WOOD FLOORING INSTALLATION: DIY OR HIRE OUT?

This post is in partnership with LL Flooring. All opinions are 100 % my own! I did my research and due diligence and reached out to them to work together. I truly love and stand behind the product.

The last time we chatted about flooring we discussed all of the different flooring options that are available in the wood flooring category. We had figured that budget-wise we would end up with an engineered hardwood flooring arena and we really liked the Bellawood Amsterdam White Oak flooring from LL Flooring, but when I saw them in person I wanted a shade that was a bit more traditional in color and could stand the test of time and fit with the style of my home! That lead me to Bellawood Character Grade White Oak. I picked it out time and time again. It was always my favorite. The wood we picked ended up being real hardwood floors that were pre-stained! When we priced it out it was actually more affordable than the engineered hardwood flooring planks I originally liked. Until I shopped for my own wood flooring I had assumed that all real hardwood flooring came unstained and then I had to pick out the perfect stain. I was honestly already dreading the process of over-thinking it all. When I found the Bellawood Character Grade White Oak and it was already in this perfect stain I was in heaven! Not only was the decision already made, but I didn’t have to budget for staining and sealing the floor!

BELLA WOOD CHARACTER GRADE WHITE OAK

It is a super pretty blonde shade of wood. I guess blondes do have more fun sometimes. I love it because depending on the light it can read on the pale dirty blonde side or it can be a bit warmer with some caramel undertones. Perfection.

Once we had the flooring picked out we had another hurdle to jump. Do we DIY or do we hire out? In the past, we have done a lot of DIY! However, we are older now and have two kids that require our attention. So, do we DIY and possibly get frustrated, make mistakes, scream some bad works and take up a lot of time on this project, or do we hire it out and have LL Flooring handle the installation. We talked about it a lot because it was an extra expense. With hardwood flooring, the cost of installation is in the $3 an sf ft range.  Since we saved money on having it already come pre-stained we decided to go hire it out and have LL Flooring do the install. Since we were in the middle of a renovation we had already ripped up the old floor and it was ready to have new flooring installation. This helped bring down the installation cost as well. Since we were having the installation done we figured we might as well finish it all up and we purchased the baseboard through them as well and had them do that install. It was really affordable to add on. The one thing you do have to know is that they will do the cuts and nail the baseboard into place, but you are going to have to go in and cover up the nail holes and really finish it up.

Before the installation we were able to open up the wood planks and play around with it to see what worked best for us. Which way do we want the wood laid down? With real hardwood you get a variety in the color so, we went through and picked our favorites and told the installers what we preferred to be used and what we preferred to be used in a closet.

The workers always made sure to tidy up after each day and put down cardboard so that they wouldn’t be stepping on the floor.

Really nice attention to detail. Look at the fireplace surround!

The baseboards area looking awesome! We patched the nail holes and painted them a glossy white.

Overall we really enjoyed the process. Day in and day out the installation crew installs LL Flooring planks. They know their stuff! They were on time, cleaned up all debris at the end of the day, and finished the job quickly and professionally! They were also super communicative. Because of covid, we weren’t really in the house when they were, but the main installer was always checking in with me and letting me when they were arriving, leaving, sending progress photos.

It was a much nicer experience than Jon and I trying to tackle it ourselves after work and on weekends! I would highly recommend having them handle the installation for you.

One more step closer to a finished house and getting to move in!!!!!