COST TO INSTALL HARDWOOD FLOORS When you find yourself trying to figure out the true cost for installing hardwood floors there are various things you need to take a look at. First of all you could head into any hardware store and ask the price of their hardwood flooring material. You will definitely get several different answers. Most of the time depending upon the manufacturer, type of material you are using, and whether it is interlocking hardwood flooring you will find a cost per square foot of $5.00 to $15.00. As I said you can find a lot of variables to take a look at even when you just go into a store. So what you actually need to do is pick a number of stores to go to, speak directly with a manufacturer that sells to anyone, and compare prices. The hardwood flooring is merely a small part of the entire cost of installing a hardwood floor. Depending on the type of hardwood floor you acquire you may need glue or screws. Some hardwood flooring is secured to the floor only using glue to stay away from the holes created by screws. Other flooring will be needing screws that will need to be filled in with matching putty. You will additionally need to have a urethane coating for the top of the flooring to provide protection from spills and other accidents. Screws can be purchased by the pound or by boxes. Quite often you are looking at around $30.00 for the screws or perhaps the special glue. Putty is commonly around $4.00 to $6.00. The finishing coat is again likely to be around $30.00 to $60.00 depending on the size of your floor. When installing the floor yourself you would also need to have sanding material before the last coating can be applied, which could increase the cost of the hardwood floor. If you choose to use the tongue and groove hardwood flooring, you are considering a minimal cost for the actual flooring. The best thing about the tongue and groove is the fact that it is already finished and you don’t have to use screws to secure the floor. This can be one of your cheaper choices if you have a budget. You also want to consider the cost of labor if you happen to be not doing the floor yourself. Labor costs can vary from company to company. The material will continue to be the same as long as you make the contractor aware about the type of material you prefer to use. You can as well ask that they all use the same manufacturer for the quote. Labor will probably be based on the number of hours it will require to complete the installation and the experience of the contractor you end up picking. Current hourly rates for contractors currently are between $30.00 and $45.00. Keep in mind that contractors do vary based on location. They also include any overhead in those prices like the insurance it costs them to do the work. All told to figure the cost of installation you should know the square footage of the area that you are using hardwood flooring on, you should choose the manufacturer you will use to figure out the cost, and then you need to decide whether this is going to be self-installation to reduce costs. For more information on cost to install hardwood floors, visit Wood Floor Planet, New York, a website that specializes in providing helpful flooring tips, advice and resources. Here’s our Address: 425 W 46th St. New York, NY 10036 Call Us @ 212-252-3838