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Flooring Installation FAQs


Flooring Contractor FAQs in Raleigh

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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 Raleigh 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 Raleigh 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 in Raleigh 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

Simply put, a great business. Over the past several years we've contracted different businesses for significant home improvement projects, but not always with a 100% satisfaction. Thankfully, as it turned out, we saved the best for last. First off, our flooring project manager, Amanda, was very professional, knowledgeable, approachable, and kept consistently engaged throughout. She visited everyday to check in on her work crew to ensure their resource needs were meet and that any questions we had were answered. Great communication, she was articulate, practiced her craft well, and discussed every decision with us no matter how trivial. We could not have asked for a better work crew. A special shout-out to Darwin and Nahoon for their workmanship, sticktuitiveness, HONESTY, and overall work ethic. They identified several sub flooring areas that needed repair before flooring could be laid down. This prolonged our project timeline of course, but instead of overlooking (hiding) these critical issues to rush through the job, they were forthcoming with us, adjusted their efforts as needed, and WORKED HARD to finish our project like total pros. I cannot express how much this meant to me, as we had to address similar issues like this with less than scrupulous businesses on previous projects. In fact, this back and forth tussle had become so common, we were starting to believe this dysfunctionality was the norm until contracting with Footprints. They're as honest as the day is long. Of their installation staff, I'd say that if we were building a new house from top to bottom, we’d take special steps to make sure they were included as project leads. We were so pleased with the final result, that when the job was done we sent the installers away with gift baskets. Never felt compelled to do that before, ever. In short, Amanda and Shawna are experienced flooring experts. They run a well-oiled operation. They offer a wide range of flooring options and employ highly skilled, conscientious installers. It's been at least 2+ months, and we still absolutely love our floors. We cannot believe we waited as long as we did to take the plunge, and we are so thankful we bumped into this group of talented professionals. Literally zero complaints with the end result, and we would highly recommend. Reach out to Shawna or Amanda for our contact information if you’d like to reach out to us for further details on our successful project. We'd be glad to share. Chris and Shelley in Garner, NC
Plateav 06/9/24 — google
We had the most amazing experience using Footprints Floors! I had purchased a 113 year old home & at the time Amanda came out to look at my home - I just knew if anyone could help us make these sloping floor’s perfect again her company could! It’s because of her expertise that we would hire a contractor to fix what we would discover were bad floor joists & subfloors. We had 5 different contractors work on our home & Footprints Floors was one of the only ones who we didn’t have to fire & start over with. Then after a long wait for the construction to get our floors ready for Amanda, she & her crew came in and transformed my hone in just 4 days!!! No easy task! From just raw wood subfloor to a beautiful home in less that a work week! We chose luxury vinyl plank flooring w/ 5 inch baseboards. The results are incredible! And the price for these magnificent floors to be installed was beyond reasonable! I highly recommend Footprints Floors to anyone who needs quality floors installed w/ nothing less than perfection!
Lisa Leventhal 06/8/24 — google
Shawna was a pleasure to work with and we look forward to working with her again on some future projects. The entire process from quote to project completion was seamless and rally fast considering the amount of work done. Their communication is frequent, their crews are extremely talented, and the final product was even better than expected. We had our red oak floors stripped and sealed without stain and wood flooring added to a master bedroom that was carpeted. The transition from the original floor to the new floor matches perfectly as if the entire area was wood from the beginning. The owner is on the job daily to check progress and the entire project was done in just over four days. We truly appreciate the quality of work that was done and highly recommend Footprints for your flooring needs.
Randy Deming 05/24/24 — google
Shawna and Amanda were super responsive and communicative during the whole process. Their crew, plus Shawna, showed up on time ready to work! Great attention to detail and knocked out a sizeable project in one day. We love how transformed our rooms are now!
Andrew Goldsmith 05/22/24 — google
Shawna and the team at footprints were fantastic! We had purchased flooring that we wanted to install and they delivered, answering every question along the way! The carpet we hated is gone and we’re left with a beautiful, perfectly laid laminate floor. Looking forward to having them work on more projects for us in the future!
Patricia DaSilva 05/15/24 — google
We hired Footprints to replace the flooring in our new home and we couldn’t be happier with the results! Shawna was incredibly communicative throughout the process, letting us know what to expect, notifying us whenever they discovered an issue and what was being completed each day. There were multiple issues with our subflooring but the team was able to fix each of them and still finish by the original timeline! Our floors and stairs look amazing and working with Shawna, Amanda and their crew was an absolute pleasure! 20/10 would recommend to anyone!
Jassimyn Broe 03/22/24 — google
