Wood & Vinyl Floor Installation

The substrate decides it. Over a wood subfloor at or above grade, solid hardwood gives you more refinishes across its life. Over a concrete slab, below grade or over radiant heat, engineered hardwood is the correct wood floor, because its cross laid core stays flat where a solid board would cup. Deco Hardwood Floor identifies the substrate and measures moisture before recommending either.

On the main floor of an older house, usually yes. Wood can be sanded and repaired, and buyers in this housing stock expect it there. Vinyl plank is the better answer in a basement, a laundry room or a mudroom, where water is a recurring possibility and a wood floor would cup and then be replaced. The room decides, not the product.

The core. Laminate is a printed layer over a fiberboard core that swells permanently if water sits on a seam. Vinyl plank is waterproof through its whole thickness. Both are replaced when worn, and neither can be sanded. For a bathroom, a laundry room or anything below grade, vinyl. For a dry bedroom or hallway on a budget, laminate does its job.

The material and the preparation move it most. A high wear layer engineered floor can cost more than commodity solid oak, and laminate is the least expensive floor we install. After that come removal of the old floor, subfloor flattening, moisture barriers, the installation method and the trim. Deco Hardwood Floor quotes material and labor as one number after seeing the room.

Not solid hardwood. Below grade, moisture comes up through the concrete and a solid board cups. Engineered hardwood is the wood floor for a basement, after the slab has been moisture tested. Vinyl plank is the choice where water is a real possibility, because the plank itself survives getting wet. Laminate belongs only in a basement that stays dry.

No. Deco Hardwood Floor supplies the material together with the labor, bought direct from the distributor at the store price, and brings samples and larger offcuts to the house. You compare them in your own light instead of in a showroom. The specification is written down, so you know the wear layer and the construction you are paying for, not only a brand name.

It depends on the material, the preparation and the moisture readings, so we give the schedule after seeing the room. Solid hardwood waits until the wood and the subfloor are within tolerance, which is a measurement and not a number of days. A raw wood floor then needs site finishing and cure time. A prefinished or floating floor is usable sooner.

Sometimes, and it raises the floor height, which then has to be resolved at every door and transition. Over existing hardwood, the better answer is usually refinishing what is already there. Deco Hardwood Floor removes old floors as part of an installation, and what is found underneath changes the job, so that is checked before the quote.

Anyone whose room sits on a concrete slab or below grade, and anyone who cannot keep the house conditioned. Solid wood moves across its width with humidity, and wide plank shows that movement most. In a house with no humidity control, wide plank is a conversation before it is an order. Engineered hardwood covers most of those cases.

It can, and the cause is almost always the subfloor. A floating floor is not fastened down, so it bridges low spots and the gap underneath is what you hear. Flattening the subfloor before installation removes most of that. A floated engineered floor also sounds different from a nailed one, so we walk a floated sample with you where possible before committing.