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Flooring Installation FAQs


Flooring Contractor FAQs

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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 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 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.

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Footprints Floors provides flooring installation services 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 whole experience with Footprints was amazing. Namita was great to work with planning out the project. Jesse, the project manager was easy, friendly, professional and very responsive. The crew who did the actual work, perfect!!! Very respectful, a perfectionist, just did a beautiful job! Thank you so much Footprints for a fabulous job! We will come back to Footprint’s for any future tile and flooring projects
Andrea Sherlock 03/20/23 — google
Great communication with this company and customer service! Work crew did an excellent job!
Becky Adams 03/10/23 — google
I would like to thank Jesse Nicholas and Dusty for their exemplary attention to detail, friendly professionalism, and ability to mitigate problems and expeditiously find solutions. From the moment Jessie began managing our bathroom re-model, my wife and I realized we were dealing with someone who values their customers. Jessie is a good listener. Not many people listen, they just want to tell you what you should think. Not Jesse. A few unforeseen issues came up (we were out of town BTW for the project) during the re-model, but Jesse's transparency for some ideas gave my wife and I an opportunity to find the best and most cost effective solution. Now too Dusty. I have served in the military and have owned many homes throughout my life because of traveling around. I have remodeled entire homes...therefore dealing with many contractors and professionals. Dusty is an anomaly! He is a master craftsman. His attention to detail is exemplary. We received pictures of the work every day. He cleaned up as though he was never there. The fact that we weren't home and never would have known speaks volumes about his character and integrity as well. We had our wood floors re-finished by footprints and Jessie managed that project. There was an issue with the first crew and Jesse made it right. Brought in a different crew and fixed our floors. Because of that, we chose Footprints to re-model our bathroom. If would not hesitate to use or recommend HIGHLY your company because of Jesse! I also wish all of my contractors were as gifted as Dusty. If they were, I might have less grey hair. Thank you both for a phenomenal job and making this an enjoyable experience! Respectfully, Bob Zimmermann
Bob Zimmermann 03/9/23 — google
they did amazing work on our hardwood flooring repairs. We had water damage and there were repairs make it seem like the damage never happened. They also gave us a really good paint job and the floors look better than they did before.
Tremaine Island 03/9/23 — google
They did a good job an were fast responding
darian blackwell 03/6/23 — google
My experience with Footprints Floors was excellent. Detail-oriented and professional, Jesse ensured the installation of hardwood floors and tile was done on time and to a high standard. Wood installers Antonio and Juan used their expertise to match, near perfect, the precise color and wood grain patterning of older existing hardwood floors in the house. In addition, they had the talent to create a wood flooring "picture frame" around the fireplace and beautiful, rounded-edge wood riser on a large stair and curved step. Rimiro efficiently installed tile in the laundry room to precision. And to top it off, Footprints floors offered the most competitive quote from all bids requested!
Jay Clark 03/6/23 — google
Great team, very reliable and professional. Will use again!
Aaron Dignan 03/2/23 — google
James was amazing to work with and went above and beyond with his customer service.
Danny Thornton 02/25/23 — google
Had a great experience with Footprints Flooring starting with Grant who came out to measure and give us a quote. He was on time and very polite. When it came time for the installation we had James Dowdy the on-site supervisor and Adrian the installer. These two gentlemen were fantastic. They were always on time and we couldn’t have asked for better communication. They called and texted keeping us informed every step of the way. We ran into a couple of issues with finding the correct transitions and finding asbestos in our old flooring. James did everything to help us. He went all over town looking for transitions until we found something that worked. He also saved us time and money by picking up a sample of our old floor and taking it to a lab himself so we would know for sure it was asbestos. Then he did everything to help us take care of the issue quickly. Our floors now look beautiful thanks to the skill and hard work of Adrian. He worked hard and fast and we are so pleased with the end result. I highly recommend Footprints Flooring and especially James and Adrian. We will be calling on them again when it comes time to do the rest of our floors.
MudHead 02/25/23 — google
Jordan Murphy, our salesperson, went above and beyond, the work crew showed up early and worked late to get the job done, the Foreman James Dowdy made sure we were happy and even offered to send up a warranty crew to buff out a large scuff we put down the hallway when putting our furniture back - very happy overall and would highly recommend Footprints Floors for hard wood floor refinishing!
Dottie Ricketson 02/22/23 — google
When our houses flooded a few months back we were concerned about juggling the different tasks of the remodel, flooring, water mitigation, drywall, etc. when it came to flooring, from the initial walk through to the end James and his team (Ricardo and Adrian) provided a 5 star experience. Not only were they on time, responsive, and professional. The overall work that they provided was top notch. From dealing with difficult conditions in an older home, they were able to navigate through this while still leaving the place better than it originally looked. I would recommend this crew to anyone that is looking to have a hassle free, 5 star experience.
Jason Schwartz 02/22/23 — google
We had Footprints do 2 projects and each one was completed with high quality. The tile we picked for the 2nd project was warped so it had to be removed and reinstalled with new tile. Mario and Saul did excellent installation and Jesse made it happen with no extra charges. We highly recommend Footprints for flooring projects.
Dale Mueller 02/14/23 — google
Very professional, responsive & most importantly great tile work
CC Simmons 02/10/23 — google
The floor turned out very nice. I am happy.
David McManness 02/6/23 — google
Dustin and his team did a great job. The communication was great and they were fast and efficient.
Donna Tramp 02/5/23 — google
Jesse who oversaw the tile project, Jr. and Eric, the two tile installers, are great people and very professional to work with. The tile job that was installed in a quick and timely manner. Very detailed on the tile job and clean up. - thank you very much!
kurt guthrie 02/3/23 — google
I can't say enough good things about Footprints Floors! They are wonderful and the floor are so beautiful.!! Jesse the project manager was always involved, either here checking on the job personally, or calling us daily to check in. The tile Installers Jr and Eric's work was perfection. They are respectful of your home and they don't cut one corner. They are fantastic! If you need new floors, don't call around and get quotes, just call Footprints. They will do it right. I am so pleased with this company :))
Jenel Guthrie 02/1/23 — google
I had Footprints Flooring install laminate flooring in our entire home. Joelle and Alex did an outstanding job. They are very experienced in replacing hardwood and laminate floors. I would recommend them to everyone. They were always on time and took extra time looking over their work. Very polite. Jessie is a great supervisor and always communicated with me and always returned my phone calls. We plan on using Footprints again for upgrading our bathrooms.
Wesley Munger 01/25/23 — google
They are responsible in price have professional and friendly staff and back their life time warranty. I definitely recommend them for their installation and resurfacing of hardwood flooring!!
Bill MUISE 01/24/23 — google
I'd highly recommend this group. I worked with them over the course of a couple months and couldn't have been happy. Super responsive and flexible to my budget. Great quality and excellent customer service.
Zach Hagopian 01/24/23 — 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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