Not sure where you are located. If there is a Lumber Liquidators nearby, check them out. They have stores throughout the country.

5 yrs ago we paid $3.00 a sq.ft for installation for HW.My husband measured our floors. He is very good with math and detail. His numbers were quite different than the installer.

Not only that, the installer tried to charge us more money at the end. His bill was for all the wood we ordered not for the wood he laid. Needless to say, he got paid for what he installed at my husbands measurements.

Jersey, I wonder how many trusting people are misled by uncouth installers. I am such a detail oriented person, I tend to obsess on every little thing. It can be an annoying trait, but it can also come in handy, too.

We are having engineered wood installed next week - almost 1000 square feet and the total is $9000 plus however much floor leveler they need. We only have about 30 feet of tile to remove, the rest is carpet. This included furniture moving, removing and returning baseboards, and installing new quarter round in the rooms that don't have baseboards yet. I think it is really high too, but I know these flooring people really know their stuff and do beautiful work. They did my kitchen tile last year and it is impecable. I usually try to get the cheapest of eveything, but figure this floor is forever, and a lot of expense either way, want to make sure it is good. Whenever I think about the money though, my stomach does a flip.

musicteacher, what kind of wood did you end up choosing? My price also includes the quarter round and furniture moving. I wonder about going the route of ordering the wood myself and then paying an installer separately?

I would get other bids. I think the cost to remove the tile is too high since that would be $46/hr per man if it takes 2 men two days to tear out the tile. If they do it in one day, you've paid nearly $93/per hour for two men.

And they want another $1000 just for materials to level the cement? What are they going to charge for labor when they level it?

Who is giving you these kind of rates.....the store selling the flooring or an independent?

Go across the lake and get more estimates! Also ask for time frames on each phase of the job.

As mentioned earlier, do check out Lumber Liquidators and ask about their installation. They may also have someone they can recommend for tile/wood removal.

Here is a link that might be useful: LL

Removing ceramic tile is a lot of work! I remember being shocked that the removal was almost as expensive as the installation of new tile.

We recently put in hardwoods and had the existing hardwood floors removed and the hardwood removal was much cheaper than the tile removal.

Maybe see about getting the tile removed by someone other than the floor installer. When I was getting quotes for our hardwood installation, one installer was honest that the removal was a pain and he would prefer not to do it and as such his pricing would reflect that.

As far as measuring, make sure to include closets. And all the installers told me to order more than what the exact measurements were. They were not getting anything out of it as I purchased the wood myself and paid the installer separately.

I think $8000 is a reasonable price for 800 sq feet if it includes everything, including removal and disposal of existing floors. That is based on my experience with getting several bids.

It cost us $400 for removal of approximately 400 sq feet of parquet. We also paid additional disposal fees of around $125. This was by far the cheapest quote. I don't remember what we paid of tile removal, but I know it was more expensive.

For prefinished wood, we were quoted installation fees of between 2.25/sq ft and 3 sq/ft which included quarter round installation (we ended up removing baseboards and having new ones installed).

Jock, the wood we chose is by Bella Cera (not to be confused with Bellawood) and the color is Bologna. I loved African cherry until I got it in my house and it looked sooo dark - like solid color maroon. This is just a rich, dark, brown. I read many complaints about LL wood floors, and many of them ended with the manufacturer blaming the installer and vice versa. If you have the seller install it, they guarantee it all. Other things that convinced me: They haved their own installation crews and do not outsource any jobs. (That is why I had to wait a month for installation - but they will be here the day they originally promised)
They also told me that they have found that a certain glue is the best and always use it because not using it can cost them money in repairs. Look at their reviews and at Better Business Bureau rating. I'll post pics in a few days when it is installed. Still nervous! : )

We removed 18 x 18 tile from a foyer and hallway before laying our own hardwood flooring. It's hard, tedious and VERY labor intensive work. It was much harder than laying the floors and after experiencing it first hand, I can guarantee that the price you got is cheap.

I am getting Bella Cera, and the color is Bologna. The color on the internet is not accurate though, if you look it up. The reason I wanted to have the same people sell it and install it is for the warranty. I have heard so many people complain about problems with their floor , and they manufacturer will blame it on the installation, and vice versa. This way I will have just one place to go if I have a complaint. The salesman did tell me that if anyone underbid them it was likely because the others were using a cheaper type glue, but since they guarantee everything, they cannot afford not to use the better product. I'd also ask the store who actually installs their floors - do they have their own people working for them all the time or do they contract it out? We had to wait almost a month after deciding to get it installed, but to me it was worth it to get really qualified people. The biggest fear I have is not liking the color I chose.

@ musicteacher thank you for the real world experience on tile removal. I do that type of work for a living and can tell you sometimes all the money in the world may not be worth the effort you have to put into getting the job done.

@ annz Unless you've done that type of work, I suggest you don't try to calculate what someone makes per hour. It's a bargain at $100/hr & your knuckles won't be bleeding once the job is done. Also think of the tools needed for the job, hauling 5 gallon buckets of tile, grout, thin set mortar, hardi board, and nails out to the trash at 80lbs a bucket. Think about the workman's comp insurance, general liability, truck insurance, fuel, tools, ect...