How Much You Should Spend On Hardwood Flooring

Hardwood flooring has set golden standards in home furnishing. Wooden flooring enhances the elegance of the house by offering an authentic look. These hardwood floors can instantly add beauty and character to any interiors. These floors are popular for their durability, design patterns, appeal and color choices. Regardless of any kind of hardwood floor, it is always suitable to get it installed with the help of professionals. This ensures its proper fixing and long shelf life. Initially, the investment into hardwood floors might look massive but it pays back in long run and also increases the value of the property.

Average expenditure ranges between $12-20 per square foot for these hardwood flooring. Some of the key factors that affect the cost of these gleaming hardwoods are discussed here.

Determining Cost Factors for Hardwood flooring-

Hardwood flooring company offer a huge variety to its targeted customers. But one has to keep the budget within the limit, and that can be done by comparing different grades of species, grade, installation charges and a grid of the wood. One can find a forest of options across a diverse price range so the path has to be treaded wisely.

Flooring Material

Low-grade woods are cheaper as compared to high-grade wood like Brazilian cherry or oak. Flooring industry is very vast and Utah people can get the best price by developing an understanding of the retail industry. Prefinished flooring materials are costly but are easy to install as compare to unfinished material.

Do not chase the sale offers blindly as that may land you with low-quality material. Discuss all available material option and their final cost with your hardwood flooring company. Understand per square foot cost of the material along with its installation cost before making the final decision. Solid wood flooring may cost somewhere in between $3500 to $8000 for a house. On the other hand, engineered wood may cost $5000-$7000.

Grade and cut of the wood

Grading is all about the look of your floor unlike the quality of the wood that has to do with the thickness and durability. Few grade names used by the companies are Cabin, shorts, clear, #1common, #2common etc.

Installation cost

By and large total flooring cost will also include the installation cost of the floor that ranges from $500 to $3000. Installation cost for Utah people depends upon the size and type of the wood and difficulty levels in installing the floors. Per square foot labor cost will comprise of the cost of preparation for flooring, demolition, and molding. Unfinished wood installation costs more than finished wood. For bigger rooms get the quotes in advance to avoid last minute prizing hassle.

Price of various species

Every wood species has a different price depending upon its quality and availability in that area. Per square foot rates for Red Oak is $2-$5, white oak $3-$5, cork is $2-$5, cherry is $5-$20 and for birches its $2-$8.

Old floor removal charges

One might have to remove the old flooring before installing the new hardwood flooring inside the house. If tiles or old hardwood demand more work for dissembling it may cost higher. Average labor cost is $8 to $13 per square foot. In case after removing the old floor your subfloor needs some repair then Utah people should get prepared to pay the extra cost for subflooring.

Finishing cost

To help protect the hardwood from temperature, moisture, scratch, scuff and humidity one has to refinish it. Various finishes available are the latest acrylic raisin, wax, and aluminum. The wax finish has less shelf life and is cheaper as compared to penetrating finish.

Maintenance cost

These floors also have some maintenance cost to make them work for longer period of time. Hardwood floor may need waxing once or twice a year at the most. Good quality hardwood floor cleaner is recommended to retain the shine of the wood.

Once the contractor starts the work, some unknown cost may also pop up. Choose a good hardwood flooring company and do some research in order to get the best value for your money.