Hardwood floors, which are available in various patterns, details, and colors, make a beautiful addition to your home.
They can be added to just about any room and is guaranteed to catch the eyes of your visitors.
Estimating prices for installing new hardwood floors, however, can be baffling unless you understand the various factors that affect the cost.
What Affect the Prices of Hardwood Flooring?
When you begin to determine hardwood flooring costs, keep in mind that the costs you’ll be paying are altered by the following:
- Labor costs
- Extra material
- Type of hardwood flooring
- Finishings
- Subfloor Prep
- Extra services
Solid hardwood and engineered hardwood are the two types of hardwoods available and will ultimately affect the hardwood flooring cost you’ll cover.
Type of Hardwood
Solid hardwoods are natural woods that vary in hardness. Typically, the harder the solid hardwood, the higher the material cost.
On average, prices can range anywhere from about $1 to $5 per square foot for yellow pine, which is one of the most popular softwoods, and $2-$7 per square foot for installation to about $8 to $14 per square foot for Brazilian walnut, which is one the most popular hardwoods.
On average, you can expect to pay from $4 to $15 per square foot for hardwood flooring installation.
Engineered hardwood, on the other hand, is comprised of wood veneer, which on average costs about $3 to $13 per square foot for material, and includes various options for installation including, staple, nail, glue, and even click locking, which typically costs anywhere from $3 to $10 for labor.
Comparing prices and benefits between solid hardwood flooring vs engineered hardwood will be in your best interest.
Unfinished vs. Prefinished
Prefinished hardwood means the manufacturer sprayed, stained, and applied the finish on site; therefore, it generally costs on average about $9 to $13.04 per square foot as compared to about $2 to $3 per square foot for unfinished wood, which is sanded, stained, and finished once it is installed.
However, prefinished hardwood costs on average about $3 to $5 for installation whereas unfinished floors can cost an additional $1 to $3 per square foot for labor.
Do Your Floors Need Prepping?
Before installing your new hardwood floor, your existing floor needs to be prepped for the installation.
If your current floors need to be removed, it will add to your price, which can cost on average from about $.40 to $.50 per square foot to remove and dispose of your existing flooring.
Once the old flooring has been removed, the lower level of the floor, also called the subfloor, will also need to be prepped. If the subfloor is in poor condition, it will need to be repaired before the new floor can be laid, which typically costs anywhere from about $3 to $5 per square foot plus labor to repair.
Some other factors that will affect your new hardwood cost include where you live, moving appliances and furniture, stair installation, transitions, and appliance connections. However, on average, the total cost to install wood floors is about $4,396.
Get Rid of all The Confusion with The Carpet Guys!
We’re willing to bet that all that information probably confused you a little. By working with The Carpet Guys, you don’t have to worry about all of that. We’ll take care of it all for you.
Why bother searching through loads of information when you can leave the hard stuff to the pros?
We also provide great prices on hardwood, no matter what the average is. We will work with your budget.
To make hardwood flooring installation easy, simply pick up the phone and schedule a free hardwood flooring estimate with us today.
You’ll be glad you did.
