Flooring installation in Los Angeles

Replacing floors throughout the house

Most of our installs replace something: carpet, tile or worn hardwood. See flooring replacement and carpet to hardwood for how those projects run.

Choosing the right flooring for your Los Angeles home

Start with the subfloor and the room. On a concrete slab, which is common in the San Fernando Valley and newer homes, engineered hardwood, laminate and vinyl plank are the usual choices because they can be glued down or floated over concrete. Over a raised wood subfloor, solid hardwood is also an option.

Then think about water and wear. Luxury vinyl plank and SPC have waterproof cores and suit kitchens, laundry rooms, rentals and pets. Laminate has a very hard, scratch-resistant surface, with water resistance that varies by product. Hardwood feels warmest and can be refinished over the years. Tile is the most water- and wear-tolerant, and the firmest underfoot.

Budget usually follows from those choices: material, the amount of prep the subfloor needs, stairs and trim all add up. We price each option side by side at the free estimate.

Installation methods and subfloor requirements

Floors go down one of three ways. Nail-down (or staple-down) fastens solid or engineered hardwood to a wood subfloor. Glue-down bonds engineered hardwood or vinyl to concrete or plywood with the adhesive the manufacturer specifies. Floating floors, such as most laminate and click-lock vinyl, lock together and rest on an underlayment without being fastened to the subfloor.

Every method depends on a flat, dry, solid subfloor within the manufacturer's tolerances. That is why we check moisture and flatness before ordering, and handle floor removal and subfloor preparation as part of the job. Planning a condo? Read about condo and HOA flooring rules and engineered hardwood over concrete.

Whole-home flooring replacement

When floors change throughout the house, the details that matter most are continuity and transitions: running one floor through living areas, halls and bedrooms where possible, keeping floor heights even at doorways, and planning where wet areas switch to tile or vinyl. Stairs are part of the plan too, so the staircase matches the floors above and below. See flooring replacement for how those projects run, and our guide to living at home during flooring installation.

Comparing floors at your estimate

Not sure between hardwood, laminate and vinyl plank? Tell us when you book and we bring all three, so you can compare them side by side in the rooms they are going into. We explain where each one makes sense, for example laminate versus luxury vinyl plank for kitchens and homes with pets.

We measure, check the subfloor and note stairs, baseboards and transitions, then send a written quote for each option you want priced, with a schedule.

Want a rough size first? Our flooring calculator adds up each room and the waste allowance, and you can send the total with your estimate request.