHT THE OLD FLOOR BACK LIKE NEW.IF IN PA CALL THESE GUYS....484-840-6054 |
|
|
| Flooring |
| Amount: $8,000.00 |
| Posted by: RealisticConsumer in Atlanta, GA. | Posted: December 6th, 2010 08:12AM |
| Sq Ft of Flooring: approx 1500 | Installer: Mountaineer Construction Services |
| Brand: unknown |
| We just got a quote from a private flooring company through our contractor for wood flooring and its about the same as what Empire Flooring quoted us. Whenever you're talking about home improvements, there's always some jerk who knows where you went wrong, how you could have saved money, and a whole list of bad things that will happen to your house because you didn't do things like he would have done them. I do recommend shopping around. If you feel like Empire is the best option in your area (and its logical that in some areas Empire contractors are very good and in some areas they aren't) then go with Empire. |
|
|
| @ ApplyForMe.net in Chicago, IL |
| Amount: $0.00 |
| Posted by: RealisticConsumer in Atlanta, GA. | Posted: December 6th, 2010 08:12AM |
| So you're saying that she shouldn't have paid more than around 85 cents a sq foot for hardwood floors installed?? Right, buddy. Right. Sure. |
|
|
| Concrete Slab Hardwood Flooring Install |
| Amount: $1,500.00 |
| Posted by: Art C. in San Francisco, CA. | Posted: December 13th, 2010 07:12PM |
| Sq Ft of Flooring: 210 | Installer: Local Hardwood Flooring Company |
| Brand: NA |
| Got some nice leftover pre-finished 2 1/4" x 3/4" red oak hardwood flooring for free from my neighbor. Interviewed a couple local installers and end up going with a guy who quoted me $1500 to have the wood installed in two bedrooms (approx 100 sq ft each) on the bottom floor of my house which sits on a concrete slab. Price includes old carpet removal/disposal, floor prep, vapor barrier, two layers of plywood, another vapor barrier, and then nail down the hardwood flooring. they also removed the old baseboards, re-cut, and reinstalled them. Overall i am satisfied with the quality of the work. Paid more than i expected but heard it is hard to lay down solid wood flooring on a concrete slab correctly. Hope thse guys did it right. |
|
|
| hardword floors INSTALLED |
| Amount: $5,000.00 |
| Posted by: RONDO in TEMPLE HILLS, MD. | Posted: February 10th, 2011 07:02AM |
| Sq Ft of Flooring: 15x15 | Installer: mike's |
| Brand: BRUCE |
| JUST CURIOUS, WAS THAT TOO MUCH FOR INSTALL OR WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN A GOOD PRICE? |
|
|
| Hardwood floor refinishing |
| Amount: $2,500.00 |
| Posted by: Tom Sakuras in Naperville, IL. | Posted: February 10th, 2011 02:02PM |
| Sq Ft of Flooring: 750 | Installer: |
| Brand: oak |
| My friend Paul recomended Flooring contractor Inc.for my floor repaires and refinishing. Daniel inspected the floor and recomended the repaires and explained about the finishes type and durability. From start to finish they been very profesional.I am very happy with the end result.One of my neighbor was also impresed with the punctuality and quality of the job, and he's looking in to hiring them.If you are interested in this guys work, contact them at (630)428-1633 |
|
|
| @Realistic Consumer in Atlanta |
| Amount: $3,250.00 |
| Posted by: IfPandasLikeIt in Atlanta, GA. | Posted: February 27th, 2011 02:02PM |
| Sq Ft of Flooring: 410 | Installer: local company |
| Brand: bamboo |
| First of all, @ApplyForMe suggested @Josalyn should have paid $1.50/sq.ft., not .85/sq.ft. as you suggested, although that's still low-balling it. Second, the actual $8.50/sq.ft. she did pay was for laminates, not hardwoods, and there is a big difference between the two. And while I'm sure prices in California are higher than they are, say, here in metropolitan Atlanta, $8.50/sq.ft. seems high. Furthermore, Empire Today is fairly well known for overcharging customers for less-than-quality workmanship. ApplyForMe simply stated those two points, without resorting to personal attacks such as referring to anyone as a know-it-all "jerk" as you did. It seems you have issues with both math and communication skills. |
|
|
| Hardwood Floors |
| Amount: $7,000.00 |
| Posted by: Nervous Nelly in Rochester Hills, MI. | Posted: March 18th, 2011 05:03AM |
| Sq Ft of Flooring: 672 | Installer: local company |
| Brand: Somerset County Collection |
We have not had the work done, but this is an estimate for 3 rooms. One has a fireplace. It is a local company who believes in Made In The USA. Also recommended to use from others. I'm not a fan of using places like Home Depot/Lowes. I know this hardwood is more expensive than just regular planks. We also chose 5inch planks.
