Flooring Services Near Me: Insider Tips for Choosing Your Best Option
You’ve spent a lot of time shopping for hardwood floor repair or installation. After painstakingly matching samples to each room, you’ve chosen the right products for your home.
Now, you must choose the right flooring installation contractor to do the job. You want to be sure that after you’ve paid the bill, your floors will look amazing for years.
There are over 135,000 flooring contractors in the U.S. alone. Most are hard working honest folks. But a few bad characters make it hard to trust anyone. Cases such as poor quality of work, the contractor disappeared after receiving the down payment, dragging the job longer than what was agreed, or a subcontractor who never showed up for work is quite common. Contractor scams cost homeowners thousands of dollars. You can avoid the problems by doing some basic research.
Think of your search for flooring contractors like a funnel where the list of all them go in the top. Then use questions, credentials, and reviews to filter out the contractors that don’t measure up. At the bottom of the funnel will be the best choices to handle your hardwood floor restoration or installation
There are two important things to remember. First is finding the right flooring contractors that will do a decent job. Second is the best cost to install hardwood floors that are within your budget.
Let’s focus on how to find reliable flooring installation contractors.
Finding Flooring Services Near Me
When looking for a qualified flooring installer, don’t just rely on a Google search. Look for credible customer reviews, a business license, samples of their previous work, and insurance.
Here are some of the recommended sites to help you find ethical and trustworthy floor contractors around your area.
1. Better Business Bureau
If you live in Canada, the U.S. or even Mexico, the Better Business Bureau can help. This nonprofit organization’s mission is “To create an ethical marketplace where buyers and sellers trust each other.” They have been around since 1912, and an excellent resource worth checking.
The search process is simple. You’ll find the list of contractors, business overview, BBB rating, and experience. Check their customer reviews, complaints (if any) and resolutions.
Another famous review site that you can try is Angie’s list.
2. Angie’s List
Before seeing any reviews on Angie’s List, you’ll need to answer a list of 14 pre-qualifying questions about your job and add your contact information. Only then you’ll be able to see the list of local contractors and their reviews.
Start with the location field at the top of the page to find contractors around your area. Then search by service or keyword.
Angie’s List provides some useful information about the contractor such as contact information, overall rating (between A to F), discounts, awards or coupons.
Click on the individual contractor to see more and request a quote.
Angie’s List will send you the list straight to your inbox for future reference.
3. Houzz
Houzz is another site you can use to search for flooring professionals. They list all home improvement projects, and you’ll have to answer some questions before narrowing the search to hardwood flooring dealers and installers. Next, enter your zip code and other pre-qualifying questions to get to the right results.
To search in Houzz, click the “Find Professionals” link at the top. Then, under “Home Improvement” click on “Hardwood Flooring Dealers.” From that page, you can select whether you want sales or installation and what type of floor.
4. TrustedPros.com
Whether you live in Canada or the U.S., TrustedPros.com is an excellent source when searching for a contractor. You have an option to go to the U.S. or the Canadian site. The website is easy to navigate. You can even ask questions directly to professionals about your job.
5. Yelp
Yelp will help you find installers in Canada and the U.S. When you enter the city in the search box, it suggests areas even closer to your location, which is a nice feature.
Yelp is primarily a review site. You’ll find plenty of honest customer reviews to help you decide on an installer. You can request a quote, and it displays an approximate response time.
6. The National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA)
The NWFA is a go-to source of unique and comprehensive information about wood floors. They also have two types of searches to help you find a contractor.
The NWFA website is an excellent resource for any flooring questions you may have.
There are other sites such as HomeAdvisor, ThumbTack, and ContractorQuotes.us that you can check. Social media like Facebook and Pinterest are worth checking too.
Finding the Cost to Install Hardwood Floors
When gathering estimates, it is not advisable to go with the lowest bidder because it could result in low quality of work or inexperienced contractors. If you give them the right information, experienced flooring contractors or flooring stores will know the estimated cost and timeline to install hardwood floors for your home.
To get the total cost of materials, use the EasiKlip flooring calculator. It’s a comprehensive tool that is very accurate when estimating total costs for flooring, especially for DIY jobs.
It helps you stay one step ahead of contractors to see if they are overestimating. The flooring calculator comes complete with a tutorial, examples, and glossary to get you up to speed fast. You’ll be able to speak confidently to any flooring contractor.
The other significant cost of installing flooring is the installation cost. You can make accurate estimates using their calculator and guidelines. A good rule of thumb is $4 to $8 per square foot above the material costs. Use the information from the calculator to try and negotiate a better deal.
Before asking for an installation quote, it is beneficial to know these things:
- The subfloor - What material is it made of and is it level?
- a. Common materials are concrete and plywood. Use the great instructions laid out in this article to check if your floor is level.
