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Flooring Contractors in Ontario: How to Hire, Compare Quotes, Write the Contract, Inspect the Work, Price Repairs and Handle Warranty Problems
Flooring & TileContractors
Contractors, Quotes and Inspection: How to Hire a Floor Installer, Read Three Quotes Against Each Other, and Check the Work Before the Last Cheque
We do not keep a list of installers to send you to. What we have is thirty years of hiring them, and the paperwork that makes a good one easy to spot and a bad one easy to stop.
A flooring quote is a page with a number on it, and most of what matters is what is not on the page: the product by name, the subfloor work by unit rate, the moisture test, the stairs, the trim, the warranty, the schedule. These pages give you the grid to put three quotes on, the questions that fill the blanks, the contract terms Ontario law gives you whether the contractor likes it or not, the walk-through before you pay, and what to do when a floor fails and everyone points at everyone else.
The numbers
10%a reasonable deposit on supply and install
10%Construction Act holdback, 60 days
10 dayscooling-off on a contract signed at home
$1,500the minimum job most installers charge
The guides
How to hire a flooring contractor
The questions, references, WSIB, insurance, deposits and the red flags that show up before the first plank.
How to compare flooring quotes
The twelve-line grid: what is in, what is out, subfloor, moisture, trim, stairs, warranty.
Contract checklist
What the contract has to say: product named, prep unit rates, deposits, changes, holdback, the walk-through.
Workmanship inspection
What to check before the final payment on hardwood, vinyl, tile and stairs, with the standard behind each.
Flooring repair cost
Board replacement, plank swaps, tile replacement, squeaks and scratches, with the minimum charges explained.
Warranty problems
Manufacturer vs installer warranty, why claims fail, and Tarion for a new home.
Installation order in a new home
When flooring goes in relative to cabinets, trim, paint and stairs, and why the order costs money when it is wrong.
Four rules for hiring a floor installer
- Product by name, on the quote. Brand, line, thickness, wear layer. “Engineered hardwood as per sample” is not a product. The grid.
- Unit rates for what cannot be seen yet. Levelling, subfloor replacement, moisture mitigation: a price per square foot, agreed before the carpet comes up. The contract.
- WSIB clearance and liability insurance, as documents, not as a sentence. Hiring.
- Walk it with a straightedge and a flashlight before the last cheque. The standard is published; hold the floor to it. Inspection.
Have quotes or plans in hand? Let a builder read them first
For $99, I put your flooring or tile quotes on one grid, check the square footage and waste against your rooms, name the product each one actually promised, price the tearout and subfloor work that was left as “extra”, check that a shower quote names a waterproofing system, and tell you which one to sign. For a new build or a basement, $249 turns your plans into a room-by-room takeoff of materials, stairs, subfloor notes and showers, with a budget by grade, that three installers can price the same way.
