Questions to Ask Flooring Contractor
For homeowners bidding out new floors: most of the risk in a flooring job hides in the subfloor, the prep line and the fine print of the manufacturer's instructions. These 20 questions make a contractor commit to specifics before you sign.
The questions
Open any question for the note
How long have you been installing flooring, and will I be dealing with you or with a salesperson?
Why ask it
Big box and retail flooring sales often hand the job to whichever crew is available that week, so the person quoting you may never see your house. Find out now who owns the outcome and whose phone you call when something goes wrong.
Are you licensed for this work where I live, and can you email me your general liability and workers compensation certificates?
Why ask it
Licensing rules for flooring vary by state and city, but insurance is universal: if an uninsured installer gets hurt cutting tile in your kitchen, the claim can land on your homeowners policy. Ask for certificates sent directly from the insurer, not a photo of a card.
Will your own employees install my floor, or do you subcontract the crew, and who supervises them on site?
Why ask it
Subcontracting is normal in flooring and not disqualifying, but it changes accountability, insurance coverage and who is present when a judgment call comes up. Ask whether anyone from the company walks the job daily or only shows up at the end.
Which flooring types do you install most weeks, and which jobs do you turn down?
Why ask it
Engineered wood, sheet vinyl, luxury vinyl plank, tile and carpet are genuinely different trades with different failure modes. A contractor who names what they refuse is usually telling you the truth about where their skill actually sits.
Can you give me three recent customers in the same material, including one job that is at least two years old?
Why ask it
A fresh install looks good in almost anyone's photos. The two year old job is where you learn whether the seams held, whether the planks gapped over a winter, and whether the contractor came back when asked.
What exactly is included in the written estimate, and what appears as an exclusion or an allowance?
Why ask it
Bids that look cheaper usually are not: they have moved subfloor prep, trim, transitions or haul away into exclusions. Line up the exclusions from every bid side by side and you will often find the ranking flips.
How will you measure the space, and what waste factor are you adding to the material order?
Why ask it
Waste allowances often run around 5 to 10 percent, more for diagonal layouts, patterns or many small rooms. Too little and the job stalls waiting on a second order that may be a different dye lot, too much and you paid for boxes you did not need.
Will you test the subfloor for flatness and moisture before we sign a contract, and what readings did you get?
Why ask it
Manufacturers specify both, commonly something like a 3/16 inch deviation over 10 feet and a moisture limit measured with a meter or in slab probe. A contractor who quotes without testing is guessing at the largest variable in your job.
If you pull up the old floor and find rot, an unlevel slab or asbestos backed tile, how is that priced and who approves it?
Why ask it
This is where flooring jobs blow their budget, and 9 by 9 inch tile or old sheet vinyl adhesive can require licensed abatement rather than a scraper. Get the change order process, the hourly or square foot rate, and a rule that no extra work starts without your written approval.
Who removes and hauls away the old flooring, and who moves the furniture, appliances and toilets?
Why ask it
Tear out, dumpster fees, appliance disconnection and resetting a toilet are four separate line items that homeowners routinely assume are included. Pinning them down also tells you how many rooms you need to empty yourself before the crew arrives.
Will you pull the baseboards, or scribe to them and add shoe molding, and who paints or reinstalls the trim?
Why ask it
Removing and reinstalling baseboard gives a cleaner look but usually means caulking and repainting that most flooring crews do not do. Deciding this up front prevents the common surprise of a beautiful new floor edged by damaged trim nobody owns.
How long will the flooring sit in my house before installation, and at what temperature and humidity?
Why ask it
Wood and many vinyl products need to acclimate to the conditions they will live in, often 48 to 72 hours with the HVAC running. Skipping acclimation is a leading cause of gapping and cupping months later, and it can void the material warranty.
What adhesive, underlayment or fastening schedule will you use, and does it match the manufacturer's written installation instructions?
Why ask it
Manufacturer warranties are conditioned on installing exactly to their published spec, right down to the adhesive trowel notch and nail spacing. Ask the contractor to hand you those instructions so you can compare them to what actually happens on site.
Which direction will the planks run, and where will the seams, transitions and starting wall be?
Why ask it
Layout is a design decision that installers often make alone in the first hour, and it is nearly impossible to change afterward. Walking the plan with them also flushes out walls that are out of square, which is where cuts start looking wrong.
What expansion gap will you leave at walls, cabinets and thresholds, and how will it be concealed?