Had a great experience with Footprints and Amanda’s team. We purchased Mohawk Laminate Wood Flooring from Costco for our Bonus Room (over 300sqf). We also wanted the carpeted stairs (to Bonus) replaced with Oak Hardwoods with stain that match the rest of the house. Footprints finished the job in 2 days. The workers were professional and polite, the communication from start of the job (quote) to end (making sure we were happy with the work) was great. Love, love my new flooring!
Alex Flynn 03/6/24 — google
My wife and I recently decided to remove the carpet from our bedroom and replace with hardwood-style laminate. Neither of us have ever looked into any sort of “flooring” job, and had no idea what to expect, as far as cost, timeline, options, etc. We came across Footprint Floors, and decided to get a consult from them. Simply from the consult, we immediately knew we wanted to go with Footprint! Amanda came out and spoke with us, patiently answered all of our questions, and explained everything thoroughly. She had samples, talked us through the different styles and what worked best for us, and helped us settle on the perfect one! Only a short (roughly) two-weeks later, and the entire job was completed with perfection! Between the consult, the ordering process, the initial work, and the final completion, Amanda and her team were phenomenal, and updated us every step of the way. They were quick, incredibly communicative, and cost efficient! The floors in our bedroom look incredible, and we could not have asked for a better experience. 10/10 job, and would definitely recommend to anyone that has interest in redoing their floors. Next time we need any flooring done, we will definitely be calling Amanda back!
David Britt 02/21/24 — google
My wife and I had a great experience with sales and service. Price was fair, good quality and installation was very professional.
Tom Crotty 02/15/24 — google
I’d give Amanda and her team a 10 🌟 review if I could. If you need new flooring do yourself a favor and give Footprints a chance. Craftsmanship and communication were 💯!!
Michael Durling 02/9/24 — google
Working with Amanda and her Footprings Flooring team was incredible. They did such a great job with installations and Amanda was very knowledgeable and patient with answering all my questions. I was quoted 5 working days to get everything installed and they had it done in 3! Working with Footprint Floorings was a breeze and I would recommend it to anyone!
Sarah Koralewski 01/28/24 — google
Footprint Floors did a fantastic job on our flooring not only were they experts in their field. They were also extremely easy to work with. I loved the communication. Both owners stopped by to check the work after it was finished. Overall we could not have asked for a better flooring company, as you see in the photos, the work was done to perfection. Prior to placing this floor they had to remove old tile and they did that without making a mess or anything! Highly recommend this company!
Kelly Karius 01/4/24 — google
I had a great experience with Footprints Floors Raleigh! I needed bathroom floor re-tiled and they did a fantastic job.
Jonathan Reda 12/13/23 — google
We had a great experience with Footprints! Amanda was very responsive and flexible as we were selecting the floors we wanted and trying to figure out when we wanted the installation to occur that was most convenient (I am 7 months pregnant). The work was done very quickly with a high level of attention to detail. My husband was home when the workers were at our house and he said they were all very kind and responsive- and did great work. 10/10 would recommend!
Molly Gupta 12/12/23 — google
Superb people, superb craftsmanship!! It was a bit nerve-wracking to proceed with an entire first floor tear-up in order to have a new LVP floor installed, but from the moment Amanda and her crew entered my house, I knew it was going to be “OK”. Everyone was positive, professional, and invested in getting the install completed as quickly as possible while maintaining high standards with the details. The new floor was needed as a result of flooding from the second floor, so the stress level was high long before Footprints arrived. Within minutes of reviewing the project with Amanda, I could sense the “we got this!” attitude which I was SO grateful for. All of the sudden it became easier. Every step of the process was explained up front so I understood what to expect, and every day during the install Amanda or Shawna would check in to monitor progress and answer questions. Everything went exactly according to plan, and I must say, the floor is absolutely beautiful!!!! I can’t thank the Footprints team enough for providing outstanding craftsmanship and giving me the help I needed in a difficult time - they went above and beyond. I am so happy with the new floor that I bought it it’s own Roomba vacuum - they get along great!!!!🤣🤣🤣🤣. Thank you Footprints!
Michelle Gasbarro 11/30/23 — google
Right from the initial meeting with Shawna, I was blown away by her knowledge, professionalism, courtesy, and competitive pricing. Interactions with other contractors were disappointing in comparison. Communication was easy through the whole project, and her team of installers and co-owner Amanda were just as impressive. The floors are stunning, and we can rest easy knowing they were installed properly. We intend to do the rest of our house in the future, and we will definitely be going with Footprints Floors again.
Joy Lester 11/15/23 — google
The team at footprints floors was communicative, understanding, and friendly. I so appreciate them dealing with my crazy schedule. The floors look amazing. I would definitely recommend them to anyone needing new flooring
Dayna Riddle 11/14/23 — google
Awesome experience! My floor looks beautiful. Shawna and her crew did a great job. Thank you Shawna.
Gloria Prout 10/22/23 — google
Footprints Floors did an amazing job helping to finish up my LVP install. They were even able to fix a couple of gaps left by my DIY attempt. They were fast & professional. They did all of the quarter round and floor transitions as well. Very knowledgeable and excellent craftsmanship.
Adam Jacobs 10/17/23 — google
The installers were professional, answered all question while installing and very experienced in installing. Ku is I
John Walser 09/15/23 — 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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