When preparing to lay down a new floor in a home or business, it is essential to properly prep the subfloor to ensure a successful installation. While qualified installers and contractors understand how important this step is, homeowners and even some commercial owners often do not. We asked contractors to discuss their process on estimating floor prep and broaching the topic with their customers.
“Floor prep is estimated by square footage and thickness, the substrate conditions are considered and manpower is applied to the estimate,” said Christopher Hand, vice president of surface preparation, Allegheny Contract Flooring. “A typical estimate includes substrate cleaning whether mechanical (grinding, scraping, shot blasting or some other method to remove old adhesives, mastics, etc.) or simply sweeping or vacuuming up dust or other contaminants. Then the type of material is considered. Items reviewed are flatness requirements, smoothness, strength of the material, point loads of the equipment to be used by the end user and the flooring that will be installed.”