What is reasonable to pay per sq. ft. for installation? I am trying to evaluate an estimate I got for installing engineered hardwood flooring. The installed price is $11.78 per sq. ft., but I don't know how much of that is for materials and how much for labor.

While we're on the subject, any thoughts on engineered vs solid hardwood flooring? DIY vs. professional install?

They need to break it out for you. That seems high, but the material and install can vary greatly. If you are above grade, on a plywood subfloor, I would go with real hardwood over engineered.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

I second the real hardwood comment. It is so much stronger.

Hardwood is NOT difficult to install if you have reasonably handy skills - need a miter saw and pro nailer - and TIME.

We did our entire downstairs in a previous home.

Seems high to me too.

Here's sort of a rough reference:
[www.lumberliquidators.com]

Are we talking about just one room here maybe?

I had the benefit of a relative who helped me get started and show me several little tricks here and there, but not much you couldn't learn from YouTube. If do-it-yourself projects interest you in general, hardwood floor is certainly a reasonable one to tackle yourself. I've now done two houses and like the results and low cost.

Recently the solid 3/4" maple I used from Home Depot was $3 per sq. ft.

If you have oak trees in your state or area, you might find a distributor and get real oak for probably between $2 and $3 a square foot. It is some cheaper than Home Depot or Lowe's.

I prefer real wood much more than anything else.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2012 12:39AM by Dennis S.

I kind of wish we could have gone with solid wood floors rather than engineered. However, the engineered floors really look nice and have a 20 year warranty. We had a problem in the kitchen where the 3/4 inch solid was too thick to fit under the appliances without raising the counter tops. We put it down in the kitchen, dinning room, and family room

Anyway here is a break down of stapled down flooring.
Materials, engineered flooring: 726 sq ft @ $5.00/sq ft =$3,630
Labor to install: $2.50/sq ft = $1,815

There are other factors and cost you need to look at:
1.) Tear up of any old flooring, clean up and removal
2.) Sanding down of any uneven areas of sub-floor
3.) Underlayment if engineered plus labor
4.) Cutting around any door jams
5.) Removal of baseboards and reattachment of baseboards
6.) Cost of any quarter round if needed plus installing
7.) Removal of appliances and reinstalling
All the above add to the total cost.
Total cost including taxes $6,613.86 or $9.11/sq ft and we had over a half a box of flooring left over, which we kept for any needed repairs. Since we put it down in the kitchen too, looks great and wife loves it, but there's always possible water damage happening.

If you do it yourself, I wouldn't, you'll need a compressor and hose, nailing or staple gun, a good table saw and carbon saw blade, belt sander, jam saw, and be careful removing the baseboards unless you plan to replace them with new.

Good luck!

Ammo,

Go with true hardwood and have a pro perform the installation. It's more than just cutting, placing and nailing the flooring in place. It's also about proper finishing and with the correct equipment and materials

I just had the floors refinished in my apartment and they installed new flooring in the closets. While I could have done this all myself, I felt it wasn't cost effective. That and there is no way I could do the job as well as a pro. There is an art to installing wood, regardless of what others have said in the forum.

I love red oak with a natural color and a satin finish. The poly of choice is Bona Traffic or Bona Traffic HD. I did some reason and Bona Traffic is the name that comes up for poly. It's the absolutely best in the business for long term durability and scratch resistance. Not cheap but well worth it. Bona Traffic itself is fantastic. The HD version takes it to another level.

Robert

Thanks to all for taking the time to write such detailed responses. There is a lot of collective wisdom on this forum, and I appreciate it very much!

Ammo

Any more thoughts are still welcome.