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Flooring Installation FAQs


Flooring Contractor FAQs in Cincinnati

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There’s no better way to freshen up your space and add value to your home. But before you update your flooring, there are many choices to make. We’ve rounded up some flooring contractor FAQs in Cincinnati to help you with your decision-making process. If you want more information, check out our web pages dedicated to different kinds of flooring.

No matter the flooring you choose, you can trust the qualified contractors hired by Footprints Floors to do the job right.

FAQs

The first thing to figure out when updating your flooring is what flooring is right for the space. For a bathroom or kitchen where there will be lots of moisture and potentially water on the floor, something like tile or vinyl flooring is ideal because it’s durable and water-resistant. Hardwood flooring is a classic choice for other areas of your home, but you still need to choose between solid or engineered hardwood. Consider the upkeep of different flooring and the wear — do you have young kids or pets? Does the room receive much sun? Answer these questions first to help you decide the kind of flooring that will suit your needs.

It depends! Laminate and vinyl flooring can be installed directly over existing flooring, and solid hardwood can be glued directly onto concrete. Consider factors like the age and condition of your existing flooring and whether it will serve as a sturdy base for new flooring.

Contrary to popular belief, it is not difficult to care for wood flooring. You can simply vacuum hardwood floors to remove grit and debris and use a damp cloth or mop to wipe away dust. To reduce potential scratches, ensure footwear (i.e., heels) has proper plastic caps to prevent scratches, or ask guests to remove their shoes. As a bonus, you can switch up the look of your hardwood floors at any time through staining or refinishing.

You probably bumped into three terms when looking up hardwood flooring online: "painting," "staining," and "refinishing." "Painting" is obvious, but what about the others? A wood stain, usually applied by hand, is used to darken the color of the wood. The "finishing" process involves applying varnish and a coating of sealant, which adds gloss and protects the wood. "Refinishing" is the process of redoing your current flooring finish, revitalizing, and rejuvenating it.

Refinishing or restoring existing wood floors can save you tons of money! If you have old wood flooring that doesn’t look great, it can be tempting to rip it out and start over. But wood flooring is resilient and made to last. Most damage can be repaired, and refinishing or restoring can make wood floors look new. If you’re unsure whether your wood flooring can be saved, the experts at Footprints Floors can assess it.

This is another “it depends” situation. Solid hardwood flooring is more expensive than engineered hardwood. However, solid hardwood can be sanded and refinished more than engineered hardwood, so it may last longer. Engineered hardwood is more affordable and is more resistant to moisture and humidity. If you live in a place with high humidity or greatly varying temperatures, engineered hardwood flooring may be the right choice. Both look beautiful and are easy to take care of.

Laminate flooring is a budget-friendly type of layered flooring that can be made to look like pretty much anything. It’s typically made up of wood fibers compressed into a board or a plywood board. The board is then covered in an “image” layer — basically, a photo of whatever you want the flooring to look like (stone, wood, etc), and a “wear” layer, or protective layer. Some laminate may also have a backing layer made of cork or felt. Laminate is an affordable way to get the look of more expensive wood or stone flooring. It’s pretty durable, making it a great choice for homes with pets or kids, and it’s easy to clean. However, prolonged exposure to water can cause the wood part of the laminate to warp, making it unsuitable for rooms like bathrooms.

Laminate’s wood component makes it susceptible to water damage. Vinyl is an entirely synthetic material, which means it’s waterproof. As long as laminate is installed correctly, it’s fairly water-resistant, but still probably not a suitable choice for bathrooms or mudrooms where water might linger. Vinyl is extremely durable and comes in various of colors, textures, and styles. Both laminate and vinyl are great choices for homes with high traffic from kids and pets, and they’re easy to take care of — but whereas vinyl can go in any room in your home, remember to keep laminate out of the bathroom.

There is a much wider variety of colors, textures, and designs in tile flooring than in hardwood. Tile floors have a lifespan of over a century. Whether you're looking for a traditional or modern look, there is a tile pattern to suit you. Regarding durability, aesthetics, maintenance, and cost, tile is an excellent choice. It's also considered one of the most eco-friendly options for flooring in your home.

Ceramic tiles are made up of clay or other minerals that have been tightly compressed and heated in an oven. They can be glazed or unglazed and come in a variety of colors, shapes and sizes. Porcelain tiles are ceramic tiles that have been heated at an even greater temperature, making them more durable and less porous. Porcelain tiles are better suited for rooms with high moisture content like bathrooms, but their durability makes them an excellent choice for any room. However, ceramic tile is more affordable and still offers great durability.

We hope these flooring contractor FAQs in Cincinnati have been helpful to you as your start your flooring journey. Contact Footprints Floors for a free estimate when you've found flooring you love. You can feel confident in a job well done with our licensed and certified contractors.

Hardwood floor installation in Cincinnati.

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Footprints Floors provides flooring installation services in Cincinnati for both old and new homes. We handle the demolition and removal of the old flooring, as well as the necessary prep work for new flooring. We will even remove baseboards and reinstall them after completing the flooring installation.

Covering everything from design and installation to clean up, our team helps increase the value of your property with brand new hardwood floors. Contact us today to request a free estimate!

