Floor Installation
Engineered Hardwood Installation in Hawthorne, Philadelphia
Real wood over a stable core. The answer for concrete slabs and basements, where solid wood does not belong. In Hawthorne, Philadelphia the median home dates to 1962 and 40.8% of the housing predates 1940, which changes what Deco Hardwood Floor expects to find before the work starts.
Where engineered wood belongs in an old house
In Hawthorne engineered wood is the answer for the rooms that solid hardwood cannot take: the basement, a kitchen addition on a slab, or a floor over radiant heat.
An old house usually has solid floors worth keeping on the main levels. Engineered wood earns its place below grade and over concrete, where its cross laid core keeps it flat in conditions that would cup a solid board.
The detail that takes planning is height. Engineered boards are often thinner than the solid floor in the next room, so the subfloor is built up or the transition is designed before the material is ordered, not discovered at the doorway.
Before you get a quote
Basements under old houses in this region are often damp. A slab gets a moisture test before any wood goes on it, and the result decides the adhesive, the underlayment, or whether wood goes down at all.
How the housing in Hawthorne compares
Of the 3,468 housing units in Hawthorne, roughly 1,400 were built before 1940 and approximately 2,100 before 1978.
That makes the housing here newer than 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, Hawthorne ranks 75th 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hawthorne | 1962 | 40.8% |
| Bella Vista | 1929 | 66.8% |
| Washington Square West | 1939 | 50.4% |
| Passyunk Square | 1927 | 72.0% |
| Queen Village | 1937 | 52.5% |
| Society Hill | 1963 | 32.0% |
| Center City East | 1982 | 41.1% |
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
Housing this old normally holds narrow strip oak laid straight over joists, and often it has only one sanding left.
In a place where a large share of the housing predates 1940, the floor under the carpet is usually the original one. That means narrow strip oak, sometimes heart pine on upper floors, nailed straight to the joists with no plywood in between. It also means the floor has probably been sanded before, possibly more than once.
Only the wood above the tongue can be sanded, roughly a quarter inch on a traditional floor. A floor that has already given up two of those sandings is a different job from one that has given up none, and the difference is not visible from standing height. We measure at the edge of a board before quoting.
Worth knowing here
Parquet and herringbone turn up under carpet in this stock more often than people expect, and they sand differently: the grain runs in two directions at once, so a drum sander used the normal way tears them.
Whether the federal lead rule applies depends on the house
Approximately 61.7% of the homes here predate 1978, so it comes down to the specific address.
This is a place where the housing stock straddles the 1978 line the EPA rule draws. Roughly half the addresses are covered and roughly half are not, which means the answer is per house rather than per town.
Where it does apply, the rule governs how the sander is set up: containment and a HEPA vacuum collecting dust where it is generated. We check the age of the house before deciding how the work is staged.
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 Hawthorne
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 Hawthorne 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 Hawthorne
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.
Is engineered flooring real wood?
Yes. The top layer is real sawn wood, which is why it looks and finishes like wood. What is underneath is plywood or composite, and that is what makes it stable.
Can engineered floors be refinished?
It depends entirely on the wear layer. Above about three millimeters there is room for a light sanding, sometimes more than once. Below two, no. Ask for the wear layer thickness in millimeters before you buy, not the marketing description.
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 house is from the 1920s. Can the floor still be sanded?
Often, but it is a measurement rather than an assumption. Only the wood above the tongue can be sanded, and a floor that has been refinished twice already may have one pass left. We check at the edge of a board before quoting.
Engineered Installation near Hawthorne
Send a photo and we will tell you what you are looking at
Engineered Hardwood Installation in Hawthorne 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.
