HELP!!! $90,000 quote for Mohawk engineered wood floor from subdivisio

9 years ago

My husband and I are buying into a new subdivision in north San Diego County. We have met with the design center and have to make a decision on the upgrades within about a week. We want hardwood floors throughout the home except for the bathrooms and laundry room, approximately 3500 sq ft. We decided on hickory because of the hardness (husband is in a power wheelchair). The quote on Mohawk Los Altos hickory came back at $90,000. Never having hardwood floors before, this sounds incredibly high. It appears our only option would be to put the standards in - carpet and tile - then pull them out after we take possession and have hardwood and our preferred tile installed. Would this end up costing us about the same or do you think we would save money? We would prefer to have the flooring finished onsite because we prefer the smooth and seamless look you get that way. Any advice is appreciated, thanks!

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User

9 years ago

Wait until close,then do wood look tile. Wood is unsuitable for use with a wheelchair. It will not wear at all well. And slab foundations are unsuitable for solid sand and finish wood, even if you were to use wood in the non wheelchair rooms..

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Comments (14)

Anne Duke
9 years ago
That's a lot of square footage, but 90K sounds high even for SoCal. Can you get bids from others to get an idea?
champcamp
9 years ago
I used to live in SoCal and had a friend who bought a town home in a new subdivision and flooring prices from the builder were outrageous. She wanted the same tile I had put in my house and her builder was charging almost 3x what I paid. A bunch of the soon to be new homeowners complained about the flooring costs and they eventually were allowed to shop elsewhere for materials. If that hadn't worked out my friend was planning to put in the cheapest carpet and rip it out which is not just wasteful - it can mess up your painting/baseboards if it is a higher height than the flooring you eventually put in.
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Cancork Floor Inc.
9 years ago
For a wheelchair, the tile floor is the most appropriate. Especially if that is a motorized wheel chair. Wheel-spin on those chairs can be very damaging.

And yes. That is high for a quote. That's $30+ per square foot to change to hardwood. That's a bit much...even for a high-end engineered hardwood (and these do NOT rank as HIGH end....medium yes...high-end no).

And to be clear...Janka hardness ratings do NOT relate to engineered. You will NOT get the hardness you think you are getting with the hickory. And if it is darker, you are going to show wear and scratches much faster.

I personally would suggest going with tile - everywhere. And part of the "up charge" is the subfloor prep for hardwood. Carpet gets the 'low end' particle board or cheap OSB. Hardwood can't have either. It needs good plywood. These guys don't want to spend then money on subfloors so they try to make the up charge an outrageous amount so they either A) stop you from ordering it, or B) make TRIPLE the amount then if they had put in carpet. It is win-win for them.

If this is concrete slab, the same idea applies to the slab...it takes a HUGE amount of work to prepare concrete for tiles or for hardwood. But carpet will roll right over it without anyone noticing the lumps and bumps.

Good luck. Stick with tile. Or solid hardwood - dark engineered hickory is NOT what a wheel chair will need. You won't get the wear you think you will get.
sondramartina
9 years ago
Builder is ripping you off ! Ask your contractor to give you a quote .
Bailey R
9 years ago
Builders jack up prices for upgrades. If it were me, I'd just go with the standards & upgrade later. Sounds very high to me even in my area ...
npbhike
Original Author
9 years ago
This might be a duplicate ... I was typing away and then, poof, my comment was gone! :)
Thank you to everyone who commented. We have a lot to think about. We've always had tile floors in our homes and our hearts were set on hardwood. I guess our choices are tile or real hardwood. (My husband's wheelchair is heavy duty, so the wheels never spin...not ready to give up on wood!)
I had no idea that the color I picked out was considered to be too dark (wheel tracks showing) and that the hardness scale didn't apply to engineered floors.
We have a lot to think about. Thank you all so very much! I'll let you know what we decide.
Angel 18432
9 years ago
Possibly you could close on the home with tile in the kitchen and bathrooms and nothing on the rest of the floors. Then get it done after close. Check with building dept first on rulings, then approach builder.
Renee Texas
9 years ago
Can you do concrete floors, then put wood in after closing? I hate the waste, and that sounds high for them to do it.
npbhike
Original Author
9 years ago
Renee, I have a sign on my frig that says "No Waste!" I'm in complete agreement with you. We will ask about closing with no flooring but I worry there is some bldg code that prohibits that. Thanks!
gtcircus
9 years ago
May I suggest acid etched concrete. I was in a wheelchair due to paralysis following a a spinal cord injury/accident and then have spent almost a year in a body cast again with use of a wheel chair. Depending on the situation, a smooth floor is necessary and acid etched concrete looks gorgeous and is wheel chair friendly. If the wheel chair is temporary but hard surfaces will be an issue - as with spinal cord injuries, look at a cork floor over concrete.
gtcircus
9 years ago
He are some pictures of acid etched concrete stained brown so it has the warmth of wood. This is SOOOO much cheaper than any other option posted - please consider because you'd then have the money to do other things. From someone who has been there and done that!
gtcircus
9 years ago
And if you don't like that look, well they now stamp and acid etch concrete to look like hard wood floors.
tatts
9 years ago
Some of the pictured samples appear to be "hand scraped", and I'd be leery of that if the wheelchair causes high traffic/wear in some areas. The high spots in the wood will wear faster than the low spots.

I dislike the "hand scraped" finish because it is clearly NOT hand scraped; it's a machine. If you ever saw real hand scraped wood (mostly trim in very, very old houses where everything was finished by hand), you'd see how subtle and beautiful it is. They weren't going for a scraped "look", it's just that it was the best they could do in those times, and it's truly beautiful. This new stuff is coarse and garish to my eye.