Hardwood floor installation for MetroWest homes

Material delivery and acclimation, subfloor assessment, installation labor, fasteners and adhesive, basic transition strips, and standard trim are all included. Furniture and appliance moving, removal and disposal of existing flooring, major subfloor structural repairs, baseboard and shoe molding replacement, and refinishing adjacent floors to match are typically outside the scope unless specified in the written estimate.

Solid hardwood suits plywood subfloors above grade and is nailed down through the tongue. Engineered hardwood, built with a cross-ply core, handles below-grade installs and concrete slabs where a nail gun cannot reach, using glue-down or floating methods instead. We measure subfloor moisture before recommending either construction, because the moisture reading is the deciding factor, not preference alone.

In the MetroWest market, hardwood floor installation typically runs between $5,000 and $20,000 for roughly 400 to 1,000 square feet, covering materials and labor. Wood species and grade, plank width, layout pattern, subfloor condition, and whether old flooring needs removal are the main drivers. Major subfloor repair is priced separately. We confirm the figure after measuring the space.

We start with moisture testing of the subfloor and incoming wood, then acclimate the boards onsite for three to seven days. Next comes subfloor inspection, leveling, and layout planning to minimize waste. Installation follows using the appropriate method with a three-quarter-inch perimeter expansion gap maintained throughout. The job closes with sanding and finishing or transition installation, a final inspection, and care instructions.

Shrewsbury's Building Inspector's Office lists interior finish work, including hardwood floor installation, among the work types that do not require a building permit under 780 CMR. We confirm scope and site conditions before scheduling so there are no surprises once work begins. Get a Quote and we will walk through what the project requires before any commitment is made.

A small room of 150 to 300 square feet takes one to two days. An average main floor of 500 to 800 square feet runs two to four days. A whole-house project of 1,200 or more square feet can reach five to ten days. Add two to three days if onsite sanding and finishing or subfloor repair is required, plus the acclimation period before work begins.

Per NWFA guidelines, the subfloor must be flat within 3/16 inch over a ten-foot radius. Moisture content of the wood and subfloor must be matched within two to four percent before the first board goes down. We acclimate material onsite for three to seven days and maintain a three-quarter-inch perimeter expansion gap at all walls to allow seasonal movement without buckling.

We stand behind our workmanship with a 3-year warranty. If an issue is caused by our work, we'll return promptly to inspect it and make it right at no additional cost during the warranty period. The flooring material itself is covered separately by the manufacturer's own product warranty. We hold MA HIC 205267, which is verifiable through the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation.