How to Buy Hardwood Flooring for Installation

CUSTOM HARDWOOD FLOORING LA

Before you go shopping for your hardwood flooring materials, Here are the things you have to keep in mind while looking for that perfect hardwood flooring for your house. Professional hardwood floor installers goes through this process to ensure quality outcome. It is very important that you make sure that your hardwood flooring contractor is experienced, knowledgeable and has genuine care about your hardwood flooring needs. In this way you protect yourself from headache and stress if the installation of hardwood floors is not done right.  

1. Determine the areas of the house where you want wood flooring installed and measure it to determine the square footage of the floor. 
2. Determine whether a plywood sub-floor is already in place (such as in an area where carpeting has been removed). If you're remodeling, you may find that a 5/16-inch or 3/8-inch engineered flooring product will fit, while standard 3/4-inch-thick flooring would require you to change or trim the doors in the room. In other instances you may want the structural stability of a 3/4-inch product.
3. Consider whether you want an unfinished or pre-finished wood flooring product. Pre-finished flooring has the polyurethane coating already applied, so once it is installed the project is complete. Unfinished flooring requires sanding and coating after installation.
4. Consider the stain color if you are buying a pre-finished product. Unfinished floors are stained after installation, but a pre-finished product comes already stained.
5. Decide if you will hire an installer or if you will be installing the flooring yourself. Flooring comes in varieties that can be nailed, glued, or even affixed with pre-attached strips of adhesive tape. A pre-finished glue-down product is easier for a novice to install than standard unfinished nail-down flooring.
6. Consult your installer before ordering the material. Flooring involves a waste factor that varies with room geometry and the type of product. Expect approximately 15 to 25 percent waste. Make sure that you and the installer agree upon the amount of material needed for the job.
7. Shop at several home centers or suppliers to check out the various products and compare prices. Normally, you get a better deal having your licensed hardwood flooring contractor get the flooring materials for you. Especially when you already know what exactly the kind of hardwood flooring you prefer. Hardwood flooring contractors usually are able to get the hardwood floor materials in a special price this way you will be able to save more and worry less.

   

   Hardwood Flooring Installation