5 Things to do Before You Shop for Flooring
When customers visit our showroom, they often say, “I don’t even know where to start!” Our sales staff is happy to help guide you through the process, but there are some steps you can take before you leave home to make shopping easier.
1: Take measurements
In order to get a proper job quote, a professional needs to visit your home to measure the areas and evaluate the work to be done. But you can get a better range of your project costs if you know how big the area is, since flooring is priced per square foot. Online calculators—or good old geometry—can help you measure the square footage of your rooms.
2: Identify the flooring you have
If you have flooring in your house you’re hoping to compliment with your new flooring, we’ll need to know what kind of flooring it is. It’s especially helpful if you have an extra board leftover from the previous installation or a piece cut off by your contractor. That way, we can compare the old flooring to our samples in the store. If you can’t bring a piece with you, knowing the species, board width, whether it’s solid or engineered wood, and whether it was prefinished or site-finished can help us narrow down so samples for you to take home and compare.
3: Check your subfloor
The type of flooring you can install depends on the subfloor underneath it.
If you want to replace your current flooring, you need to know what you’ll be installing on: plywood? concrete? radiant heat? Some flooring types can only be installed on certain subfloor types, or the subfloor may need reinforcement. If you have carpet, you can usually lift up the corner to see what’s underneath. You can also up the vent cover and see the subfloor in the vent.
4: Watch the traffic
Take some time to observe the traffic patterns in your home. Where do the kids spend most of the time playing? Where does your dog like to run? These can help you determine what product is needed in which room. Some wood species and flooring types are more resilient than others and better for high traffic areas. Knowing where your high traffic areas will help you pick the best flooring for each room.
5: Plan to visit the showroom
We have hundreds of samples in our showrooms in Medford and Sicklerville.
Many customers think the first step to shopping for hardwood flooring is to get an in-home estimate. However, it’s impossible to give a price for the job without knowing what product we’re installing. We have hundreds of samples in our showroom, so we don’t want to just pick a random product for you. We want to help you find the perfect product for your home.
