We have carpet in our townhome and we want to put hardwood floors. i am trying to figure out the cost of the floors and how much installation would run at. I am also thinking of getting something that we could do ourselves either hardwood or laminate. Anyone with experience on a situation like this? What do you suggest? We are thinking of putting about 700 sq feet of hardwood floors. if we do do it ourselfs what are some good choices of wood or laminate that are pretty simple to install and that turn out great.



wooden furniture

I would say a laminate, even though I've seen a lot of unfinished jobs due to homeowners getting stuck at a certain point. Door casings can get tricky with click lock. Not going under the casing completely is unacceptable. There are many cases you have to cut the locking system off and use glue in its place. Sometimes you have to be a couple steps ahead and know what you're coming to. Its amazing how the quality contol goes way down when the homeowner picks up the project on their own. I always hear "That'll be fine" or "its just a closet" or "We are moving in a couple years".... well no one will buy it with a floor like that! Hire a pro please.

Pretty much have to agree with joegriz. Then there's always the saw factor. If your not used to working with a saw, be it a table saw or chop-saw you can easily lose fingers or even a hand.

How will that save you a few hundred bucks?

Not many DIY forums will warn you of that factor. Just look up how many power saw accidents happen in the U.S. alone.

Really this should be a sticky warning up to for all the DIY'ers,