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 |  | Soft Woods: DIY $1,300-$2,500; Installed $2,400-$4,400 |  | Hardwood, DIY: $2,000-$4,000 |  | Hardwood, Installed: $3,700-$7,800 |
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What most people think of as traditional wood flooring is made using boards (usually about 3/4-inches thick),solid wood flooring is generally available in strips (boards less than 3 inches wide) or planks (up to 7 inches or more), although it can be made in geometric squares (parquet).
Typical costs: | - Soft woods such as pine run about $3-$6 a square foot for the boards; adding nails/staples, baseboards/trim and other supplies, materials can be $1,300-$2,500 for DIY installation of a 400-square-foot family room. Do-it-yourself installation requires at least intermediate-level carpentry skills. The Family Handyman magazine provides instructions and estimates it costs $5 a square foot and requires two weekends per room. Professional installation adds another $3-$5 or more a square foot, making total installed costs (materials and labor) about $2,400-$4,400 for a 400-square-foot room.
- Hardwood flooring like oak, American cherry or teak runs $5-$10 a square foot or $2,000-$4,000 in materials for a 400-square-foot room. Professional installation adds another $4-$8 or more per square foot, making it around $3,700-$7,800 for labor and materials.
- Less expensive wood may have more knots, color variations and other natural imperfections. Depending on the species, more expensive wood should be more consistent in color. A North Carolina homeowner[1] paid $9 a square foot to have a prefinished wood floor installed, while California homeowners paid $20,000 for 1,400 square feet (about $14.30 a square foot) of white oak solid plank flooring in varying widths of 4-, 6- and 8-inches with high-quality on-site finishing.
- Exotic hardwoods such as mahogany, cypress or Brazilian walnut can be $8-$14 a square foot uninstalled, or $3,200-$5,600 for materials for a 400-square-foot room.
Related articles: Wood Flooring, Bamboo Flooring, Cork Flooring, Engineered Wood Flooring, Laminate Flooring, Tile Flooring
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What should be included: | - Most solid wood flooring is tongue-in-groove, meaning the boards fit together before being nailed or stapled onto a plywood sub-floor. (There are some thicker products -- 5/16th- instead of 3/4-inch -- that can be glued down on a concrete subfloor.) Because it's sensitive to moisture, solid-wood flooring should never be installed in a room below ground level, such as a basement. HomeTips.com provides a brief overview[2] . BobVila.com displays a video showing the installation of solid pine flooring, and Lowe's provides a how-to video for prefinished solid wood flooring.
Additional costs: | - There can be extra charges for furniture removal and replacement; ripping out and disposing of old flooring material; repairing or replacing a damaged subfloor; and removing and then re-hanging doors.. A Conneticut installer[3] charges an extra 20 cents per square foot to remove old carpet, another 20 cents per square foot for moving furniture and $15 per appliance moved.
Shopping for solid wood flooring: | - Major manufacturers of solid-wood flooring include Armstrong[4] , Columbia[5] , Country Plank[6] and Lebanon Oak[7] . Solid-wood flooring is available from most home improvement centers and flooring stores/contractors.
- The World Floor Covering Association provides a directory[8] of retail floor stores by zip code.
- Installing a solid wood floor requires moderate to advanced skills. Ask about the installer's training and experience with solid wood flooring, and request (and contact) references from satisfied customers. Some companies provide photos of previous projects. Request confirmation that they're properly bonded and licensed (state licensing requirements vary).
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What People Are Paying - Recent Comments |
| Posted by: Marie33 in Woodstock, CT. | Posted: July 20th, 2011 08:07AM |
| Square Feet: 350 | Type of Wood: Sugar maple |
I got premium boards from a local CT forest products company, had to wait about 6 wks for milling and drying, and then I got two local carpenters to install. 2 small rooms, one about 150 sq ft the other 220, with closets and corners -- a lot of measuring and thought. Wood was $7.50 per sq ft but I ordered xtra so it worked out a bit more installed. Installation was around $10 per sq ft including finishing, would probably have done better with someone who just does floors. But the result is quite stunning so I'm pretty satisfied. |
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| Posted by: HandyMatt in Bakersfield, CA. | Posted: March 19th, 2011 08:03PM |
| Square Feet: 600 | Type of Wood: Brazillian Walnut |
| Store: Lumber Liquidators | Installed by: Me |
The flooring itself was $4.84, they had my original order backordered and didn't know when it was coming in. So I had to upgrade to 3/8" solid wood from 5/16". I am very happy with the wood, the glue was $600 (very sticky, it dries up in the can after a day, about 1" of the top, even if you have a lid or plastic over it) and base boards another $150. Plus cleaner and so forth. I had a guy come out to give an estimate, very nice guy, great price $1,100 or roughly $2/sqft, $2-3 is normal price, you should not pay more than that. I recommended him to a friend and he did a great job. However, I didn't have any money left to pay for the install so I did it my self. I spent $500 in tools and it has taken 4 months (lack of time). I don't have a family or other people that live in the house, so its not a big deal. It was very hard at first, but now its a piece of cake. It takes lots of patients and a good pair of knee pads. I recommend having someone install it in the future. But it was an experience to say the least. |
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External Resources: | - www.city-data.com/forum/house/154035-hardwood-buying-installation-costs.html
- www.hometips.com/buying-guides/wood-flooring.html
- wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_does_installation_cost_for_flooring
- www.armstrong.com/flooring/hardwood.html
- www.columbiaflooring.com/hardwood.cfm
- www.countryplank.com/
- www.lebanonoak.com/
- www.wfca.org/FlooringStoreLocator.aspx
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