Taking the old floor out and getting the subfloor right is not a separate job you pay extra for — on most of our projects it is already in the price. It is also the stage that decides whether the new floor performs, which is why we look at it before we quote rather than after.
The most common way a flooring quote goes wrong is that it covers the material and the labor to lay it, and nothing else. Then the old carpet comes up, the subfloor is not what anybody assumed, and the number changes on a day when the furniture is already in the garage.
We do it the other way round. We look under the existing floor at the in-home appointment where we can, we talk through what removal and preparation the house is likely to need, and we put it in the project price. Standard furniture moving and existing-floor removal are included on most projects.
Flatness, moisture, movement and soundness — in that order of how often they cause trouble. A subfloor that is out of flat tolerance will telegraph through thin flooring and create hollow spots under a floating one. A slab reading high on moisture changes what can go over it. Loose panels squeak, and a squeak is unreachable once there is a finished floor above it.
None of that is exotic and none of it needs a specialist. It needs somebody to look before the material is ordered.
The easiest removal and the one that most often reveals something. Carpet and pad lift quickly; the tack strip around the perimeter comes up with them, and the staples left in the deck have to come out rather than be flattened.
It is also where old pet damage shows itself. If moisture has been through the pad into the subfloor, we would far rather find it with the room empty than seal it under a new floor and have it find you later.
Glued-down sheet vinyl and adhesive residue are the slow ones. The adhesive has to come off, not just the vinyl, because a new floor bonded or floated over old adhesive will telegraph every ridge of it.
Ceramic tile over a slab is heavy, dusty work and the thinset underneath usually needs grinding flat afterwards. We tell you when a room is a tile tear-out job, because it changes both the timeline and the amount of disruption in a way that is unfair to discover on the day.
Where a subfloor is out of tolerance we level it — self-leveling compound over a slab, patching or sheeting over a wood deck, grinding down a high spot. Where a panel has failed or a joist has moved, that gets addressed as its own repair and we tell you what it involves before we start.
We explain the moisture readings too, in plain terms. A high reading is a specification decision, not a disaster, but it is one that has to be made before the material is on site.
Glued-down sheet vinyl and adhesive residue are the slow ones.
Standard furniture moving is included, so the sofa and the beds are our problem. What we ask you to handle is the small, fragile, valuable and personal — ornaments, electronics, anything irreplaceable — and to empty furniture, drawers, shelves and storage so they can be moved safely.
Ten minutes of that before we arrive saves the most common source of friction on a flooring job, which is not the floor at all.
Tear-out is dusty. Tile and adhesive removal is very dusty. We contain the work area, run the debris out rather than through the house where the layout allows it, and haul the old flooring away as part of the job.
We also tell you honestly how long a room will be unusable. A carpet swap is often same-day; a tile tear-out with leveling that has to cure is not, and knowing that in advance is worth more than an optimistic estimate.
The subfloor is left clean, dry, flat and sound, and the new floor goes down on a deck that has been prepared for it rather than one that has been tolerated.
That is the whole point of doing this properly. Everything visible about a floor is decided by the part of it nobody will ever see again.
New flooring performs best over a clean, dry, stable and properly prepared surface. We inspect the subfloor and explain any leveling, repairs or moisture concerns before installation begins, rather than covering a problem up.
0% APR for 12 months
6,12,36 months 0% depends on purchase size.
Soft, pet-friendly and stain-resistant carpet chosen with you at home, then measured, prepared and installed by experienced flooring contractors.
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The look of natural wood with the durability busy households need — water-resistant options, easy care, installed by experienced flooring contractors.
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Genuine hardwood — solid and engineered — selected for grain, tone and finish, then measured and installed to last.
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Hard-wearing laminate flooring for rooms that take a beating, supplied and installed with the same preparation and cleanup as every Highmark job.
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Stairs, transitions and trim finished properly — the details that decide whether a new floor looks installed or looks finished.
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Flooring for offices, suites and light commercial spaces around Licking and Franklin County, on a schedule that works around your business.
Learn more →Free in-home estimate, clear pricing, and a crew that shows up when we say we will.
