What we install
Unfinished solid hardwood, unfinished engineered hardwood, and stair parts — treads, risers, skirt boards, and transitions. The wood is job supply. We put it down, then sand and finish under your house's light so the color is the one you approved. Unfinished hardwood flooring in Huntsville is the supply page. We do not install LVP, vinyl, carpet, or laminate, and we do not screen-and-recoat.
Species and grade
Red oak, white oak, hickory, and maple are the species we install. Red oak is the common North Alabama floor. White oak reads a little tighter in the grain. Hickory shows more color swing from board to board. Maple takes stain differently and shows a smoother face. Grade changes the look: a cleaner grade has fewer knots and mineral streaks; a character grade shows more of the tree. Wider planks change the look of a room and they change the cost. We do not publish a price for species, grade, or width. We talk through the boards on the in-home estimate.
Subfloor and moisture
Before the first board, we look at what the wood is going over. Plywood and OSB are wood subfloors. A slab is concrete. We take moisture readings on the subfloor and on the wood. We do not publish a cutoff number on this site — the reading has to be in range for the product, and we say so before we start. Solid hardwood wants a wood subfloor it can be nailed to. Engineered goes over a slab because the layered construction handles that substrate better than a solid board nailed to concrete. Flatness, squeaks, and soft spots get fixed before the floor goes down. Subfloor repair is its own line on the quote.
Acclimation
The wood comes into the house before we install it so it can sit in the same air the floor will live in. How long that takes depends on the product and the moisture readings. We do not print a day count here. We tell you the plan at the estimate, and we do not start the install until the wood and the subfloor agree.
Nail-down, glue-down, and floating engineered
Solid hardwood over plywood or OSB is a nail-down floor. Engineered can go down three ways, and we pick after we see the subfloor. Nail-down engineered works over a wood subfloor. Glue-down engineered is the usual path on a slab, and on some wood subfloors when the product calls for it. Floating engineered locks together over an underlayment and is not fastened to the floor below — we use it when the product and the subfloor both allow it, not as a shortcut over a slab that needed glue. The method is on the written quote.
Sanding and finishing on site
Unfinished wood is not a finished floor when we leave the last board. We sand it and put the finish on in the house. Rubio Monocoat® Oil Plus 2C is advertised 0% VOC — color and protection in one coat. We are the only hardwood company in North Alabama using it. Jobs that want a film-build topcoat get Bona Traffic HD, which is GREENGUARD Gold certified. That GREENGUARD label is on the Bona product, not a company badge. Bona Chroma® is the color system when you want a specific tone. We sample on your boards under the house's light before we commit a room. Two systems. We pick one. We do not stack them.
Stairs that match the floor
Treads, risers, skirt boards, and transitions are part of the install when the house has stairs. Same species direction, same stain, same topcoat, so the stair does not look like a later add-on. See custom hardwood stairs.
A typical timeline
A typical Huntsville install is a few days of install, then sand-and-finish. We give your timeline at the estimate. The sand-and-finish that follows is the same kind of on-site work we already describe for a lived-in refinish: most of those jobs run about two to five days on site, depending on square footage, stain, coats, and stairs. That is typical, not a guarantee. We do not add the install days and the sand-and-finish days into a fixed total on this page. Furniture in the rooms we are working has to be out of the way. Pets and kids stay out of the work area while we sand and while finish cures.
What changes the cost
We do not publish prices. The written quote moves with square footage, species and plank width, subfloor repair, demo of the old flooring, stairs, transitions, and the finish system. Two houses with the same square footage are not the same job. For a refinish of a floor you already have, the factors with no numbers are on what drives the cost of hardwood floor refinishing in Huntsville.
Dust while we sand
After the install, the sand uses the same dust containment we run on a refinish. High-efficiency extraction keeps sanding dust out of the air, the ducts, and the furniture. Virtually dustless, not zero dust. More on dust-contained hardwood refinishing.
Where we install
We install in Huntsville, Madison, hardwood floor refinishing Decatur AL, Hartselle, Cullman, hardwood floor refinishing Athens AL, Moulton, Gurley. We come to the house. There is no public street address.
Installation questions
- Who installs hardwood floors in Huntsville, AL?
- Alabama Hardwood Restoration. We install unfinished solid hardwood and unfinished engineered hardwood in Huntsville and North Alabama, then sand and finish on site. Stair parts go with those jobs. Call (256) 665-2161.
- Do you install LVP?
- No. We do not install LVP, vinyl, carpet, or laminate. The install is unfinished solid hardwood, unfinished engineered hardwood, and stair parts.
- Solid or engineered for a Huntsville slab?
- Solid hardwood is nailed to a wood subfloor. A concrete slab is a different substrate. Unfinished engineered is what we put over a slab, after moisture readings, usually glued down. We look at the slab on site before we recommend it.
- Do you sand and finish after install?
- Yes. Unfinished solid and unfinished engineered are sanded and finished in the house. Rubio Monocoat® Oil Plus 2C is advertised 0% VOC. Jobs that want a film-build topcoat get Bona Traffic HD, which is GREENGUARD Gold certified on the Bona product, often with Bona Chroma® color. We sample on your boards.
- Is the installation estimate free?
- Yes. Free in-home estimate. We come out, measure, and leave a written quote. No phone prices. Call (256) 665-2161.
- How long does hardwood floor installation take in Huntsville?
- A typical install is a few days of install, then sand-and-finish. We give your timeline at the estimate. Most lived-in sand-and-finish jobs on this site run about two to five days on site, depending on square footage, stain, coats, and stairs. That is typical, not a guarantee, and it is not a promise that install plus finish adds up to a fixed number of days.