Curious to know if this is good price. Labor is $2000 of this quote. We also have 2 odd steps where custom work is needed, but did not include that in here.
This is also in the state of Michigan. |
|
|
| Laminate Flooring |
| Amount: $4,300.00 |
| Posted by: Tranee in Miami Gardens, FL. | Posted: April 4th, 2011 04:04PM |
| Sq Ft of Flooring: 610 | Installer: Empire Today |
| Brand: N/A |
| I just would like to know if this is a reasonable price for installation of laminate flooring. It includeds the padding the 1/4 moulding and ripping out carpeting out of one bedroom. |
|
|
| Egineered 3" Honey Oak Flooring |
| Amount: $6,000.00 |
| Posted by: Robbie Dobbie in Oxnard, CA. | Posted: April 9th, 2011 03:04AM |
| Sq Ft of Flooring: 750 | Installer: Empire Today |
| Brand: Empire Today |
| Bought from Empire Today. 3 rooms and closet in bedroom. Salesman was helpfull in deciding on 3 or 4". Explained about solid woods and laminates. Installers did a super job. All 1/4" round trim cuts were perfect. Not an easy feat for many. Moved furniture, cleaned everything up and took old carpet/pad. All done in one day. Very carefull with furniture. Will ask for same salesman/installers for my next room. Had the saleman find me a Empire bobblehead doll. My experience was great with Empire Today. I would use again. Quality installers is the key to getting a good floor. |
|
|
| Hardwood floor |
| Amount: $9,000.00 |
| Posted by: Herndon20171 in Herndon, VA. | Posted: May 27th, 2011 12:05PM |
| Sq Ft of Flooring: 1240 | Installer: K&K Floors |
| Brand: Somerset 3 1/3 " wide |
| Had mine installed in one day by a very competent and professional crew. Very happy w/ the installation. Job includes removal of old carpet and linoleum floorings and underlayment, and all furniture moving |
|
|
| engineered hardwood oak plank floor |
| Amount: $800.00 |
| Posted by: bigdee33 in las vegas, NV. | Posted: August 18th, 2011 09:08PM |
| Sq Ft of Flooring: 840 | Installer: self |
| Brand: surface source |
| bought super clearance engineered hardwood oak plank glue down from six stores. Gathered enough material to do 840 square foot did the labor myself total cost under .50 a square foot before trims |
|
|
| laminate flooring |
| Amount: $3,961.83 |
| Posted by: Trauma Nurse in Xenia, OH. | Posted: January 17th, 2012 01:01PM |
| Sq Ft of Flooring: | Installer: Empire Today |
| Brand: Estate Living Mohave Hickory |
| I had my living room, dining room and hall done with quiet walk installed? Took up all carpet and disposed of according, got 1/4 round trim and was wondering if this was a good deal? Ended up being 94.32 a box. |
|
|
|
|
|
More Articles in Home & Garden - Flooring |
Search More Than 1,400 Topics on CostHelper.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
E-mail
Post