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Flooring Installation FAQs


Flooring Contractor FAQs in Madison

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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 Madison 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 Madison 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 Madison.

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Your Floor Installation in Madison Today


Footprints Floors provides flooring installation services in Madison 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

Just a great experience! Steve and his crew are awesome! I would recommend using them for any flooring need. We needed a floor laid after purchasing the laminate. They were professional and very helpful. Their pricing was also very competitive and better than other quotes that we received.
Janet Evert 04/9/24 — google
Super awesome to work with! The last photo is the before!
Sally Kretsch 04/5/24 — google
Steve is great to work with. He is knowledgeable and responsive. We sought Steve out to install LVP in an upstairs unit over hardwood, and LVP tile in a small bathroom. A slight hiccup on our end w/ the LVP install project, and Steve's crew was back out within a reasonable amount of time to help us out. I'd seek out Steve's services through Footprints Floors again!
Brian & Ama 04/1/24 — google
Very happy with how easy it was to work with Footprints Floors. The price was right and the install was quick. My new floors look great!
Miranda Bucalo 02/7/24 — google
I had to go back-and-forth with Steve quite a bit for what is a small (actually, it bid at their minimum price) job. The project was to lace in some leftover flooring in a hole where some counters were removed when we remodeled our kitchen. The challenges were 1) how little additional flooring we had (this specific flooring is no longer manufactured) and 2) the previous installers stapled in the prior flooring, making it very difficult to re-use old pieces. Steve was careful not to make any promises but shared optimism in his team, and his team was extremely creative in identifying an approach that worked for us and turned out great. All-in-all, they spent a lot of time and effort ensuring the project turned out as well as possible given some unique constraints -- which was all very appreciated on such a small job. Throughout the process, Steve was responsive to e-mails even as we coordinated through a couple scheduling conflicts. I'd definitely recommend if flexibility, creativity, and quality are priorities for you.
Carter Starr 08/29/23 — google
We were impressed with the finish product and the professionalism and responsiveness of Steve and the team!!!
Jerome Flowers 07/11/23 — google
We are very happy with this company and their staff.
Loren Bowns 06/27/23 — google
Awesome service from beginning to end! They came out to do an estimate and provided helpful guidance. They worked with the supplier to order the flooring, too. The scheduling of the installation was easy and prompt— and sensitive to our schedules. The workers who did the installation did a fantastic professional job and were pleasant and courteous in their interactions. Did it all in one day when we thought it might take two days. Highly recommend!
Elizabeth Kearney 04/14/23 — google
They did a really fantastic job and we couldn’t be happier with the work they did. Would definitely recommend
Brian Hacker 03/13/23 — google
The crew had great work ethic and did a quality job on our floors and backsplash. They were timely with communication and got to our job very quickly. Highly recommend!
Tim Stephenson 02/28/23 — google
My husband I were very happy with their promptness and quality of their services. The crew ensured they were doing what we were looking for. We liked that Steve was present to our house before and after the vinyl tile flooring in my 2 bathrooms were concluded to ensure everything was correctly done.
Valeria Kerstenetzky 02/19/23 — google
Great experience working with Steve and his crew. They were always on time, respectful of our space and concerns and did things in a timely manor. Love the look of the new refinished wood floor and the upstairs luxury vinyl they installed.
Tanya Homan 11/30/22 — google
They did a great job, my floor is beautiful and they cleaned up everything before they left
Kory Schaubroeck 11/3/22 — google
I had Footprints Floors install LVP over existing tile. Steve was incredibly responsive and flexible. Martin and Julian were amazing installers. I live in an older building and they handled every strange thing about the walls, trim, and anything else weird so well. From initial measure to actually getting the floors installed, the whole project took just under two weeks. Amazingly fast!
Keely Mruk 07/22/22 — google
I had all my hardwood floors sanded & stained, and LVT installed in my kitchen & bath. The workers were courteous of pets, hardworking and did a fantastic job. The results are even better than expected, my whole house looks amazing and the price was very fair! Thank you!
Kim Hartzheim 06/7/22 — google
Very impressed with the general professionalism, workmanship, and communication - I really appreciated that the installers took such time and care with our atypical LVP flooring and the floors turned out even better than we were expecting. They also did a remarkably thorough job cleaning up. Steve was pleasant to work with through initial consult, scheduling, and completion. The floors turned out great!
Leah Viola 05/11/22 — google
Steve and Martín were wonderful to work with! Several other flooring refinishers would not even come look at our 1940s hardwood. Our refinished floors turned out fantastic! They paid attention to detail as the new hardwood had to installed in areas required leveling… Couldn’t be happier we had Footprints Floors do our floors!
Patti Buelo 02/7/22 — google
I was so satisfied working with Steve and his contractors. Everything was taken care of in a day. Steve even went to the store and purchased an item I did not purchase. You can't ask for a better person and company to work with. I will be having him back in the spring for some more work. Marie S.
angelbaby1194 11/6/21 — google
Would definitely recommend Steve and his team. They were professional and did fabulous work. We had flooring already purchased, and Steve gave a quick and accurate quote for installing the floors and a subfloor. His team did a beautiful job, and went above and beyond to make sure everything looked great.
Emily Reynolds 10/9/21 — google
Steve and his team was great. He was quick to come out for a quote, flexible with some changes that we made, and his team was able to get everything installed in short order. Would happily use again!
Brady Thompson 10/7/21 — 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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