Flooring is the finish most chosen from a sample board and most regretted at the seam. The sample tells you what the material looks like. It tells you nothing about what your subfloor will do to it, how many doorways need transitions, or whether that hallway's squeak is the plank or the joist underneath. Those are the questions the quote has to answer before the material is ordered.
Rhodex quotes flooring on the room and the material together, because the labour story of hardwood, vinyl, laminate and tile are each different, and the subfloor condition is part of the job, not a surprise halfway through.
What the job actually involves
The old floor comes out (usually) and the subfloor gets its inspection: fasteners driven down or re-screwed so nothing squeaks under the new surface, low spots levelled, damaged sections replaced. Then come the material decisions that decide how the floor wears. Underlayment matched to the product, expansion gaps respected around the perimeter of floating floors, plank direction chosen for the room's light and traffic rather than by accident.
Installation follows the material's own rules. Hardwood is acclimated in the house and either nailed or glued per the product. Laminate and vinyl click together as floating floors with the expansion room they demand. Tile (the section below with its own page) is bedded, grouted and sealed on its own schedule. The job ends at the details: transitions between rooms, threshhold strips at doorways, shoe moulding or baseboard reset over the new height, and a walk-through of every seam.
What changes the price
As general market estimates (not Rhodex prices), a Canadian cost guide puts installed flooring at roughly $4 to $25 per square foot by material: laminate around $4 to $10, vinyl $4 to $11, ceramic tile $8 to $20, porcelain $10 to $22, and hardwood $11 to $25. What moves an individual quote:
- The material. It moves the number more than labour does, and its wear profile decides whether you're doing this again in eight years or twenty.
- Subfloor condition. Levelling compound, replaced panels and fastening all add prep; a floor that skips the prep pays for it later.
- Old floor removal. Taking out glued hardwood or tile is slower than pulling laminate, and disposal is part of the job.
- Stairs. Stair treads and nosings are cut and fitted individually, so they price more per square foot than the hallway does.
- Room shapes. Islands, angled walls and many doorways mean more cuts, more waste and more time.
Rhodex's own prices are never published online. Each job is quoted from the rooms and the material choice, itemised with labour, materials and HST.
Quick answers
How much does flooring installation cost?
As general market estimates, a Canadian cost guide puts installed flooring at roughly $4 to $25 per square foot depending on material, with laminate and vinyl at the low end, ceramic tile in the $8 to $20 range, and hardwood $11 to $25. The material choice moves the number more than the labour does.
Which flooring is best for a basement?
Vinyl plank and laminate designed for below-grade use are the practical picks; they handle the moisture reality of a basement far better than solid hardwood, which moves with dampness. A damp basement gets diagnosed for moisture first, because flooring installed over a wet slab fails no matter what it is.
Can new flooring go over the old floor?
Sometimes. Floating floors like laminate and vinyl can go over a sound, flat, well-bonded existing floor. But height builds up at doorways and transitions, and any softness or loose spots underneath telegraph through. Taking the old floor out is often the cheaper decision once squeaks and transitions are counted.
How long does flooring installation take?
A single room of floating floor is commonly a day; a whole floor of a home with furniture moving, subfloor prep and transitions runs several days. Solid hardwood adds an acclimation period in the house before it is laid, and tile needs its setting time before traffic.
Who moves the furniture?
Confirm it at the quote stage. Some jobs are quoted with furniture handling included, some expect the rooms cleared. Either works; surprises don't. Rhodex quotes spell out who handles what before anyone is dispatched.
How Rhodex handles flooring
Send the rooms and the material you have in mind, or the budget you're working within, and the options come back with trade-offs. An office manager quotes the job including the subfloor prep it actually needs, so the number holds. You approve the quote before anyone is dispatched. The work carries a 365-day warranty on workmanship.
Where we install flooring
Flooring crews work Etobicoke and Mississauga in the west; Vaughan's Woodbridge, Maple, Concord and Thornhill; and north through King City, Aurora, Newmarket, Richmond Hill, Markham and Stouffville.
Related reading
Ready when you are
Tell us the rooms and the material. The subfloor gets checked before the quote is final. (647) 205-7554, 8:30 am to 10:30 pm, every day.
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