Top Ten Flooring Mistakes to Avoid (Part 3 of 3)

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Expert: Elisabeth Stubbs, Co-owner
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Address: 1847 Roswell Road, Marietta, GA 30062 US

Spell It Out

A home-improvement contract should spell out the precise work to be performed. “Paint the bedroom” is vague and can be interpreted differently by each party. “Apply two coats of Behr paint to bedroom walls” is better, but still not too detailed. Who is responsible for patching holes? Will old paint be removed? Will primer be used? Who moves the massive wooden furniture? Generally, if a task isn’t specified in a contract, it isn’t included in the price. Get a fully itemized contract before you make your flooring-purchase decision. A price scrawled on the back of a business card offers you little information and no protection if a dispute arises. The proposal you are accepting is a legally binding contract. These are some of the items that should be included: Exactly where will the work be performed? What is the brand, color and quantity of the product purchased? What is included in the installation (what types of labor will be needed)? What will be the price, including sales tax? What are the terms of the warranty?

Don’t Ignore a Damaged or Uneven Subfloor

A subfloor is the concrete or plywood structure upon which all the floors in your home are anchored. Installing a new floor atop a damaged or compromised subfloor simply doesn’t make sense. You wouldn’t put an expensive custom paint job on an old, rusty car, would you? Of course not. The same principle applies to flooring. Over time, wooden subfloors, like any wooden structure, can be subject to damage. Exposure to water, termites, mold and dry rot can all weaken a wooden structure, making it uneven and likely to break. The situation is further complicated if your house has settled and sags.

Flooring manufacturers require that your subfloor be flat, clean, dry and structurally sound prior to the installation of a new floor. Flooring installations can fail due to lack of proper floor prep and leveling.

For many floor coverings, the subfloor must be level to within 3/16” over a 10-foot span. Concrete slabs are usually uneven and this is something that should be corrected prior to the installation of the new hard-surface floor. Carpet and the pad underneath it can hide the fact that a subfloor is damaged or is not level, so don’t assume you’ve got a perfectly flat subfloor until your old carpet is pulled up for installation of new flooring. You should know that, in the event of a product-defects claim, the manufacturer’s product warranty can be void due to improper installation. Making sure the subfloor is as level as possible is key to a quality installation.

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