Why It Makes Sense To Shop at Flooring Specialty Stores
(02/10/12)

This article could be a hundred pages long, but here are few ways why you’ll save money shopping at a real flooring store;

While it may seem to make sense that some flooring may be 20% or 30% less expensive to shop for flooring online, here are a few considerations. How much extra is the freight? Most freight companies won’t make home deliveries so will you have to pick it up at a freight terminal? Who is responsible for any shipping damages? Not all flooring is suitable for all applications—for instance, laminates shouldn’t be used in kitchens or baths.

If you have a complaint and the online company will replace it, who is responsible for removing the floor, packing it up and shipping it back. Most flooring stores have a difficult time finding competent installers, how successful do you think you might be in doing the same thing and then, who guarantees their work? Remember that installations not done in accordance with manufacturer’s specifications may void all warrantees. All installed products require installation materials and accessories which must be purchased by you. Add it up and you are taking a risk with little or no savings.

Buying from the “Big Boxes” or any non-flooring store is also a risk. If you don’t believe this, just look up customer complaints on a particular store on the internet. Usually you don’t have trained personnel at the point of sale to guide you in the purchase of acceptable flooring for different applications. Much of their inventory is closeouts or one time purchases so matching this material at a later date is usually impossible. Most of their merchandise is private labeled so you can’t comparison shop. Many stores bid out their installations so the installer you get is the person who bid the cheapest price. Good installers never have to do this. Many use installers to measure the jobs and they get paid by the square foot, so the more they measure the more they get paid. Add to this that adding additional material makes the job easier for them, more expensive for you. You may be buying as much as 20% more material than needed making their unit price deceiving, which is why unit price shopping is a waste of time and money. The only price that is comparable is the final total price of the same material installed in your home when the installers leave.

Many of the non-flooring stores charge for the measure, an old psychological ploy used to stop consumers from shopping. We all know that when money is passed, most shoppers do stop shopping. Never pay for a measure. Free installation is always a scam. It either has to be included in the price of material or what the “Big Boxes” do is advertise “basic installation” which doesn’t include: prep work, installation sundries and materials, stairs, sometimes delivery, furniture, moldings and a host of other things most specialty retailers routinely include. If you think installation is free, buy the flooring somewhere else and ask them to install it for you. Many “free” installs cost several hundreds of dollars.

Wood is a blind item. Few people know that wood is graded on several levels, the lowest being wood that is irregular, split and not cut straight requiring several hundred dollars additional to install. I was in the business fifty years before I knew that all the wood in the same box is not the same grade even though you paid for it. An Armstrong employee mentioned that up to 50% of the pieces in a box of a popular 100 year guarantee wood floor from a national chain is less than desirable.