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Sep 18, 2021|Flooring Inspector

Buying the Right Floor

Replacing carpet with wood flooring over a wood or concrete subfloor? Dangers you should know and avoid. Selecting the right flooring material for your home can be a difficult and challenging experience; however, before purchasing or contracting to install any wood flooring, save yourself a lot of headache, misery, and expense after the sale by doing the following:

  • Having a plan. Don’t do anything until you have a well-thought-out plan.
  • Know whether the wood flooring can be installed in a basement or on concrete before making a purchase.
  • Seeking help and advice from an NWFA Certified Professional Wood Flooring Inspector with ICC Structural Credentials.
  • Writing a good “contract” and never allowing your wood floor installation to begin without a written contract that states specifics, installation procedures, and standards by which the floor is to be installed. A proposal is not a contract.
  • Engaging our services to write or modify the contract before you sign it.
  • Knowing and understanding flaws in structure and subfloors that are most often overlooked or never brought to your attention by wood flooring contractors.
  • Knowing the subfloor in your home and costs associated with “preparing” it to meet standards required by the wood manufacturer and the National Wood Flooring Association Installation Guidelines. If you don’t know your subfloor or framing structure contact us for an inspection and advice before signing a contract.
  • Reading and clearly understanding the wood flooring manufacturer’s installation instructions before purchasing your wood floor or laminate products.
  • Keeping in mind, the sale is what’s most important to sales centers and wood flooring contractors.
  • Asking yourself, should I :
    • Go with solid wood flooring, engineered flooring products, or laminate flooring?
    • Consider lasting beauty and durability?
    • Consider the subfloor, framing, method of installation, and where inside the home the flooring will be installed?
    • Consider interior environmental conditions?
    • Consider the method of attachment?
    • Consider the location of the floor, where will it be installed, traffic flow, and pets?
    • Consider elevations (basement, below grade, above grade, or both)?
    • Consider moisture in the basement, crawl space, and under concrete slabs?
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