Contractors often hear the same common questions and misconceptions from customers regarding

 the flooring installation process.

If you are frequently fielding the same questions from customers, then we have some responses to prepare you with an answer. Even better, you can review some of these facts with your customers before they have a chance to ask the question.

Common Confusion Surrounding Wood Floor Installation

Expectations Around How to Care for Floors

After the contractor leaves, it’s up to the customer to make sure that they’re frequently cleaning their floors and taking other steps to maintain them. The finish can only hold up to so much before it starts showing scratches. They also need to make sure they’re using wood floor-friendly cleaning products such as Basic Coatings Squeaky Hardwood Floor Care System. 

Setting this expectation ahead of time will ensure you don’t get calls months after the project is done.

Expansion & Contraction Are Normal…To an Extent

Wood is a natural material and as such it responds to its environment. During the summer, floors will expand as they absorb moisture, and during the wintertime, they’ll contract as they release moisture. This is normal and nothing to panic about during normal circumstances, but if you notice excess gapping or cupping, it might indicate that something is wrong with the humidity levels in your home and that it’s time to call in a professional wood floor contractor to diagnose the issue.

“Let Me Just Do It Myself”

This is something you might hear from a customer after you present them a quote. It’s the perfect time to jump in and let them know that installing and finishing a wood floor is a difficult process!

Need a good response to this? We have you covered:

Installing a floor is not something you can really DIY easily. There is a lot that goes into installing or refinishing a wood floor, and a lot of expertise and knowledge is needed. 

Wood floor contractors constantly educate themselves to keep up with the latest developments, standards, products, and techniques. Some even attend dedicated courses like the NWFA installation course every single year. A lot of equipment and tools are needed besides just the wood floors. 

You’re often better off hiring a trusted wood floor contractor if you don’t have a lot of knowledge about the process to save yourself from a headache…not to mention the money and time lost if they end up installing your floors incorrectly and have to call in a professional anyway.

Variations Between Boards

As mentioned above, wood floors are a natural product. As such, there’s bound to be some variation between the boards, from color to character marks and more. This is part of the beauty of a wood floor, and some species such as maple are renowned for the variation between planks. If your clients are uncomfortable with this, it might be a good idea to either look for a higher grade of flooring such as select or clear. And if that’s not good enough, a different floor material altogether might be what they’re looking for. 

Do you get certain questions from your customers that come up time and again? Leave them in the comments!