Floor Installation
Engineered Hardwood Installation in Fox Chase, Philadelphia
Real wood over a stable core. The answer for concrete slabs and basements, where solid wood does not belong. In Fox Chase, Philadelphia the median home dates to 1961 and 14.2% of the housing predates 1940, which changes what Deco Hardwood Floor expects to find before the work starts.
Engineered wood in a postwar house
In Fox Chase engineered wood mostly goes into finished basements and onto slabs, the two places where the oak upstairs could never have been laid.
Postwar houses here commonly have a basement that was finished later as a recreation room, over a concrete floor. Engineered wood gives that room a real wood surface, provided the slab passes a moisture test first.
On the main floor, engineered wood also solves a height problem. Where a kitchen is being opened to a room with existing oak, a thinner engineered board can meet the old floor flush when a full thickness solid board would not.
Before you get a quote
A basement that has taken water even once is a different conversation. We ask about its history before recommending wood down there, because the test only shows the slab on the day it is taken.
How the housing in Fox Chase compares
Of the 10,073 housing units in Fox Chase, roughly 1,400 were built before 1940 and approximately 8,200 before 1978.
That makes the housing here close to the average for the 132 Philadelphia neighborhoods in our data taken together, where approximately 82.8% of 733,961 units predate 1978, and above the 60.5% figure for our whole service area. By the share built before 1940, Fox Chase ranks 104th of those 132. The full table is published as open housing data.
Within Philadelphia, the oldest housing in our data is in Cedar Park, with a median year of 1925, and the newest is in Kensington, Old, at 1997.
| Place | Median year built | Built before 1940 |
|---|---|---|
| Fox Chase | 1961 | 14.2% |
| Burholme | 1971 | 12.7% |
| Rhawnhurst | 1959 | 6.7% |
| Oxford Circle | 1954 | 10.9% |
| Lawndale | 1952 | 28.6% |
| Lexington Park | 1961 | 0.8% |
| Crescentville | 1951 | 15.3% |
For engineered wood, the median year is the useful figure. Newer housing means more concrete slabs and finished lower levels, which is where engineered flooring does the work solid cannot.
What is usually under the floor here
Two and a quarter inch red oak nailed over a wood subfloor, which is the case that refinishes best.
Postwar housing in this region was built with a plywood or board subfloor and solid red oak strip on top, most commonly two and a quarter inches wide. It is the standard floor of the American postwar house and it is the easiest thing we work on: predictable thickness, predictable fastening, predictable result.
The question in this stock is more often the subfloor than the wood on top of it. Squeaks, deflection and movement come from below, and sanding a floor that moves gives you a smooth floor that still moves.
Worth knowing here
Red oak has a pink undertone that shows through most stain colors. If you are aiming for the cooler tones that are fashionable now, that gets tested on a sample board before anything is committed.
The federal lead rule applies to most of the housing here
Approximately 81.1% of the homes here were built before 1978, which is the line the EPA rule draws.
Paid work that disturbs painted surfaces in pre-1978 housing falls under 40 CFR Part 745, and floor sanding reaches painted surfaces more often than people expect: the edger runs to the baseboard, the shoe molding and the door casing, and in older housing those carry many layers.
The part that matters for the equipment is 745.85(a)(3), which prohibits high speed machines that strip a coating on painted surfaces unless they carry containment and a HEPA vacuum collecting dust at the point of generation. That is a description of how the sander has to be assembled, not a suggestion about tidiness.
How engineered hardwood installation runs
We identify the substrate
Slab or wood subfloor, above or below grade. This decides everything downstream.Moisture testing
In-situ probe on concrete, meter readings on wood.Material chosen with the wear layer stated
Samples at your house, with the specification written down, not just the brand name.Substrate prepared
Flatness corrected, moisture barrier where the readings call for it.Installed by the method the substrate requires
Glue, float or nail.Trim and transitions
Expansion respected at every wall and doorway.
What an engineered hardwood installation includes
The quote covers identifying the substrate, testing it for moisture, the material with its wear layer written down, the preparation, the installation and the trim. Material and labor are one number, set after the owner has seen the room.
Included
- A visit from the owner to identify the substrate and measure the room
- Moisture testing: an in-situ probe on concrete, meter readings on a wood subfloor
- Engineered flooring supplied by us at the distributor's store price, with the wear layer stated in writing
- Samples and larger offcuts brought to your house
- Flatness correction, and a moisture barrier where the readings call for one
- Installation by glue, float or nail, then trim and transitions with expansion respected
Not included, or quoted separately
- Fixing the source of a wet slab. Drainage, grading and sump work belong to other trades
- Radiant heat systems. We install flooring over them, we do not install or service them
- Any future sanding, which depends on the wear layer and is a separate refinishing job
- Stair treads and railings, which are a separate service with their own quote
What changes the price of engineered hardwood installation
The price is set after we see the room and the substrate. The three things that move it most are the wear layer thickness of the product, the installation method the substrate requires, and what the moisture test says about the slab.
