The click together type is a floating system. This type of system REQUIRES a FLAT subfloor. So if its on slab of plywood there needs to be someone who goes over ever single inch and measure and remove and humps or fill in any depessions. Thats to do it correctly and thats going to cost some money if you hire someone to do it. If you dont do the prepwork you can potentially end up with very squeeky floors and even break the locking system between planks. With the amount of footage it sounds like you need and sounds like you care about the quality of the finish product i would advise Against LL too. Their products are junk and the horror stories you can read just by googling it. Its amazing their still in business. The fact that your quote doesnt include prep work and removal of carpet seems to be a tad high but then again it could be cheap for youre area. Best thing i would suggest is to get a few more quotes and then compare.

ok so when you get into say the Master Bedroom, once you get that first board into the room, you wont have any flooring to butt into along the right side of wall. so that's where the string line would come in handy to make sure the row stays straight. if you get that first board into the room you cant assume the wall is going to be square so you cant just butt the floor tight against the wall. its a rarity to get a wall that is square. they all have some dips or bows. but yes you want to check both the north and south walls to your line. if you are lucky enough to get a plywood seam close by then use that, they are pretty good at being straight. but always check.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my post! I think I need affirmation that I am not making an expensive mistake. Juddgirl2, your daughters room is precious and the flooring is beautiful. I am glad to hear that you have had it for that length of time without any problems. stayn2busy, that is reassuring information. The guy who is putting the flooring in for us has been doing this for 30 years and has an excellent reputation so I expect good results. From talking to him, he plans on making sure that everything is done correctly from ensuring any potential moisture problems are addressed to ensuring the leveling issues are addressed as well. I'm sure your floors are beautiful. Do you have a photo? I love that look too. Hoosiergirl, thank you. We are just relieved to be getting this carpet out of here. Sashasmommy, thank you for bring that up, I researched the possiblity of that being a problem and talked to the flooring people. It is so helpful to know all the right questions to ask and all the issues that could arise. Carol

You need to ask for a separate quote for each line item. Here's some charges you may not have thought of: 1. Floor material by the sf (plus 10% extra) (I'd check the calculations, also). 2. Transition strips or other specialized molding (stairs?); sometimes has to be stained to match, depending on the product line. 3. Baseboard (you gonna keep what you have or choose something new while you have the chance?) 4. Glue (it's very expensive, and must be the exact type recommended by the manufacturer of the wood floors. Read your specs carefully and inspect the glue product when they bring it. 5. Demo of old flooring. Where I live, that was, as I recall, $2/sf for wood/tile demo and $1/sf for carpet demo. And disposal--better make sure about that. 6. Costs to move your furniture. Make a plan for that. 7. Lastly, floor prep. You won't get an estimate for this, because they can't see what's under your floors until you pull them up. It could be minimal, it could be....maximal.... and this "floor prep" line item was where I ran to Yelp and the BBB and the contractors' state licensing board, and anywhere else out on the internet to find out just how satisfied were all the prior customers. With whom are you entering into a contract ? I chose a local, family-owned independent retailer, in same location for 25 years, with about 100 stellar 4.5-5 star Yelp reviews. I read them all. I did my research because floor is a big-ticket item. I asked a lot of questions about which crew would be my installers, and I specified in the contract which ones would do my install. (The "A-Team" as I called them). I asked for things like: no quarter round (flooring cut more precisely so that the baseboard itself covered the gap; no transition strips in between the flooring and the 2 different types of tile that abuts the floors (this required some artistic ramping up of the wood floors (undetectable); picture frame details around the hearth. In the end, I recall install costing $5.50/sf plus glue ($2000), plus the cost of materials. Maybe it was more than that. It's been awhile. Lastly, you likely haven't thought through installing a floor on top of old floor. How will it meet up with abutting flooring? You will still have to removal all your baseboards and reinstall. That costs as I recall, maybe $1.50/linear foot (plus materials). Probably you will negate any warranty on the flooring. If you are installing near cabinets/kitchen, you won't be able to slide out your appliances.