Flooring

[ten ocho recon scout]

I need to redo the floor in my living room. Had to rip out carpet a while back, and need to put new flooring in ASAP for company that will be staying with me for a few days.

Anyone have preference between home depot and lowes? Anyone know which one can get it installed quicker? Like if i pay tomorrow, is one faster to come out and install this week?

[Lou]

You should put in a trampoline floor. 

[Blarg]

Neither Home Depot or Lowes are expedient because they usually don't carry in stock much of their carpets, they all come from Georgia.

If you want a fast turnaround go to a small local business and explain your situation. The cost difference probably will be negligible but you will be picking from what they have available in store. 

There are dozens of flooring stores on State College, just don't go to the ones that obviously cater to Orange County women. 

[gotbeer]

I believe Home Depot and Lowes subcontracts out.  And as Blarg stated, don't keep stock on hand.  So it could take a while.  

Local is probably better.  Carpet they may have to special order, depending on how specific your choice is.  But hardwoods they usually keep on hand.  Hardwoods, you can install yourself, but it takes a bit of work.  

[T.G.]

Just put in artificial turf.

[HaloMilliVanilli]

These visitors sound real hoity toity.

[nate]

12 hours ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

I need to redo the floor in my living room. Had to rip out carpet a while back, and need to put new flooring in ASAP for company that will be staying with me for a few days.

Anyone have preference between home depot and lowes? Anyone know which one can get it installed quicker? Like if i pay tomorrow, is one faster to come out and install this week?

Check with a local flooring company.  Their prices will be similar and you won't have to go through contractor roulette to get it done.

Are you getting more carpeting or going with wood/laminate?

[Tank]

Lumber liquidators worth looking at?

[DCAngelsFan]

5 hours ago, gotbeer said:

I believe Home Depot and Lowes subcontracts out.  And as Blarg stated, don't keep stock on hand.  So it could take a while.  

Local is probably better.  Carpet they may have to special order, depending on how specific your choice is.  But hardwoods they usually keep on hand.  Hardwoods, you can install yourself, but it takes a bit of work.  

This - they subcontract - but HD *tends* to have a larger inventory on-hand.  Since they use multiple subs, might be easier to find an installation time that works.  

What I'd do - if you have a service rating service around you, (I live near DC, so checkbook.org for me, but maybe something like Angie's list?), get the names of a few reputable stores.  

Then do a quick measure, and estimate how much material you need - then call HD, and a few local flooring stores, and just tell them the deal - first question, see if they have an opening in their installation calendar they need to fill that works for you.  If they do, then go see what they have in-stock - if it's a small job, probably could just use a remnant they have on-hand.  They'll all want to come out and measure - a locally-owned store could do that same-day, Home Depot, it might be a week.   

I got a whole floor and stairway of hardwood installed in 4 days from the time I put the deposit down to it being done - so, can be done.  (Local stores usually have much better prices than any chains.)   

[Adam]

LA Carpet or some other flooring specialist. Likely cheaper. Better warranties and material quality. 

[ten ocho recon scout]

5 hours ago, nate said:

Check with a local flooring company.  Their prices will be similar and you won't have to go through contractor roulette to get it done.

Are you getting more carpeting or going with wood/laminate?

Laminate. I think a buddy at work is going to help me install it, but no idea if the local shops will habe enough on hand... fingers crossed

[nate]

7 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Laminate. I think a buddy at work is going to help me install it, but no idea if the local shops will habe enough on hand... fingers crossed

Depending on the size of the room, either big box store will probably have enough on hand.  Make sure you buy some tapping blocks and the spacers for the edges, makes your life a lot easier.

Costco also sells laminate and usually has quite a bit on hand.  It is cheaper than the Pergo stuff that HD sells, but 8mm instead of 10mm thick.

[red321]

8 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Laminate. I think a buddy at work is going to help me install it, but no idea if the local shops will habe enough on hand... fingers crossed

check floor and decor...and look at lvp (luxury vinyl plank).

We did my office in it...looks like wood flooring but waterproof, can get beat to hell, and was straightforward to install (and cheap compared to wood flooring options). Buddy of mine who installs tile says everyone is installing this stuff now.

 

 

[notherhalo]

a lot of my family is in the wood flooring business

home depot is typically the most expensive, lumber liquidators next down, and than the cheapest are those independent places

The quality is mostly the same throughout all three of these places

The new thing, thats catching on slowly is vinyl flooring.  You could wash this stuff with a hose and not have any problems, and its super easy to install.  With laminate you still have to worry about getting water underneath and creating mold.  Theres the same range of contractors doing it, but its not brain science.  You normally wont get much difference from the highest end to the lowest end, with laminate/vinyl flooring installations.  Hardwood flooring is a totally different story on all levels.

[DCAngelsFan]

1 hour ago, red321 said:

check floor and decor...and look at lvp (luxury vinyl plank).

We did my office in it...looks like wood flooring but waterproof, can get beat to hell, and was straightforward to install (and cheap compared to wood flooring options). Buddy of mine who installs tile says everyone is installing this stuff now.

 

 

Ah, thought "carpet" was the choice - agreed, LVP has come a long way, it's straightforward, looks pretty good, and as you say, easy install, waterproof and kinda indestructible.  Much better than engineered floors, imo (which have high installation costs and not much of a wear layer.)

[JohnBrown]

Everyone's home has different requirements. You should not waste time and contact the professional contractors like Home Quality Remodeling for professional advice. You can also hire them and they will inspect everything properly and then suggest you the final thing. Considering your choices and your desires, you can finalize the perfect flooring for your home.

[Blarg]

@ten ocho recon scout Just stain and seal the cement for that Ero Industrial look. 

[Vegas Halo Fan]

On 7/7/2019 at 8:47 PM, ten ocho recon scout said:

I need to redo the floor in my living room. Had to rip out carpet a while back, and need to put new flooring in ASAP for company that will be staying with me for a few days.

Anyone have preference between home depot and lowes? Anyone know which one can get it installed quicker? Like if i pay tomorrow, is one faster to come out and install this week?

I used Lowe's and I was very pleased with the contractors that they used. As I recall, they were out pretty quickly. Had the whole house done except for the areas that were done in tile.