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What Our Customers Say

The floors turned out better than we could have imagined. Mike was able to match the new floors with our existing hardwood on the first floor. His men were respectful and sectioned off the area they were working to keep things clean. Highly recommend.
Ryan Sieve 05/9/25 — google
They were very professional, they offered 2 options looking to keep it on budget, first one did not work, but the second tier service was everything I wanted, they are very professional , great communication.
Antonio Bravo 05/1/25 — google
Terrific service installation and communication!
David Calderhead 04/24/25 — google
We love our new floors! Mike worked hard to get us on his schedule so we could move into our house ASAP. He made recommendations that turned out to be perfect. The refinished wood floors are stunning: they look brand new. Mike had suggested that we forego staining the wood and he was absolutely right. They expertly laid the lvp floors, even making two different levels look like one. They made our home beautiful.
Elise Fink 04/17/25 — google
Mike was incredibly professional and helpful throughout the entire process. The work was done exactly as expected and on the timeline initially provided. Very high quality work. We love our new floor and will use Footprints Floors in the future!
Miranda Craft 04/16/25 — google
Great work! I highly recommend them. They installed new hardwood flooring on my second and third stories.
Alex Schafers 04/14/25 — google
Mike was honest and on time from the estimate, all the way to the final walk through. No surprises nor extra costs involved. Mike and his team were very professional and a pleasure to work with. The job was completed exactly as we had hoped for and was completed on time which was very important to us. We are absolutely thrilled with the outcome of our hardwoods and would recommend Footprints without any hesitation. Our floors are absolutely beautiful and after doing her homework, my wife is practically a floor expert to boot! Thanks Mike!
Jesse Canterbury 04/5/25 — google
Excellent experience! Mike is great and the quality is top-notch.
Bobby T. 04/4/25 — google
Footprints Floors, Mike and the team did a 5 Star GREAT job!!!! From Mike coming out and consulting us on the type of wood we had for refinishing, to stain samples, options, and how the process works. He was great communicating during the 4 day project the progress, when we were able to come back to the house, and what we could do. The workers did a great job prepping the house with plastic, sanding, staining , finishing, installing wood trim, and cleaning up after. I would not hesitate to refer Footprints Floors!!!!
Robert Jordan 03/14/25 — google
My refinished floors turned out beautifully and just how I had envisioned. Mike really caters to the customer. He kept us informed throughout the entire process. Definitely would recommend.
Angela O’Keefe 03/3/25 — google
This is the second time we hired Footprints Floors Cincinnati and I would hire them again. Mike is a pleasure to do business with addressing anything I had concerns about head on. He made it easy and pleasant. His crews are always very professional also. Love this company!
Cyndy B 02/27/25 — google
Great company! They did a fantastic job installing new hardwood matching it to the existing hardwood floor.
Ken Kerby 02/18/25 — google
We used Footprints Floors to refinish our hardwood floors. Mike, the local owner, was a true pleasure to work with. He was a wealth of information, ensuring we understood every step of the process. We received multiple quotes for the project, and Footprints was competitive. The finished project was stunning. We couldn't be happier with the result. I'm happy to recommend Mike and Footprints.
Henry Attaway 02/3/25 — google
We had Ben come out and look at our master shower due to some grout issues. He provided impartial advice and guidance on some possible solutions to rectify the issue which was refreshing as often you are just sold to. He provided an immediate and reasonable estimate, free of charge, with no pressure to move forward should it not be right for us. I would thoroughly recommend Ben and the Footprints team if you are considering tiling and flooring projects.
Lewis Waitt 02/1/25 — google
professional job, done well and on time, at a fair price:)
Kathryn Diebold 01/3/25 — google
Very professional great work highly recommend
lynn jung 12/6/24 — google
The owner Mike is fantastic to work with. Found them after doing some research on good tilers in Cincinnati, and they had a lot of great reviews. When you meet Mike you can just tell he cares about his customers and the quality of work, which was the main reason we selected them over other companies. We had a few snafus that came up during the process, but Mike was always helpful to work through them and ensure we felt taken care of. His main tile installer Ramon is the freakin man! Super friendly and respectful, and an absolute artist when it comes to laying out the tile. He installed some super large form tile for us (4ftx4ft) solo, and they were perfectly level with beautiful grout lines. 10/10 would recommend to others.
Jeff Mock 10/10/24 — google
Working with Mike at Footprints floors has been a pleasant experience. He took the oak floor that was poorly cared for and turned it into a beautiful piece of woodwork.
Rob Urfer 07/10/24 — google
Great job on time the installers worked hard and were friendly.
Tim Burgoyne 05/31/24 — google
Excellent work, completed in one day!
Michael Hall 04/19/24 — google

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Customer Satisfaction


Footprints Floors is a one-of-a-kind residential flooring installation and restoration business. We offer high quality flooring installations and, with over a decade of dedication, we have quickly become the largest flooring contractor by striving to bring a higher level of customer service and sophistication to an industry where it was severely lacking. Our family-owned business is focused on customer satisfaction and quality results, all while passing savings on to you and yours through our low overhead model.

Footprints Floors is a one-of-a-kind residential flooring installation and restoration business. We offer high quality flooring installations and, with over a decade of dedication, we have quickly become the largest flooring contractor by striving to bring a higher level of customer service and sophistication to an industry where it was severely lacking. Our family-owned business is focused on customer satisfaction and quality results, all while passing savings on to you and yours through our low overhead model.

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