Hardwood
Solid Hardwood Flooring Installation
Solid hardwood is a single piece of wood through its whole thickness. It is the longest-lived floor you can buy — refinishable several times over decades — and it is also the least forgiving of moisture, of substrate, and of an Idaho winter that drops indoor humidity to the teens. We install it where the conditions actually support it and tell you plainly when they do not.
Where solid hardwood belongs
Above grade, over a wood subfloor, in a conditioned space with year-round humidity control. Not on a slab, not below grade, not in a bathroom or laundry, and not in a vacation property that sits unheated through the winter. Those are not preferences, they are the conditions manufacturers write into their warranties, and installing outside them voids yours.
Acclimation and indoor humidity
Solid wood is delivered and left in the installed space, HVAC running at normal living conditions, until its moisture content and the subfloor's are within the manufacturer's allowable differential. We measure both with a meter rather than counting days on a calendar. After install, keeping indoor relative humidity roughly in the 35–55% band is what prevents winter gapping and summer cupping — in a dry Idaho winter that usually means running a humidifier, and we tell you that before you commit.
Nail-down installation and subfloor condition
Solid strip and plank is blind-nailed or stapled through the tongue into an adequate wood subfloor. The subfloor has to be sound, dry, flat, and thick enough to hold a fastener; a squeaky or under-thick subfloor gets corrected first, because every one of those problems becomes permanent once the floor is down.
Prefinished or site-finished
Prefinished boards arrive with a factory-cured finish, install faster and let you use the room immediately, with a micro-bevel at each board edge. Site-finished is sanded and coated after installation, producing a seamless flat surface and letting you match an existing floor, at the cost of dust, fumes and several days of cure time before furniture returns. We explain the trade-off rather than defaulting to one.
What's included in this scope
- Solid hardwood nail-down installation over wood subfloors
- Prefinished and site-finished applications
- Moisture metering of flooring and subfloor before install
- Acclimation management with HVAC conditions verified
- Subfloor repair, re-fastening and flatness correction
- Stair treads, risers and nosing
- Transitions, thresholds and trim finishing
What drives the price
We do not publish square-foot pricing, because a number without your rooms attached to it is guesswork. These are the variables that actually move the figure on this kind of project.
- Species, grade and board width selected
- Prefinished versus site-finished, which adds sanding and coating days
- Subfloor condition, thickness and any repair required
- Existing floor removal and disposal
- Room count and layout complexity, including borders and closets
- Stairs, priced per tread
- Whether humidity control is already in place in the home
Estimates, changes and warranty
Hardwood Flooring Installation is quoted the same way everything else here is: we walk the rooms, measure, check the subfloor, and send a written scope. Licensed and registered, bonded and insured in Idaho, under Idaho contractor registration RCE-57919, and our installation work carries a 1-year craftsmanship warranty.
Typically included
- Measured room-by-room scope and square footage
- Tear-out of the existing floor and haul-away
- Subfloor preparation identified at the walkthrough
- Material and the install method we are specifying
- Transitions, thresholds and trim finishing
- Daily clean-up and final walkthrough
Typically excluded or quoted separately
- Plumbing, gas and electrical disconnects or relocation
- Asbestos or lead testing and abatement
- Structural joist or framing repair
- Cabinet, countertop and painting work
- Conditions that cannot be seen until the old floor comes up, which are noted with a range instead of hidden
If something unexpected turns up mid-job, you get a written change order — what was found, what it costs, what it does to the schedule — before that work starts. Material selections are finalised before we order. How a project runs · Common questions
Questions about hardwood
- Can solid hardwood go in my basement?
- No. Solid hardwood is not approved below grade or over concrete slab by any manufacturer we work with. For a basement, the right answers are LVP or an engineered wood product rated for that application.
- Prefinished or site-finished — which should I choose?
- Prefinished if you need the space back quickly and want a factory-cured wear surface. Site-finished if you want a flat seamless floor with no bevels, or need to match existing hardwood in an adjoining room. Site finishing adds days and dust to the schedule.
- Will hardwood gap in winter?
- Some seasonal movement is normal in solid wood and is not a defect. Severe gapping usually means indoor humidity dropped well below the manufacturer's range, which in an Idaho winter is common without a humidifier running.
Get a written LVP estimate
We measure, check the subfloor, and put the scope in writing — including the prep work most quotes leave out.