| What changes it | How it moves the price | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Wear layer thickness | More real wood on top costs more as material. It is also the part that decides whether the floor can ever be sanded. | A board with a 4 mm wear layer costs more than one under 2 mm. The first can be sanded later and the second cannot. |
| Installation method | Glue down takes more labor and adds the adhesive. Floating is faster. Nailing needs a wood subfloor under it. | The same board glued to a slab costs more to install than it does floated over underlayment in the next room. |
| Moisture test result | A slab that reads high needs a moisture barrier or a different method before any wood goes on it, and both add to the job. | Two basements of the same size can differ only in the probe reading. The wetter one costs more to prepare. |
| Substrate flatness | Grinding high spots and filling low ones is labor and material that comes before the floor. Glued and floated floors both need it. | A slab poured flat needs little. One with a hump along an old wall line gets ground down before the first row. |
| Area, layout and transitions | Total area sets the base. Doorways, height changes to other floors and angled walls add cutting and trim pieces. | An open basement is simpler than a first floor that meets tile at the kitchen and carpet at the stairs. |
The full method, the equipment and what we will and will not promise are on the service page: Engineered Hardwood Installation.
Also in Fox Chase
Hardwood Floor Refinishing
Sand the old finish off, repair what needs repairing, and put a new finish down
Dustless Floor Sanding
Vacuum-extraction sanding
Solid Hardwood Floor Installation
Solid wood, nailed down over a wood subfloor
Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP) Installation
Waterproof, quiet, and it does not care about a wet basement
Custom Stair Installation
Treads, risers, stringers and skirt board, built to a drawing instead of a catalog page
Stair Refinishing
Stairs take more wear per square foot than any floor in the house, and they are sanded almost entirely by hand
Hardwood Floor Repair
Board replacement, weaving in new wood, squeaks, gaps and cupping
Why homeowners hire Deco Hardwood Floor
Deco Hardwood Floor is owner operated: the person who quotes engineered hardwood installation in Fox Chase is the person responsible for it, and the material comes with the labor in one number.
Material and labor in one number
We buy the flooring direct from the distributor and pass the store price through, so you are not sourcing wood on your own between quotes.
Samples come to your house
Samples and larger offcuts come to you, so the color gets chosen in your own light instead of under a showroom lamp.
Stairs and railings built in house
Treads, risers, handrails and newel posts are drawn and built by our own crew. Most flooring crews subcontract stair work or decline it.
The owner quotes the job
The person who measures your floor is the person responsible for the work. There is no salesperson in between.
Measured before it is promised
Remaining thickness is measured at the edge of a board before we say a floor can be sanded, and no price is firm before we have seen the room.
Told straight, including the limits
Vacuum extraction catches most of the sanding dust and not all of it. We tell you that before the job instead of after.
More about who we are and what we will not claim on the About Deco Hardwood Floor page.
Questions about engineered installation in Fox Chase
Is engineered hardwood worth it over solid wood?
It is worth it when the house requires it, and not otherwise. Engineered hardwood installation makes sense over concrete, below grade, over radiant heat or for wide plank. Over a dry wood subfloor above grade, solid wood can be sanded more times. Choose by where the floor is going and by the wear layer, not by which one sounds like the upgrade.
What can go wrong with an engineered hardwood floor?
The usual failures come from moisture and flatness. In an engineered hardwood installation glued to an untested slab, the adhesive can let go months later. A floated floor over an uneven substrate develops hollow spots and joints that move. Over radiant heat run too hot, the wear layer can separate from the core. All three are prevented before installation, not repaired after.
Can we stay in the house during the installation?
Usually yes. Engineered hardwood installation needs the room empty and closed to traffic while the work is under way. A glued floor should not be walked on until the adhesive has set, for as long as its maker states. Keep children and pets out of the room during that period. Floated and nailed floors can take foot traffic sooner.
Who is engineered hardwood not right for?
It is not right for someone who wants to sand the floor several times, unless the wear layer is thick. A wear layer under 2 mm cannot be sanded at all. Engineered hardwood installation is also the wrong answer for a room that floods, where vinyl belongs. Deco Hardwood Floor states the wear layer on the quote, so you know which floor you are buying.
Can you tell me what my floor needs over the phone?
We can tell you what is likely, and this page is most of that answer. What we cannot do is quote a floor we have not seen, because remaining thickness and what is under the covering both decide the job and neither is visible in a description.
Do you bring the material?
Yes. We buy direct from the distributor and the material lands in the same number as the labor. Samples and larger offcuts come to the house so you choose in your own light.
My floor squeaks. Will refinishing fix it?
No. Squeaks come from movement between the floor and the subfloor, and sanding the surface does not change what is happening underneath. Those get addressed before the floor is finished, not after.
Engineered Installation near Fox Chase
Send a photo and we will tell you what you are looking at
Engineered Hardwood Installation in Fox Chase starts with someone reading the house. We quote every job ourselves, with no salesperson in between, and a photo of the floor gets you a straight answer faster than a form does.
