Local wood flooring. Got a quote and it can't be this expensive? (Houston: credit, home)

[piyf]

I just got a free in home quote by a large company that rhymes with "beers". The engineered wood is $3.14/sqft. The total sqft I need is 1,050. The grand total for the wood with installation is SIXTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!!!!!! He told me if I paid 30% right then and there they would give me $1,000 off or a 1,250 Beers in store credit.

This has to be a joke, right? I thought it costs 2-4sqft for installation plus the price of the wood/tile? What I got quoted was $11/sqft just for installation.

He first told us a bit over 20k. But my wife pointed to the website and said you have 20% off right now. To which he said, oh I didn't know that. Thanks for pointing that out. I'll be honest I've never been on their site and they're bad about telling us.

[cheryjohns]

Lumber Liquidators off 290.

[desertsun41]

Originally Posted by danieloneil01

I just got a free in home quote by a large company that rhymes with "beers". The engineered wood is $3.14/sqft. The total sqft I need is 1,050. The grand total for the wood with installation is SIXTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!!!!!! He told me if I paid 30% right then and there they would give me $1,000 off or a 1,250 Beers in store credit.

This has to be a joke, right? I thought it costs 2-4sqft for installation plus the price of the wood/tile? What I got quoted was $11/sqft just for installation.

He first told us a bit over 20k. But my wife pointed to the website and said you have 20% off right now. To which he said, oh I didn't know that. Thanks for pointing that out. I'll be honest I've never been on their site and they're bad about telling us.

So I did my math right. The cost of materials is about $3300 and they want to charge you $16 grand? $12,700 to install it

Are you wearing some big fat dunce hat? I'm glad you walked away but I hope you didn't forget to shove your size 10 shoe up there azz while on your way out the door. What's wrong with these businesses? We are in the middle of the worst economic depression since 1928 and these businesses are still trying to rape people.

I have no idea what store rhymes with beer. Whatever you do stay away from the big orange who only wants your little green. They are the king of rape and extortionists because they rely on uneducated customers who are simply brainwashed into thinking of them when they need home improvement products.

The very best prices for any flooring is Floor and Decor. There are I think 2 locations in Houston. I promise you there is no better prices including that lumber liquidators who sell seconds junk. The one on 45 near Baybrook mall on the Gulf Freeway has a larger selection then 50 big orange stores put together.

Oh and there are flooring installers who walk around soliciting customers in the store who buy flooring. They are offering about $2/SF to install

[ahzzie]

Congrats on walking away from that. There's a lot of fools...err...I mean people who would have paid that with a big ol' grin thinking they got a good deal. I hope you took desertsun's advice and shoved your foot up their azz when they left. I know which company rhymes with "beers" by the way.

[piyf]

Yeah, I'm not going to go with wood anymore. I'm going back to my original idea of wood tile. Looks like wood but without the cons.


Is tile more expensive to install over wood?

[testmo]

if you arent going real hardwood but thinking of engineered that stuff it is an easy DIY install. a 12 yr old supervised by an adult could do it in a weekend (unless you are planning some type of design or having to do a lot of cuts)

[RVD26]

Why won't you mention the name of the company?
I'm not sure who you are referring to.
Just say it so we all know to stay the hell away from them.

[TimBomb]

Sears? Que ers?

[Txgal33]

Originally Posted by testmo

if you arent going real hardwood but thinking of engineered that stuff it is an easy DIY install. a 12 yr old supervised by an adult could do it in a weekend (unless you are planning some type of design or having to do a lot of cuts)

Very time consuming if you are glueing it down. All depends on the installation and what your flooring calls for. A would say it is a tad more complicated than a 12 yr old level. Our flooring gave us three options. First was to float which we did and HATED it. It made the flooring feel cheap and sound awful even with top quality underlayment which now is laying in a pile on our garage floor. $300 down the drain. A few weeks later we took it all up and decided it was well worth the time and effort and added cost to glue it down. So much better now!!

As for the OPs quote yes that seems really high but we were around $7,000 just for tear out and installation on not quite 800 sq ft and that was with Lumber Liquidators. THe tear out of the existing flooring which was carpet and wood was what made the cost so high. Needless to say we are saving the $7,000 and doing it ourselves though it will take us several months. We would rather take several months to get it done than spend the 1,000s to have it done in a week. All depends on your priorities.

As for the wood tile it looks really awesome! If you go over to 45 and 1960 there is the Floor & Decor outlet and they have very comparable pricing and have always been very helpful to us and if ya need install they can do that as well. I am not sure anybody would recommend that you lay the tile over existing hardwood. It expands and moves and you will just end up cracking your tile and grout not mention the fact that the rest of the flooring in your home will be lower than where the new tile flooring is. It is best to just do it the right way from the start to save yourself money and head ache in the end.

[tstone]

Originally Posted by danieloneil01

This has to be a joke, right? I thought it costs 2-4sqft for installation plus the price of the wood/tile? What I got quoted was $11/sqft just for installation.

I think the $2 install is just to get you in the door. There is more than just labor and planks. Extra materials may include leveling compound, vapor barrier, glue, quarter rounds, and transition pieces and no one ever tells you this. Then possible change orders because a surprise came up.... But yeah, $11/sf is too much.

I'm looking at getting this job done like you... actually just even getting it started but I've had nothing but headaches over this for the past several weeks. Some of those little tile/wood stores on I-45 don't want to give you prices, or you'll get simple pricing in writing and after the estimators measure you'll never hear from them again. Inside the loop you might come across artsy designers with catalogs, ''installers'' and all the talk, but turn out to be complete posers who waste your time and can't even keep their stories straight. You might also get a zero down ''labor only'' contract from a reputable place but the installers abandon the jobs before they even begin. That's better than money down for nothing though.

I can't understand why this is such a headache out here but I have a few theories. One is the economy isn't nearly as bad as people say it is.