Cost of Hardwood Floors Installation
Cost is one of the main factors to consider when deciding what type of flooring you will install in your home, especially if you are trying to stay within a certain budget. While having hardwood floors installed can cost more than other types of flooring, it’s an investment that returns value and enjoyment for many years. Fabricio Hardwood floors has installed hundreds of wood floors in the Charlotte region and is uniquely positioned to answer the question in many homeowners’ mind: how much will it cost to have hardwood floor installed in my home? Unfortunately, there is no simple answer because cost per square foot for hardwood floor installation depends on several factors, which we go over below.
When getting a quote to install hardwood floors, the price quoted often includes the cost of materials (wood planks, stain, trims, etc…) as well as the labor required to install the wood floors. On average, it will cost anywhere between $6,000 and $14,000 to install 1000 square feet of wood floors in the Charlotte area, or between $6 to $14 per square foot in 2022. That price range is for “typical” wood floor installations. Price per square foot will vary depending on the type of wood you choose, the type of planks and several others factors.
Factors affecting the cost of hardwood floors installation
There are many factors that come into play when determining what the cost of installing wood floors will be for your home. For example, choosing pre-finished wood planks over unfinished planks. Pre-finished wood planks will require less labor to install because the wood planks come pre-finished (sanded and stained) at the factory level, hence eliminating a big portion of labor costs. However, pre-finished wood planks could limit your color choices and will cost more to buy per square foot (about $2 more per square foot). If you decide to have unfinished hardwood floors installed, the cost of labor will be higher since the wood planks will need to be sanded and finished on site.
1. Type of wood selected
One of the factors that will affect the cost of your hardwood floor installation is the type of wood specie you choose. Some wood species cost more than other. Exotic wood species for example are more difficult to procure than readily available traditional wood species and that will be reflected in the cost of buying the material. Some exotic species are also a lot harder requiring more labor when sanding and finishing the floors. The size of the planks you choose and the way they are milled at the factory level will also affect the cost of material per square foot as well as the cost of labor to install your flooring.
If you have a strict budget, estimating the cost of material before hand and labor cost are key factors in keeping costs under control. Fabricio Hardwood Floors offer free home in estimates. To request an estimate to install hardwood floors in your home, simply fill out and submit a request through our website.
2. Labor required to remove your existing flooring
Before installing new wood floors, your old flooring material will need to be removed and disposed of. What kind of flooring do you have? If you have carpets, removing the existing carpeting won’t be too labor intensive. Same if you have vinyl flooring. How about if you have glued on vinyl flooring that is difficult to remove? Or tile floors that don’t come out easily? The difficult in removing your existing old floors will affect labor costs and disposal fee, which in turn will affect the cost of your hardwood installation. When you request a free estimate from Fabricio Hardwood Floors, one of our professionals will be able to tell you how easy or difficult it will be remove your existing flooring and include that cost within our estimate.
3. Subfloor repairs
One cost which is latent and often discovered only after old flooring is removed is repairs (if any) to the subfloors. Wood flooring should not be installed on bad, unleveled subfloors. The more repairs and adjustments needed to the subfloors, the more work will be required and the higher the final price of the wood floor installation will be. Unfortunately, it it fairly difficult to estimate ahead of time what kind of work will be needed on the subfloors. While some issues can be easily noticeable before the start of the flooring installation, some other issues will only be discovered once the old flooring is removed.
4. Installation method
Will your wood floors be nailed down (for wood subfloors), glued down (concrete slab) or floating? Depending on the type of installation you need, cost will be affected accordingly. Something to consider is also whether to get pre-finished or unfinished wood floors. Pre-finished wood planks might cost more in material per square foot initially, but there is a lot less labor involved in installing them since they won’t need to be sanded and finished on location which adds to labor costs. If you are flexible with the finish color, pre-finished wood planks might be the best option to keep costs down.
The size of the wood planks and the method and pattern used to install your wood floors will also affect the cost. There are several types of patterns wood floors can be installed including herringbone, chevron, wood strip, brick bond, stack bond, checkerboard, mosaic, chantilly, basket weave, and versailles. Showcased on this page is an example of herringbone pattern we installed in Charlotte recently. There are even more types of patterns available, but usually, the more complex the pattern, the higher the cost of labor will be as well as material.
The best way to find out what it will cost of hardwood floors installation in your home is to contact Fabricio Hardwood Floors to schedule a free in home estimate. This is your opportunity to have one of the top industry professionals in Charlotte provide you with a free quote and evaluation to install wood floors in your home.
