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Flooring Installation FAQs


Flooring Contractor FAQs in Providence

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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 Providence 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 Providence 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 Providence.

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Footprints Floors provides flooring installation services in Providence 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

My kitchen floor looks good....they did a good job....
Kenneth Foye 06/3/24 — google
I love my floors!! Oliver was awesome. I was in a crunch with my kids moving back home from college. He was able to squeeze us in and get them done quickly. Workers were punctual, clean, and did a great job! They even replaced two stairs that were broken.i’m not a photographer but added a few pictures. I would highly recommend this company 💕
Jamie Blake 05/28/24 — google
I needed someone to install my floor that I had purchased online. I googled floor installers and Footprints Floors had very good reviews. They returned my call very quickly and I was able to meet with Oliver within a couple of days. My floor was installed in less than 2 weeks from my first contact with the company. Reliable and did a great job. I highly recommend them.
Ellie Wasser 05/22/24 — google
Oliver Hellested -- Owner of Footprints Floors -- did ALL of my floors in Providence and they look STUNNING! (The wall-to-wall carpeting had to go.) His crew was GREAT and Oliver was on site to check in on the progress both days. I recently moved to Providence from Boston and did major renovations in Brookline and Boston, so I know what contractors are like and Footprints Floors was TOP NOTCH! Hire Oliver and Footprints Floors -- you won't be disappointed!
Ann Lammers 05/17/24 — google
Showed up on time, performed the work on time, either cleaned up very well or created little dust, returned when we had questions and communicated all the time. BTW - the work is terrific.
Michael Voccola 04/25/24 — google
Oliver and his team at Footprints were great! They installed Luxury Vinyl in the basement and patch & refinished the hardwoods throughout the main level. Oliver was great to work with. He always communicated & made sure his team did a great job completing each project. They were very easy to work with and I will definitely be using them again for future projects. Thank you!!
Ryan Kellogg 04/23/24 — google
When I needed to replace my bathroom floor at my condo, Footprints was one local company with high reviews. Always eager to give a local small business a chance, I decided to hire them. Oliver was absolutely a professional, and it’s definitely eager to provide a good service. When I need to replace flooring at my two other properties, I will definitely be giving Oliver a call.
Craig N 04/5/24 — google
Excellent experience from start to finish. Oliver and his team know what they are doing. They were consultative, working through a pretty tough situation. Kept me posted every step of the way and did an outstanding job!
Walter Musto 04/1/24 — google
My house is over 100 years old and these floors look like they were put in yesterday.
Will Wall 03/25/24 — google
Oliver and his team did a fantastic job. I recommend their service. Very helpful and courteous.
Steve De 03/23/24 — google
Oliver and his team were a pleasure to work with. They were on time, so clean, and did a wonderful job in our floor. I highly recommend Footprint Flooring.
Tiffany Pastora 03/7/24 — google
Footprints Floors did a great job of refinishing our wood floors. Oliver came by the house and explained the whole procedure so we knew what to expect. His crew came in and taped off adjoining rooms and windows. When they finished the house was spotless and the floors looked like new. A wonderful job.
Stephen Sovet 03/1/24 — google
Oliver and the Footprint Floors team were fantastic to work with. They accommodated us in a short time frame and were very communicative throughout the process.
Nouha 02/26/24 — google
Thrilled with the outcome of the refinishing of my abused kitchen floor. Looks like new. Meticulous and neat workers. Oliver great at answering all questions about color, finish etc. great experience. Highly recommend.
Linda Zuckerman 02/22/24 — google
the work i asked them to do came out better than i expected.
Maintenance Morins 02/19/24 — google
Recently Oliver and his crew completed an update of our kitchen and laundry room floors. Update included removal of old ceramic tile floors and installation of new tile. They did an amazing job. The floors look beautiful and the work was completed on time. We were expecting an enormous amount of dust and mess because we have an open floor plan but they did such a great job of sealing the rooms that the dust throughout the house was minimal. Oliver was consistently available for questions and feedback. We highly recommend anyone considering a tile job to work with Footprints.
Bob MacDonald 02/13/24 — google
Footprints came in on time. Did a great job. Cleaned up. Very professional at a fair price.
Joe Wilson 01/21/24 — google
Prompt, efficient and detailed.
paul allard 01/16/24 — google
Oliver and his crew are knowledgeable and Professional. We have used footprints for several install projects for both tile and vinyl plank flooring . They have also troubleshot and made repairs on work that was improperly done. Highly recommend !
melissa forte 01/13/24 — google
Oliver is a remarkably pleasant and professional person. His communication with me was superb. He addressed all my anxiety about The impact of the dust and sealed the rooms off that weren’t being redone. He also was very clear about The possibility that a certain area of the floor might have to be replaced so I wasn’t surprised when they had to add plywood under a section of floor that have been damaged. They also did an amazing job getting rid of a blue stained staircase. (Yes, the whole staircase!!)I would recommend these guys to anyone as a 10 star review because of their communication skills, the job they did and the fact that they show up when they say they’re going to show up and if he is going to be delayed, he communicates. That is often not the case in Rhode Island for whatever reason so I highly recommend Oliver and his team.
Kathleen Kroessler 12/26/23 — 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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