Replacing carpet with engineered hardwood...

Yogiman2003

13 years ago

I just bought a home and carpets are old/flat/stained.
After a lot of search/reading, I am leaning towards Armstrong ehs5301sl engineered hardwood for the main floor.
It's 1/2" and sells for $7.88/sq. ft. online here:
Armstrong Rustic Accents: Old World 1/2" x 5" Engineered Acacia Hardwood EHS5301SL : Efloors.com

Local craigslist has the same thing for $2.50/sq. ft.
So if that's not fake, it probably is much cheaper and I've found a guy (also from CL) who installs for $2/sq. ft.
The main floor has around 700 sq. ft. (Family room, kitchen and formal dining/living).
So that would be $1750 for materials and $1400 for install, total $3150.
Too thin or okay?
Not sure if that includes sub-floor materials.

The stairs, upper hallway and 3 bedrooms will be carpet.
What you think?
Deal or no deal?
thanks

This post was edited by Yogiman2003 on Mon, Oct 21, 13 at 15:09

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Comments (3)

gregmills_gw
13 years ago
The guy on CL thats selling the wood. Is he a legit business or is he just got "extra" hes tryin to sell?

When you dont buy from a legit business you have no one to deal with if there is damaged or issues with the floor. So thats a big risk on your part. Not sure if the warranty the mill offers carries over in this type of transaction as well.

The guy who installs it on CL is a pretty good deal as long as hes not a hack.
Find out for sure if one hes a legit floor guy and not just a guy with a saw and compressor. Also see if he charges more for subfloor prep. Chances are he will and chances are your subfloor will need SOME prep. How much i cant tell you.
kitasei
13 years ago
For what it's worth, I am in the process of replacing FAILED engineered wood on a concrete slab with carpet... And my advice to you is to make sure you read all the fine print in every product you use (the wood, the glue, the pad) and make sure the installation follows all instructions to the letter, including requirements for the recommended conditions like a/c and dehumidifiers and moisture tests etc etc. And be clear about who will be responsible for a job that doesn't work out. Bella, for example, would not even talk to me about the problem, only to to the contractor who purchased the product. And he, of course, had no interest in getting them involved.. You should also know that mistakes with engineered wood can be very expensive to undo. Removing glue from concrete costs more than the installation! That said, it's hard to resist wood and hard to resist a bargain!
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Yogiman2003
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for replies.
Well this guy says he only sells wood but found another guy who sells and installs hardwood.
This new guy says he's an Armstrong dealer so he only has Armstrong woods.
He said he ordered a lot of them and has extra and returning them would cost him 15% restocking fee so he wants to give them away with very little margin.
He doesn't have all the wood that Armstrong offers but only around 6 or 7 models like 3" Gunstock, some dark 5" hardwood and few engineered 5".
He doesn't have the EHS5301SL that I mentioned but has similar wood in little darker color.
If I buy wood from another person, his installation will go up.

So I'm limited on the choices but probably getting good deal.
Warranty is 1 year on labor and 15 or something years on material from Armstrong.
I haven't checked him being Armstrong dealer papers but will do that once I decide to do the work.
Oh, he also said that if the subfloor is not leveled, each area will cost $50 prep work.
Hmm....

This post was edited by Yogiman2003 on Mon, Oct 28, 13 at 14:21