Household & Real Estate

The Role of a Flooring Contractor in Home Renovation Projects

The role of a flooring contractor in home renovation projects is to install a wide range of floor coverings, including carpet, hardwood, tile, stone and resilient products like vinyl or linoleum.

Floor contractors may work alone or as part of a large company with hundreds of employees. They usually specialize in a particular type of flooring material or offer services for various materials.

Contents

Installation

Homeowners and building managers hire flooring contractors to prepare the subfloor for various floor coverings, including hardwood, laminate, carpet, tile, stone, and resilient products like vinyl or linoleum. These professionals may also be hired to refinish or repair existing floors.

Whether on commercial or residential projects, flooring contractors typically produce estimates based on drawings and other written instructions. These jobs are generally awarded to the lowest bidder in the retail market.

In residential markets, homeowners typically contact several contractors to obtain project pricing before deciding who to hire. Once the homeowner has agreed on a price, the contractor will schedule an appointment to install the flooring.

Depending on the job, a flooring contractor Nashville TN might use standard carpentry hand tools or specialty flooring nailers to install floor coverings. He may also use masonry tools for cutting tiles and other materials.

Repair

A flooring contractor can help homeowners repair blemishes on their hardwood floors. These blemishes can range from simple finish peeling to severe warping of floorboards.

If the damage is no deeper than 1/8 -inch, it can often be repaired with simple sanding and finishing. However, if the damage is much more significant or the board is missing completely, board replacement will most likely be required.

In the meantime, a flooring contractor can repair small blemishes by filling in soft spots or missing chunks of wood with a bit of glue or sandpaper. This effective stop-gap repair doesn’t require carpentry skills, takes only about 10 minutes and doesn’t make a huge mess!

A flooring contractor can also help homeowners repair a water-damaged hardwood floor. This can be an extremely difficult task, but with the proper knowledge and expertise, it’s a very simple process.

Maintenance

A flooring contractor is a business or individual that installs, repairs and maintains floors in residential and commercial properties. They can range from a single person to a large corporation with hundreds of employees.

Some focus on a particular type of floor covering, such as vinyl and linoleum, while others provide services for various materials, including hardwood and laminate. Some flooring contractors specialize in a particular industry or market sector, such as healthcare, education or retail.

Maintenance activities vary widely by product category and manufacturer but typically require vacuuming, mopping or machine scrubbing to remove dirt and debris, cleaning, resealing and waxing top coatings or adding new protective coats. Restorative maintenance activities might be required once or twice yearly for high-traffic areas and monthly for low-traffic areas.

Contract dealers that have entered the floor care business typically do so for a few reasons, most often to generate higher margins than selling and installing the flooring itself, but also because floor care programs create demand and can build ongoing relationships with clients that drive future sales.

Pricing

The role of a flooring contractor in home renovation projects includes installing, repairing and maintaining floor surfaces. They establish a variety of floor coverings, including carpet, hardwood, tile, stone and resilient products such as vinyl and linoleum.

Whether your floors need repair or replacement, you can trust your flooring contractor to advise you wisely and make the right decisions. They will also ensure that they follow the manufacturer’s recommended maintenance practices to prolong the life of your new flooring and to keep your home looking its best.

While many factors go into a bid for your new flooring, it is important to understand that every successful professional contractor must add some overhead to their prices. This covers the actual cost of labor and materials, subcontractors fees, insurance, WCB, etc.

Keeping up with these expenses will help your contractor maintain a healthy profit margin and keep their business running. Without a profit, your contractor will likely be forced out of business or cut prices to stay in business.