§ 02.06Flooring — TX + OH
Every year-two failure on a floor — cupping, gapping, hollow spots, creaks, seams telegraphing through the finish — starts at the subfloor. Manufacturer warranties on hardwood and LVP both name flatness, moisture, and acclimation as conditions. Most installers skip those steps to win the bid. We do not. We meter the moisture, level to 3/16 inch over ten feet, lay vapor barrier, and acclimate the wood in your house for a week before the first board lands.
Hardwood works in a bedroom and ruins a kitchen. LVP saves a basement and embarrasses a living room. The right answer changes every time you cross a doorway. This is how we’d call it room by room before you spend a dollar — and what we walk you through, in your house, at the design visit.
| Room | Solid hardwood | Engineered | LVP | Porcelain tile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
KitchenStanding water, drops, sliding chairs | SkipA spilled glass of water is a refinish. | GoodCross-ply core takes the humidity swings. | BestWater-resistant. Replaces by board. | GoodCold underfoot but bulletproof. |
BathroomShower spray, mop water, 70% RH days | SkipNo wood floor survives a steamed bath. | SkipEngineered is not a wet-room product. | GoodPowder rooms only. Full baths take tile. | BestFull thinset, Schluter, the whole spec. |
BasementSlab below grade, vapor pressure | SkipSolid will cup before the first season. | GoodFloating install over closed-cell barrier. | BestForgiving on moisture, stable on slab. | GoodCold, but dry; pairs with rugs. |
Living roomLarge run, sun, scale | BestRefinishable 4–6 times. Looks better with age. | GoodPick wider plank, real-wood wear layer. | GoodBest LVP looks great. Most of it does not. | SkipCold underfoot in a long room. |
BedroomStable HVAC, low traffic, warmth | BestWhere solid actually shines. | GoodQuieter under bare feet in winter. | GoodFine for rentals or kids’ rooms. | SkipCold every morning of your life. |
Entry / mudroomSalt, mud, the dog | SkipSalt eats the finish in one Ohio winter. | SkipEngineered does not love standing salt. | BestThe right pick if you skip tile. | BestBest floor for a real entry. |
From the board you walk on down to the joists or the slab below, this is the install in cross-section. The spec at every layer is the spec the manufacturer requires — and the spec most installers cut to win the bid.
Hand-cut transitions, random-stagger seams, two-coat top on site-finish wood.
The transition is where a bad install shows up first. Ours read crisp because the carpenter scribed them to the room, not picked them off a stock-cut shelf.
Boards stage in your house for 5–7 days at the actual indoor humidity before any plank lands.
Wood that does not acclimate cups in summer and gaps in winter. Manufacturer warranties name acclimation explicitly. Skipped acclimation is the most common reason a tight floor in February shows daylight in August.
Sheet membrane on hardwood over slab. Closed-cell underlayment on LVP. Every seam taped.
Texas slab-on-grade pushes vapor up year-round. Ohio basements push it through every wet season. The barrier is what carries the warranty on hardwood and LVP both.
Straight-edge the deck. Self-level any low spot. Sand high spots. Verify every 10 ft of run.
Wavy subfloor is the #1 reason a floor creaks within the first season. The fix is a single $40 bag of leveler at the bid stage, not a service call later.
Pull a sample board. Check joist spacing, prior repair, glue residue. Meter slab moisture and record it with date and location.
The deck condition often changes the spec. We surface that at the design visit, not at demo day, because nobody wants the spec changing after the truck shows up.
The matrix above tells you what goes where. This is who each material actually is — in our words, before showroom marketing gets in the way. Numbers are not best-case; they are what we have seen across 15 years of installs.
Bedrooms, living rooms — stable HVAC.
Cups and gaps where humidity swings. Outside its lane it is the wrong floor; inside it, nothing reads better with age.
Humidity-swing rooms over a vapor barrier.
Cross-ply core resists the seasonal swing solid wood cannot. Wider plank, real-wood wear layer, fewer refinishes — that is the trade.
Kitchens, basements, mudrooms, rentals.
Cheap LVP looks cheap. Good LVP is the right pick wherever water lands. Replaces by board, which is fast and forgiving.
Baths, entries, anywhere bulletproof wins.
Full-thinset bed, no mastic shortcuts. Schluter waterproofing on every wet-room install. The floor that outlives the house if the deck below stays dry.
§ 12Continue the manual — related to this page
§ 03.04Remodeling
Built for the wall it lives on.
Plywood box, hardwood face, six-sided finish on every panel, Blum BLUMOTION soft-close hardware. Same in-house carpenter measures, mills, finishes, and hangs.
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§ 02.07HVAC
Two coats over real prep beats four over caulk-and-pray.
Sheen-by-room workflow, real prep, two finish coats of Sherwin-Williams Cashmere or Emerald — or Benjamin Moore Aura on jewel tones. Sample boards under your evening light.
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§ 03.05Remodeling
Four cuts decide the trim.
Coped inside corners, mitered outsides, scarfed long runs, returns at every cut end. Old-house profiles milled in-shop. Wainscoting, coffered ceilings, library walls, mantels, accent walls.
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§ 03.02Remodeling
Five layers behind your tile.
Schluter KERDI on every wet wall, hand-packed mortar pan, modified thinset on every tile. Three honest scope tiers from cosmetic refresh to full gut.
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§ 03.07Remodeling
Read the page.
Page content for /services/remodeling/interior.
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§ 06Reach the dispatch desk
The carpenter who would install your floor walks the rooms with you, lifts a sample to inspect each subfloor, meters the moisture, and brings real samples of solid, engineered, LVP, and tile to your light. You leave with a per-room spec — material, prep, transitions — and a written bid that holds 30 days.
(214) 578-9961