# The cost of hard wood floors



## Dave (Apr 5, 2009)

A lot of people are asking for hard wood floors. I have carpets and I wonder how much does it cost make a change for wood for around 1000 square feet. Other sellers with hard wood floors in my building have asked in the past for a premium of 10K. Does it really cost that much ? I am starting to wonder if I should not make the change myself.

Thanks,
Dave


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## FrugalTrader (Oct 13, 2008)

For us, for 3.25" wide birch HW floor, it was around $3.50 per sq ft + $1.50 per sq ft for install.


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## Cal (Jun 17, 2009)

I would leave the carpet in.

If the new buyers want hardwood they can get it installed. 

So you attract a few more people because of the hardwood flooring. Maybe they don't like the color, or oak or whatever....then you have eliminated them from making an offer.

With carpet they can install whatever they like!


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## OhGreatGuru (May 24, 2009)

Further to Cal's commeents, have a look at this site: http://component.aicanada.ca/e/resourcecenter_renova.cfm

It will give you a quick estimate of how much you might get back in sale price for various renovations. Many of them don't really pay if you are looking at an immediate sale.


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

Furthermore if you live in the house and have animals (esp. cats with claws), you could drive yourself crazy trying to keep those floors in good shape before a sale. My stepdaughter moved back in with us with her cat for six months, and our floors are a disaster -- between the cat's claw marks and the accidents she's caused (knocking over heavy plants on pedestals that crashed to the floor and left big gouges in the boards), we're looking at several thousand bucks in repairs/replacement.


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## houska (Feb 6, 2010)

OhGreatGuru said:


> Further to Cal's commeents, have a look at this site: http://component.aicanada.ca/e/resourcecenter_renova.cfm
> 
> It will give you a quick estimate of how much you might get back in sale price for various renovations. Many of them don't really pay if you are looking at an immediate sale.


I'm sure that *on average*, these are right. The thing is, buyers are not 100% economically rational and their immediate emotional reaction matters. As a result, it can make tons of economic sense, if you're intending to sell soon, to meet the bar on key expectations in your house peer group and create a little something extra. It may not pay off at all to renovate at too low or high a standard for the neighbourhood.

Case in point: We moved into an old house in a fairly upscale neighbourhood. Purchased for a good price. We've renovated kitchen and bathroom in a fairly upscale way and are being led to believe (by knowledgeable people) we've increased the market value of the house by more than our reno cost, since we're now more in sync with other similar houses. However, if we had put in cheap thermoplastic cabinets and a laminate countertop, our market value would not have changed one iota because potential buyers would tend to look and say "I need to replace that kitchen". If we put in crazy designer imported Italian cabinets, we would never get the value back either. All of this is academic, since we're not planning to sell, but it's an example of why these calculators have only limited usefulness.

Our friend sold her starter townhouse condo very well in part by replacing slightly ratty carpet with laminate flooring. Was just the thing (together with repainting etc) to make her condo just slightly nicer than other comparable ones. But for her, putting in granite countertops in the kitchen would have made no economic sense, just as for us to put in laminate ones would have been an economic loss.


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## Berubeland (Sep 6, 2009)

Depending on your layout you can get away with not doing the bedrooms and kitchen and bathrooms. Which will save you money. 

Second go to Home Depot and Rona and Lowes. I have seen some great sale prices on hardwood there. They will generally have "truck" sales of hardwood which will be laid out in the main aisles. 

Then just hire a subcontractor to do the work. A subcontractor is a guy who work for show rooms, and companies like Home Depot. They get the work charge you a premium and hire this small company to actually do the work. 

Whenever you are doing renovations of any kind for resale it is essential that you get the best price for the work.


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## iherald (Apr 18, 2009)

Dave said:


> A lot of people are asking for hard wood floors. I have carpets and I wonder how much does it cost make a change for wood for around 1000 square feet. Other sellers with hard wood floors in my building have asked in the past for a premium of 10K. Does it really cost that much ? I am starting to wonder if I should not make the change myself.
> 
> Thanks,
> Dave


Depending on the age of your home, you may have hardwood under the carpet. I know my old family home had carpet and we discovered nice hardwood underneath (at some point it was decided carpet was better than wood, and now the tides have changed). So my Mom was able to simply refinish the wood.


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## Alexandra (Apr 3, 2009)

It is all about showability. Meaning it depends on what shape your carpets are in currently. If they are in good shape and show well, they will not detract buyers. Especially if the buyers are intent on ripping the carpets up anyways.

If they are in rough shape, are dirty, or are retaining smells from animals or smoke, they could indeed detract from the appeal of your home. Even if the buyers are going to rip up your carpets and install something else, you will have made them feel like your home is worth less than it is.


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## bigcake (Apr 3, 2009)

6000~8000


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