What floor work costs
What moves the number, and whether to refinish or replace.
Wood floor installation
New wood floors across New York City
We lay new wood floors across all five boroughs, solid and engineered, over timber joists and over concrete. Which of those you have usually decides the rest.
Where a new floor starts
A new wood floor is mostly decided before any board is opened. What is underneath, how flat it is, how much height you have, and what the building allows all narrow the options before taste comes into it.
That is why the first visit is about the subfloor rather than about samples. A floor laid over the wrong preparation will telegraph every problem underneath it within a year, and no board is good enough to survive that.
Once the base is understood, the choice between solid and engineered usually answers itself.
Solid or engineered
The first real decision, and in this city it is usually settled by what is under the floor rather than by preference.
Solid wood
One piece of timber all the way through. It can be sanded and refinished several times across its life, which makes it the long game. It wants to be fixed to timber, and it moves more with humidity, so it suits houses and buildings with timber joists.
Engineered wood
A real wood wear layer over a stable core. It moves far less, which is what makes it the answer over concrete and in buildings with underfloor heating. How many times it can be refinished depends on how thick that wear layer is, so the layer thickness is the number worth asking about.
What decides it
Concrete slab, most new build and many apartments: engineered. Timber joists, most houses and much older stock: either, and solid becomes worth the money. Below grade or anywhere damp: engineered, or a non-wood option.
Boards come either pre-finished from the factory or raw to be sanded and finished in place. Finishing in place gives a flatter, seamless surface and adds days to the job. Pre-finished is faster and the joints stay visible.
Not sure what is under your floor? Tell us the building and we will tell you the options.
Call (929) 207-0334The preparation that decides how the floor lasts
Four things that happen before the first board goes down.
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01
Levelling the subfloor
Wood floors need a flat base. Dips and humps under a floor become movement, hollow sounds and stress on the joints. Levelling compound or sheeting goes down first where the base needs it, and skipping this is the most common reason a new floor disappoints.
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02
Moisture
Concrete holds moisture longer than people expect, especially in newer buildings. We check it before laying, because wood over a damp slab will cup no matter how well it was fitted.
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03
Acclimatisation
Boards sit in the room they are going into before they are laid, so they reach the humidity they will live at. Laying straight off the truck is how gaps appear in winter.
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04
Height and thresholds
A new floor changes the floor level. Doors, thresholds and appliance clearances all get checked first, because finding out afterwards is expensive.
How it is fixed down
Over timber joists, boards are usually nailed or secret-nailed through the tongue. It is the traditional method and it holds a solid floor properly.
Over concrete, boards are glued down or floated over an underlay depending on the product and the room. Glued gives the most solid feel underfoot and floating is quicker and more forgiving of small movement.
Which one you get is a judgement about the base, the board and the room rather than a house style. We tell you which we are proposing and why.
What it costs
Floor area, the board you choose, what the subfloor needs before anything is laid, stairs, whether an old floor has to come up and go away, and whether the floor is finished in place.
Removal and disposal of an existing floor is the item people forget. It is real work and real weight down a stairwell or into a service elevator.
We look before quoting. The costs page has the full breakdown of what moves the number.
Related
The pages people read next.
What your building asks for
Board approval, permitted hours, elevators and dust.
Hardwood floor refinishing
If the floor you have may not need replacing after all.
Talk about a new floor
Tell us the rooms, the rough area, the building and what is under the floor now. We will tell you what your options actually are.