Wood flooring makes a beautiful addition to any room. It’s timeless and can take any room from average and dull to one with depth and character. Despite its beauty and allure though, it can be an expensive addition to property. The decision to add hardwood flooring around your home is one that cannot be taken lightly and you need to be fully clued up on all the costs, upheaval and maintenance involved.
To give you a helping hand, here’s a handy guide to the cost of wood flooring installation so you can weigh up your options before making the move from carpet, tiles or lino to stunning hardwood.
As an alternative, you can also look into installing vinyl plank flooring yourself.
Factors Affecting The Cost of Wood Flooring Installation
There are a number of different factors to consider when assessing the cost of installing your new flooring. We will go into detail on how each of your options affect your costs and some cost saving tips.
Material Type
Of course, when trying to work out how much a wood floor installation will cost you, its important to consider all the materials needed. Depending on your desired hardwood floor type, colour or pattern and the size of your property or room, you will need varying budgets available.
If you’re on a smaller budget, there is the option to go for engineered wood rather than solid hardwood. Engineered wood is mixed with layers of laminate veneer to make the planks slightly less expensive and open wood floors up to people that may not have thousands to splurge on their new flooring.
Tip: Order the materials yourself instead of the installer. The installer will charge the same price as you get from the store plus at 20% mark-up.
How Large The Room Is
First things first, how big is the room you plan to install hardwood flooring? Solid hardwood floor planks, for example, range massively in price, from £19 right up to £100 per square metre depending on your choice. Try to calculate exactly how many planks you would require based on the shape and size of your room.
Having a strong idea in your head of how much your wood floor materials will cost is essential to avoid running into any trouble further down the line. It’s far better to overestimate your costs and be pleasantly surprised than to run out of the budget to buy materials should you run out.
Tip: When ordering materials, don’t get the exact amount you need. You need to order extra, around 5%-10% depending on your room size. Reason being is you end up with off cuts and mistakes that leads to using extra material.
Pattern and Stain
When considering the costs involved in getting all the materials required for your new wood floor, don’t forget to take into account the pattern and colour of your desired floor. There is a wide range of hardwood floor patterns available. Take parquet flooring, for example, it looks stunning but the intricate design, installation process and long term maintenance involved will mean you can expect to pay more throughout the entire process.
Hardwood Flooring Patterns:
- Planks
- Herringbone
- Parquet
- Chevron
Once you’re set on the pattern of wood floor you want and how this will influence your costs, consider your colour. If you’re working with professional hardwood floor suppliers and fitters, they will usually stain your floor as part of their service. If not though, you will need to source this yourself and decide on the finishing texture and colour you want your floor to be.
Tip: It’s essential to make sure you invest just as much time and money into the finishing of your hardwood floor or your floor will be easily damaged.
Labour Costs
On top of the costs of sourcing all the materials required for your wood floor installation, think about who’s going to do the fitting. If you plan to attempt some hardcore DIY and do this yourself, there are equipment rental and safety equipment costs to consider. To hire a heavy-duty floor sander you will need to be prepared to spend around £50+ a day and allow for plenty of time to carry out the process carefully and effectively.
Time
If you plan to complete your hardwood floor fitting yourself, prepare to book some time off work and dedicate a number of days to the process. While this may not directly cost you money, the time you will need to invest will demand your attention away from other things and will cause some upheaval around your home. For homes with young children, it’s far better to pay for professional services to ensure that you can keep your children out of harm’s way and out of the house when there is heavy equipment and wood dust around your home.
Professional services
Though fitting a wood floor yourself is entirely possible if you have previous DIY skills and are prepared to dedicate time to getting it right, leaving it to the professionals is recommended. This way, you can make sure that your materials are used correctly and no wood is damaged or wasted in the process.
On average, the labour involved in a professional wood floor installation will cost around £17-£20 per square metre. Keep in mind though that there can be other charges involved if you need some previous flooring removing or your floor needs levelling out before the professionals can do their job effectively.
Tip: If you can remove the original flooring yourself, this is an easy money saver.
Quicksand Flooring are professional hardwood floor suppliers, fitters, restorers and advisors – they can visit your home or get a feel for your home over the phone to provide you with a free quote for the work and advise you on the right type of wood for your home and lifestyle. Their expert team has decades of experience in fitting and restoring hardwood floors and they can advise you on all the materials required to get the job done correctly.