Hardwood flooring is one of the best and highest-end floorings available. You can’t get a nicer floor unless you’re willing to pay $10,000 on custom tile or marble. Otherwise, a hardwood floor is your best option.
But calculating the cost of your hardwood flooring and if it’s a good deal can be difficult. That’s why we’ve put together a guide to help you find out how much you should be spending on hardwood flooring.
How Much Is Hardwood Flooring?
The average cost of wood flooring is around $4500. However, this number varies greatly depending on your specific needs. The square footage that you are working with needs to be taken into account.
So does the type of hardwood flooring that you choose. Not all hardwood flooring costs the same. It also matters if you plan on installing the hardwood flooring on your own or if you are going to have a contractor do it for you.
Calculating Hardwood Flooring Cost
On average, hardwood flooring costs $8 per square foot. This is because most hardwood flooring will be somewhere between $6 to $12 dollars per square foot. But this is just for the cost of materials.
Calculating how much hardwood flooring you need and what it will cost is the easy part. Just find out how much the floor cost first. For example, say the flooring you want costs $7 per square foot.
So we have this number to use for our square footage. Then, we measure our area. If the room is 10ft wide and 12ft long, then it is 120 square feet. Square footage is easy to calculate, so learn how today.
Then, once you have that number, 120 in this case, you multiply that by $7, which was our flooring cost. So 120 times 7 is $840. The cost for a room this size with wood flooring this price is $840 plus 10%.
You add 10% to the amount of flooring because you want to make sure you get enough. There’s nothing worse than getting almost done and needing more flooring. Except whenever you find out they are out of stock!
Hardwood Floor Installation Cost
After you find out the cost of the materials, it’s time to find out what you will need to pay to have it installed. Or rather, whether you want to install it yourself or get a professional to install it. Which can add up!
While the cost of your hardwood flooring can vary greatly, the cost of installing hardwood flooring doesn’t change much depending on the type of hardwood flooring you choose. The cost is purely regional.
The easiest way to estimate the cost of installing a hardwood floor is to double the cost you paid for the hardwood floor. Though this is far from accurate, it will give you a decent estimate, as the average cost is also around $6-$12 a square foot.
The only way to get an accurate estimate is to start contacting people in your area that install hardwood flooring. Get an estimate from a few different companies and find the best price. Binding estimates should be preferred.
Engineered Wood Flooring Cost
A great alternative to hardwood flooring is engineered wood flooring. Engineered wood is still real wood just like hardwood flooring is, but it isn’t solid wood. Hardwood flooring is made from solid wood.
Engineered wood, on the other hard, is a type of man-made wood made by binding strands of wood together with adhesives to create a board made from repurposed or otherwise unusable wood. There are pros and cons to both engineered and hardwood flooring.
To find out more about this and when to use one or the other, check out this guide on engineered wood. Today, we’re going to go more in-depth on what affects the price of standard hardwood flooring.
Type Of Wood
The type of wood you use matters a lot. Some types of hardwood flooring hardly even mention the type of wood used, but most of them are required to do so. This is good for both sides as it also allows them to charge more for higher-end wood.
Maple – $7/sqft Average
Maple is a great hardwood that doesn’t dent easily. It is usually a creamy white or pale red though it can be in-between. Maple is one of the cheapest and safest options that you can find, so never be afraid of using it.
Pine – $6/sqft Average
Pine isn’t as smooth as other wood as far as textures are concerned. You can see knots all over the place in pine. While this can look amazing, it also can mean that the pine knots pop out and weaken the wood.
Bamboo – $8/sqft Average
The price of bamboo varies a lot depending on your region. It is a highly sustainable wood that grows very quickly and very plentiful. It can be yellow-green in color and is very durable, so it’s a great choice.
White Ash – $10/sqft Average
White ash is a pretty light-colored wood that doesn’t take stains well. however, it is durable though it does have quite a few knots. Because it is a rarer wood it is more expensive than standard hardwoods.
Hickory $8/sqft Average
Hickory is a wonderful, darker-colored hardwood that is very durable. It is fairly average in price though it is much rarer than pine, oak, or maple. Finding hickory feels like finding a gem in a bag of smooth rocks.
Red Oak $10/sqft Average
Red oak is warm and inviting. It is one of the only hardwoods that are both affordable and red. Red woods are usually fairly expensive, but red oak is one of the cheaper variants. You can use red wood for floors or decks.
White Oak $12/sqft Average
White oak is a high-end oak that is one of the most expensive woods available on the market. It is durable, light in color, and very smooth. White oak truly is one of the most beautiful types of wood floorings.
Brazilian Walnut $15/sqft Average
This is one of the strongest hardwoods you can get. That’s why it is so expensive. Brazilian walnut hardwood flooring isn’t just strong though, it’s quite rare. So if you find this on sale, do not hesitate.
Textures And Patterns
Here is another thing that really matters. Wood that is smooth on top with little to no texture or visible grain the wood is generally cheaper than those with rough textures and a more realistic look. Yes, even if it is all real wood.
Smooth
This type of hardwood is lightly sanded and is made to look as smooth as possible. It is the most popular type of hardwood and the least likely to give you splinters. The grain is even and smooth, just like the name.
Open Grain
Open grain hardwood flooring lets the grain and texture of the natural wood shine. They look porous and almost indented in areas. It is usually coarsely sanded but not particularly smooth like “smooth” hardwood.
Hand-Scraped
Hand-scraped hardwood flooring is one of the most unique types of hardwood floors. The pattern shows through in waves as it cut differently than open grain wood but has the same idea. This type of wood is planned.
Wire-Brushed
Wire-brushed hardwood floors have a more intense texture most of the time. The wood is delicately brushed with steel bristles to open the grain and leave it rough before varnish is added to smooth it down to safety.
Installation Technique
There are many different ways to install hardwood flooring. Some install just like laminate while others need to be nailed down as they come straight from the tree and don’t have grooves cut in them.
Tongue And Groove
Tongue and groove is the most common type of hardwood flooring. While there are many types of flooring that don’t need any other type of adhesive, most of the time, solid hardwood floors will need additional adhesion.
Nail/Staple
Nail or stapled-down hardwood floor will be quite secure. However, it is more permanent than other options and it does tend to pose the risk of nails floating up eventually and posing a hazard to those walking on the floors.
Float
This is probably the cheapest and easiest, though least secure, option. The floating installation allows the boards to float slightly over the subfloor rather than be nailed or glued to it. This is similar to tongue and groove.
Glue
Glue is also very secure and permanent. It also works great to add a bit of insulation for the weather, sound, and air. Because it fills the gap underneath the flooring. However, the correct glue needs to be used.
Weighing The Hardwood Flooring Cost
In the end, you won’t be getting hardwood flooring for the same price as laminate or linoleum. You will end up paying for it. So when you do, make sure that you get a good price and don’t waste any money.
In order to do this, it’s important to compare prices and ask around to see what other people are paying. You want to get good flooring and a good team to install it. But you also don’t want to overpay. So do your research!
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