DIY or Pro: The Hardwood Flooring Decision

Can I Install Hardwood Flooring Myself, Or Should I Hire A Professional?

Considering installing hardwood floors yourself? This eye-opening episode might save you thousands of dollars in mistakes and headaches. We dive deep into the true costs of DIY flooring projects and reveal why professional installation often delivers superior value despite the apparent upfront savings.

Hunter Ross, with over 20 years of flooring expertise, breaks down why some flooring types should never be DIY projects while offering candid advice about when ambitious homeowners might successfully tackle certain installations. The discussion explores how professional installations combine scientific precision with artistic craftsmanship—a balance that takes years to master. Hunter shares, "This is really a science and an art. You've got to know all the technical details about how to do it, and then you have to have the finesse and artistic talent to make it look beautiful."

The conversation turns to real-life disasters when DIY projects went terribly wrong: flooded homes from amateur plumbing attempts, broken windows during demo work, and the nightmare of discovering that door trim heights don't match new flooring thickness. These cautionary tales highlight why experienced professionals anticipate and prevent problems before they happen. As Hunter explains, "Where you think you might've been saving money, boom, there's an added expense that you couldn't have thought of."

Whether you're leaning toward DIY or professional installation, this episode equips you with crucial considerations before making your decision. Ready to transform your space with beautiful, professionally installed hardwood floors? Call 972-525-0026 for a free in-home consultation or visit Woodfloordallas.com to learn more about working with true flooring experts.

To learn more about Wood Floors of Dallas visit:
https://www.WoodFloorDallas.com
Wood Floors of Dallas
159 W. Main St., Suite 200
Lewisville, Texas 75057
972-525-0026

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome to the Wood Floors of Dallas podcast, where
we bring expert insights onhardwood flooring design and
craftsmanship, hosted by HunterRoss, owner of Wood Floors of
Dallas, with over 20 years inthe building product industry.
Whether you're a homeowner or ageneral contractor, we're here

(00:27):
to help you create amazingspaces with honor, quality and
expertise.
Let's get started.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
Installing hardwood flooring might seem like a
doable DIY project, but is itreally the best approach?
Here's what you need to knowbefore taking it on yourself.
Welcome back everyone.
I'm Sophia Yvette, co-host,slash producer, back in the
studio with Hunter Ross, ownerof Wood Floors of Dallas.
Hunter, how's it going today?

Speaker 3 (01:06):
Going very well, Sophia.
How are you?

Speaker 2 (01:08):
I'm also doing well.
So, hunter, hardwood flooringcan transform a space, but the
installation process comes withits challenges.
So let's talk about whether DIYor professional installation is
the way to go.
Hunter, can I install hardwoodfloors myself, or should I hire
a professional?

Speaker 3 (01:31):
That is a very good question.
It's a very loaded question aswell when it comes to hardwood
floors.
First off, there's so manydifferent kinds, right?
If we're talking about solidhardwood floors, I would tell
you absolutely don't evenattempt it, because it is
extremely complex and you haveto have years and years of
experience to do it.
So on that part, I would saydon't do anything but hire a

(01:56):
professional.
But when it comes to, let's say, a click lock wood or a vinyl
or even an engineered glue downhardwood, there are some DIY
people out there that are prettycapable and they can get it
done.
You're really going to have tospend a tremendous amount of
time learning to make sure thatyou don't make big mistakes.
That can be extremely costly.

(02:16):
A lot of people who have aninclination to DIY a project
think that they're going to doit and save money, and the
majority of the time that is notthe case.
Quick example is my fatheralways wanted to DIY every
single project in our housegrowing up.
And while he got it donebecause he's very handy and he's
very smart and very capable italways took him three times,

(02:39):
four times longer than it wouldhave if he would have hired a
professional and while he did itpretty good, it was never done
at that level of professionalismthat you would have if he would
have hired a professional.
And while he did it pretty good, it was never done at that
level of professionalism thatyou would get if you paid for it
right.
So I always used to laugh athim and say you could have got
this done in a day he's likeyeah, but what's the fun in that
?
Like I get it right.
So if you're a handy person andyou love to do those types of

(03:00):
things and work on projectsaround the house, you definitely
can Just make sure you educateyourself.
The other thing is, when itcomes to having a successful
installation, there's a lot ofpitfalls that people run into.
Not realizing how much laborand intense work that it
happened that it takes is one.
Not having the proper tools isanother.
Not knowing the little trickslike for properly preparing the

(03:23):
floor.
Like you have to have the floorvery flat to begin with, and if
you don't, you'll wind up witha either a click lock floor or a
glue down floor that has lotsof hollow spots, and it can
actually cause the whole entirefloor, the system, to fail.
All the products are engineeredfor very specific tolerances
and specifications and one ofthe biggest problems is having
an uneven floor because it cancause separation of the planks

