What hardwood floor installation means in Des Moines
Solid 3/4 inch tongue and groove is nailed through the tongue into a wood subfloor with 16 gauge cleats, roughly every eight inches and closer at the ends of each board. It lasts a century and can be sanded many times.
Over a slab or above an unheated basement, solid wood is the wrong construction and no amount of good carpentry saves it. Engineered plank goes there instead, either glued or floated, because its cross-laminated core does not move across the grain the way a solid board does.
- How it is done
- ¾ inch solid, blind-nailed at 8-inch centres into ¾ inch plywood
- What goes on the floor
- red or white oak, 2¼ to 5 inch width
- Ready to use
- walk immediately if prefinished; site-finished follows the sand-and-finish timeline
- Typical cost
- $7 – $12 per sq ft installed
- Service life
- 80–100 years with periodic refinishing
Des Moines wood floors installation, subfloor by subfloor
Over a conditioned upstairs, solid wood nailed down is the right answer and lasts a century. Over an unconditioned basement or a slab, it is the wrong answer, and no amount of good carpentry fixes it. Engineered goes down there instead. That is not a downgrade. It is the only construction that survives an Iowa basement's humidity swing.
How hardwood floor installation goes down
The material comes into the house and sits in the room it will live in, opened, for five to seven days before a board goes down. Skipping it means the boards settle to your house's width after they are already nailed down, instead of before.
We take a moisture reading of the boards and of the subfloor and write both on the invoice. The number that matters is the difference between them: more than 4 percent apart on a solid floor and the boards will move after they are fastened.
Layout starts from the longest sightline, usually a hallway, and runs perpendicular to the joists. Rooms get racked out ahead so no two end joints land within six inches of each other, which is what stops the eye seeing a staircase pattern in the finished floor.
What hardwood floor installation costs in Des Moines, IA
Installation is quoted per square foot for labour with the material separate, because material is where the range really lives. Site-finished solid means a sanding job afterwards as well, so the honest comparison against prefinished includes that.
Where hardwood floor installation goes wrong in Iowa
The Iowa specific failure is a floor laid in an unheated house in winter. Boards go down at the moisture content of a cold empty house, the furnace comes on, and by March there are gaps at every seam that never fully close again.
Where we do hardwood floor installation
We cover Des Moines, the western suburbs, the Ankeny corridor and the older neighbourhoods inside the city, including and 18 more areas.
Questions we get asked about hardwood floor installation
Solid or engineered for our house?
Upstairs and over a heated basement, solid. Directly over a slab, over an unconditioned basement, or with radiant heat, engineered.
How long does the material have to sit?
Five to seven days in the room where it will be installed, with the heating or cooling running as it normally would.
Prefinished or site finished?
Prefinished is faster and has a tougher factory coating with a bevel at every board. Site finished gives a flat surface with no bevels and can be refinished more times.
Get a free estimate
Tell us what you need. We answer the same day, the free estimate is on site, and nobody chases you afterwards.
Get a price for your hardwood floor installation
Call and we will come out, measure, and leave you a written quote. There is no charge for the visit and no obligation afterwards.