- What is the humidity in your installation area? (60% max for solid hardwood)
- a. Here's a great (and cheap) gadget you can use to measure relative humidity in your rooms: AcuRite Humidity Monitor
- What is the total square footage that the new floor will cover?
- a. Use our wood flooring calculator to help calculate your total square footage.
- Are there tricky angles or odd structural elements to work around? (These can increase the material and labor costs)
- Are there issues with getting materials into your space? (Walk up apartments, elevators, and parking can be tricky)
- The flooring type, color, width, and species you prefer.
Having this information will save time and allow contractors to give you an accurate estimate.
Helpful Tools You Can Use To Find A Great Flooring Contractor
We've taken some time to prepare a couple great tools to make your flooring contractor search a lot smoother. Grab them now!
1. Email Them For a Quote
Email is a great way to communicate with your flooring installer as you always have everything in writing to refer back to at any time. We have provided a sample template. Just fill in the bolded sections with your information.
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✉️ Flooring Contractor Email Template ✉️
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Subject Line: Need a quote for a hardwood floor install
Hello, My name is [your name]. I would like to receive an estimate for installing a new hardwood floor in [the entire home/the kitchen/3 rooms of my home]. I learned about your company through [review site/a recommendation] and wanted to ask you for an estimate.
{If you already purchased the flooring} I already bought the flooring. It is [solid hardwood/engineered hardwood, brand and style]. I am looking for an estimate to remove the old floor which is [carpet, tile, hardwood etc] and install the new floor. I have attached photos of the old flooring for your reference.
{If you need to purchase the flooring} I have an idea of the type of flooring I want but could use some help to decide on the right one. I would like to get an estimate for both the flooring and installation. In total, the area we would like to cover with new flooring is about [# of square feet]. How long would you expect this job to take? We are hoping to have the project completed by [date]. Please contact me as soon as possible so I can give you more details. You can contact me by email at [email]. And my phone number is [phone #]. Thank you for your time. [Name] [Address (optional)] |
2. Request This Information from Your Flooring Contractors (Infographic)
Now that you have a shortlist of contractors and have emailed them to get a rough quote, request these 4 pieces of information to qualify the right one for your project.
3. Questions to Ask Your Flooring Contractor
Once you have made contact and gotten a few quotes from your shortlist of flooring installers, here are some more questions you should get answered before moving forward.
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❓QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR FLOORING CONTRACTOR ❓
- How long will the job take?
- Who’s responsible for moving furniture out of the room?
- Will you remove the old flooring and other construction materials?
- Are there any additional costs involved in this work?
- Will you do a proper preparation of the sub-floor?
- What do your flooring warranty and guarantees include?
- Does the manufacturer certify you?
- Will you check for things that may affect installation, such as moisture?
- What can cause the price to increase? What can I do to save on labor costs?
- How do you control wood dust during installation?
- Where do you obtain materials? (n/a if the floor has been purchased)
- Specify payment plan – 30%, 30% & 40% or another agreeable plan.
- Can you provide lifetime care for the floors? (Items such as Sanding/refinishing, maintenance coats, restoration, repairs, water damage, etc.)
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If your contractor can provide satisfactory answers to these questions, then you should have a good idea of their qualifications and confidence in their ability to do a good job. And remember… GET IT ALL IN WRITING! Legitimate contractors expect to give you written copies of everything. xxx |
Asking these questions will save you time, reduce confusion and save money.
Using these tools will help you find the right contractor, but it is only half of the equation. The other half is finding the best price. Too low might compromise on the quality, and too high can make it unaffordable.
Agreeing on a Payment Plan
When it comes to paying for a flooring job, we recommend that you break it down into three payments. A common practice is 30/30/40. That means 30% to get the job started, 30% when the materials arrive and the remaining 40% when you’re satisfied with the quality of their work.
Two things to protect yourself are:
- ALWAYS get the agreement in writing, and
- NEVER pay more than 50% upfront.
Follow these two rules, and you will have some leverage should something go wrong.
Never Be Afraid to Ask Questions, It’s Their Job
Some homeowners feel intimidated asking these questions. DON’T! Reputable flooring contractors expect you to ask them. If a contractor gets annoyed by you asking for this information, it’s a big red flag.
There are plenty of qualified flooring contractors around. Follow these guidelines and ask these questions to find the best one for your hardwood floor installation and understand all the costs up front.
When planning your project, talk to as many contractors as you can and get several estimates. While you want to find the best price, it’s not the only consideration when hiring a flooring installation contractor or flooring company. Reputation and quality of workmanship are more important than price.
We hope you found this article helpful. Please share it with anyone who is considering installing a new floor. If you’re thinking about installing a hardwood floor yourself, Easiklip has the easiest solid hardwood floor system available.
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- Bill Grover