(03:46):
and all kinds of other things.
So when you're looking atconsidering doing a project of
this scope and at this expenseby yourself.
I would just say ask a ton ofquestions to a ton of different
people and ask about theirresults before you attempt
something like this.
A professional services companylike Wood Floors of Dallas

(04:06):
we've been doing this for a longtime.
This is really a science and anart.
You've got to know all thetechnical details about how to
do it, and then you have to havethe finesse and the artistic
talent to also pull it off andmake it look beautiful, as well
as have the client experience begood.
So you have to have a lot ofartistic talent to be able to

(04:27):
kind of there's a finesse tothis.
You have to be able to seeproblems and be very creative,
because every single job isdifferent.
So that comes from years andyears of experience.
A professional services companylike we do we've been doing it
a long time.
I'm a technical expert at allthese little scientific style

(04:49):
details about the materials aswell as the installation, and
paying good money to a goodprofessional to get a good
result is always worth wastingmoney.
Paying somebody to do somethingthat they don't know how to do.
Are you attempting to spendyour money and basically wasting
it because it doesn't workright?
I always tell people like whenyou need a doctor, you go to a

(05:11):
doctor.
If you have a health problem,you go to a doctor.
If you're struggling withsomething, you go see a
counselor.
If you need something done inyour teeth, you go to a dentist.
When you are looking at themost efficient way to get a
project done and you want it tobe done at a very high level,
then you should come to us andask us about those details and
get us to provide that expertisefor you so that way we can take

(05:33):
care of it and at the end yourresult is going to be exactly
what you wanted.
So I would say in some total,if you want to risk it, you
definitely can DIY a project ofthis size, but when you consider
the value and the expense, it'susually better to hire a

(05:53):
professional to take care of itall for you.

Speaker 2 (05:56):
Now for our people here who may insist on being DIY
experts.
What are the biggest challengesDIY installers face with
hardwood flooring?

Speaker 3 (06:10):
That's a really good question.
Part of it is understandingwhat your unique situation is in
your house.
Just to give you a really quickexample, flooring is different
thicknesses.
Some flooring is very thin,others is like thick, like three
quarters of an inch thick.
When you look around your home,if you look at your baseboards
and you look at your door trim,that's around every single door.
Those are all set to a veryspecific height.

(06:33):
Let's say you had a thick floorin and then you wanted to tear
it all out and you were goingback with a thin floor and you
didn't even consider the factthat all of your door jams are
cut perfectly to that very thickfloor.
When you put your new floor inand you get it installed, you
run into this issue and you say,oh my gosh, now every single
door jam in my entire house iscut high and I just put in a

(06:53):
thin floor.
Now I didn't even realize it.
But now I'm going to have tospend thousands of dollars to go
retrim all of those door jams.
And so, where you think youmight've been saving money, boom
, there's an added expense thatyou couldn't have thought of.
Another one how about plumbing,for example, if you have a half
bath and you're puttinghardwood floors in most of your

(07:15):
home.
A lot of people like to add thewood in there.
I've seen it happen before wheresomebody ruined their entire
installation because they got tothe point where they're going
into the bathroom and theyweren't a plumber and they
didn't hire a plumber Remember,these are DIY people.
So they unhooked their toilethire a plumber.
Remember, these are DIY people.

(07:36):
So they unhooked their toilet.
They attempted to unhookeverything and broke a pipe and
flooded their entire home andruined weeks and weeks of
material that they had installed.
And all that effort, all thatwork, because they just didn't
have that experience right.
We came after the fact becausethey had a flood in an insurance
claim and we solved the issue.
But you talk about tears of painfrom the customer after all the

(07:59):
work that they did and it wasjust a little thing that they
didn't know to double check orto get a professional to do that
one thing.
And there's so many storiespeople breaking lights, breaking
windows, they're demoing sometile.
So they're trying to demo tilebecause they're going to put
floors in Tile breaks, shards go, break windows, break furniture

(08:22):
.
There's a lot of littlepitfalls that if you don't know
what you're looking for, you'regoing to run into some.

Speaker 2 (08:28):
So, yeah, Wow, well, hunter, that was a great
breakdown.
Hardwood floors are aninvestment, and choosing between
diy and professionalinstallation makes a big
difference.
Thank you so much for theinsight and we'll catch you next
time thank you, I appreciate it, sophia, have a great one.

Speaker 1 (08:56):
Thanks for tuning in to Wood Floors of Dallas podcast
.
Ready to transform your space?
Call 972-525-0026 for a freein-home consultation or visit
woodfloordallascom to learn more.
Work with honor, build withexcellence.

(09:16):
See you next time.