Why ask it
Floating floors need room to move, frequently a quarter inch or more at every vertical surface, and a floor pinned tight will buckle in the first humid season. The answer should include how that gap disappears behind baseboard, shoe or quarter round.
How will you handle the new floor height at doors, thresholds, stairs and the dishwasher or range?
Why ask it
Adding thickness means undercutting door jambs, adjusting exterior thresholds, notching stair nosings and sometimes finding an appliance no longer slides out. Contractors who have thought this through will describe it without prompting.
What is the start date, how many days will the crew be on site, and how many other jobs will they be running at the same time?
Why ask it
The single most common flooring complaint is a crew that starts, disappears for a week, and leaves you living around stacked boxes. Ask for continuous work language in the contract and a named person to call if a day is missed.
What is the payment schedule, and what will you show me that suppliers and subcontractors have been paid?
Why ask it
A modest deposit with the balance tied to milestones and a final payment after your walkthrough keeps leverage where it belongs. Lien waivers from the material supplier and any subs protect you from paying twice if the contractor does not pay them.
What is your labor warranty in years and in writing, and which of your practices could void the manufacturer's material warranty?
Why ask it
Material and labor warranties are separate, and most floor failures are installation failures the manufacturer will not cover. A contractor who can name the specific things that void coverage, such as skipped moisture testing or the wrong adhesive, understands what they are signing.
If planks cup, gap, squeak or sound hollow three months from now, what is your callback process and who pays?
Why ask it
This question separates contractors who expect to be back from those planning never to return, and their tone often tells you more than the words. Ask specifically who diagnoses the cause, since the fight after a failure is always about whether it was the material, the subfloor or the install.
Hiring a Flooring Contractor Without Getting Burned
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Do This Before You Sign Anything
Bid the identical scope three times
Write your own one page scope first: rooms and square footage, exact product and color, who tears out and hauls, whether baseboards come off, transitions, stairs, appliance disconnects, and subfloor prep as a separate line. Hand the same page to every contractor. Without it you are comparing three different jobs, and the lowest number almost always turns out to be the one that quietly excluded prep.
Read the manufacturer's installation instructions yourself
Every major flooring brand publishes them free as a PDF. They state the allowed subfloor moisture readings, flatness tolerance, acclimation period, approved adhesives and underlayments, expansion gaps and fastener spacing. Ten minutes with that document turns you into a customer who can ask specific questions, and it is the same document a warranty claim will be judged against.
Verify insurance and license at the source
Call the insurance agent listed on the certificate to confirm the policy is active on your install dates, and check the license against your state or city contractor board rather than the contractor's website. While you are there, look for complaints or lapsed status. This takes about fifteen minutes and screens out a whole category of problems.
Insist on a real contract, not a quote
It should name the exact product with style and color, total square footage, the prep included, start and finish dates, a payment schedule tied to milestones, the labor warranty term, and the change order process requiring your signature. If the contractor only ever produces a one line total, treat that as the answer to several of the questions above.
Red Flags Worth Walking Away From
- A quote produced without ever measuring the rooms or touching the subfloor with a moisture meter or straightedge.
- Large cash deposit demanded up front, or pressure to pay in full before the walkthrough.
- No written subfloor prep line at all, which usually means it becomes a change order once the old floor is up.
- Refuses to name the specific product, brand and adhesive, or wants to substitute an equivalent later at their discretion.
- Cannot produce insurance certificates from the carrier, or the policy expires before your job would finish.
- Says acclimation, moisture testing or expansion gaps are unnecessary for the product you chose.
- Only shows fresh install photos and cannot connect you with any customer from more than a year ago.
- A price far below the other bids on identical scope, which in flooring nearly always means prep, trim or haul away is missing.
- Verbal promises about callbacks and warranty that they decline to put into the contract.
Costs That Show Up After the Handshake
- Subfloor leveling compound or plywood underlayment once the old floor exposes dips and soft spots.
- Moisture mitigation coating on a concrete slab that tests above the manufacturer's limit.
- Asbestos abatement for pre 1980s vinyl tile or the black mastic underneath it.
- Removing, reinstalling, caulking and repainting baseboards, which many flooring crews do not include.
- Transition strips, stair nosings and reducers at every doorway and floor height change.
- Undercutting door jambs, trimming interior doors and adjusting exterior thresholds for the new floor height.
- Disconnecting and resetting toilets, dishwashers, ranges and refrigerator water lines, plus new toilet wax rings.
- Furniture moving and temporary storage, plus dumpster or landfill fees for the old flooring.
- A second material order at a different dye lot if the waste factor was cut too thin.