Hardwood floor installation prices in LA
We quote flooring per square foot installed, not as a material price with labor added later. Subfloor prep, underlayment, transitions, baseboard removal and reinstall, and removal of the old floor are all in the number. Material can be supplied by us at trade cost or by you.
| Floor | Installed price | 1,000 sq ft at the starting rate |
|---|---|---|
| Engineered or solid hardwood | From $11.50 / sq ft | About $11,500 |
| Laminate or luxury vinyl plank | From $5.75 / sq ft | About $5,700 |
| Tile and stone | From $14.00 / sq ft | About $14,000 |
| Real job: Culver City, original oak sanded and refinished | 1,100 sq ft, four days | $6,600 |
For context, HomeGuide's national figures are $11–$25 per square foot installed for solid hardwood and $9–$20 for engineered (HomeGuide (opens in a new tab), checked September 2026). Our starting rate sits near the bottom of that band. Species, plank width and the state of the subfloor decide where a particular LA job lands.
What drives the cost of hardwood installation
The subfloor, and on a slab, moisture
Almost every flooring complaint traces back to the subfloor: boards that squeak, gap or cup. We check flatness across the room with a straightedge, grind the high spots and fill the low ones with self-levelling compound before a board goes down. A room that is badly out of flat takes more compound and more hours, and that shows in the quote.
Most LA homes sit on concrete slabs, and a slab that reads high for moisture will destroy hardwood from underneath within a year. We moisture test every slab before committing to wood and lay a vapor barrier where it is needed. If the reading is too high for wood, you hear it before you buy the flooring, not after.
Engineered or solid
Solid hardwood is nailed down, which needs a wood subfloor. Over concrete, engineered boards glued down or floated are the usual answer. Solid can be sanded and refinished many times; engineered boards with a thick enough wear layer can be refinished too. On a slab-built house the choice is less about price than about what the floor is sitting on.
Species, grade and plank width
White oak, walnut and hickory are priced differently, and within one species a clear grade with few knots costs more than a character grade. Wide planks look calmer but cost more per square foot and forgive a less-than-flat subfloor less. We walk you through options at trade pricing so the choice is made on real numbers rather than showroom tags.
The shape of the rooms
Open, rectangular rooms go down fast. Hallways, closets, angled walls, door casings and every change to tile or carpet add cutting time. Stairs are the extreme case: each tread, riser and nosing is cut and fitted individually, so a staircase changes the number far more than its square footage suggests.
Removal and furniture
Pulling up old carpet, laminate or tile and hauling it away is included. So is moving standard furniture. Pianos, safes, oversized aquariums and anything similar are flagged in the quote and arranged separately, so nothing surprises you on install day.
Doing it slowly enough
Some of what you pay for is time that does not look like work. Boards are acclimated on site before laying, so they have adjusted to the house before they are fixed down. The layout is set out dry first and walked with you, so cuts land where they are least visible and there is no sliver at the most visible wall. Seams are staggered so the pattern reads natural rather than repeating. Transitions are made to sit flush instead of being covered with a strip of trim.
Refinishing instead of replacing
The cheapest hardwood floor is the one you already own. In a 1940s Culver City house we pulled the carpet and found old-growth white oak in good condition. Sanded, stained natural and finished in matte polyurethane, 1,100 sq ft cost $6,600 over four days. New engineered hardwood over the same area would have been about $12,600 and, in our view, a worse floor. Refinishing cost roughly half.
That is why we pull back a corner of carpet before quoting flooring in pre-1950 Culver City homes. Refinishing only works when the boards are sound and have enough wood left to sand, and we check that before recommending it. You can see that floor, before and after, on our work page.
How to keep hardwood installation cost down
- Look under the carpet first. If there is hardwood there, get a refinishing price before you price new floors.
- Do the whole area in one go. One continuous floor through connected rooms means fewer transitions, fewer thresholds and one set of prep days instead of several.
- Pick a standard plank width and a character grade. Wide boards and clear grades are beautiful and cost more; a mid-width character-grade oak is the value choice in most homes.
- Use vinyl where water lives. Luxury vinyl costs about half as much as hardwood and is fully waterproof. For kitchens, bathrooms and rentals we usually recommend vinyl; for living areas and bedrooms in a home you are keeping, hardwood.
- Compare supplying your own material. Material can come from us at trade cost or from you. Ask for the installed price both ways and compare like for like.
Getting an installed price
We measure, calculate material with a proper waste allowance and give you a per-square-foot installed number, not a vague allowance. Then we set the layout out dry and walk it with you, so cuts land where they are least visible and the boards run the direction you want. Most homes take two to five days. See the full scope on our flooring installation page.