Definitely go with an installer that does high quality work. Find one that is certified and has good references. A hardwood floor will last the life of the home and it needs to be done right the first time. Probably the most overlooked aspect of installing any hard surface floor is the often tedious job of leveling the subfloor. Even though this is time consuming work required in almost all homes, the subject is glossed over in the DIY shows and install literature. It was the most difficult part of my DIY install. Flooring suppliers- your installer will likely have wood suppliers they have experience with and trust. They also have the option of marking up the price they pay by whatever they like. That's just the way it works. For example, our auto mechanic charged us $20 for new lug nuts that retail online for $8. The Graf Brothers random width (3",4",5", 7") red oak #1 common flooring I purchased directly was not as high in quality as I would have liked. There were too many boards high/low on width and too many high on moisture content. It made my install a PAIN having to work around this. If I did it over again, I would spend more (I paid $3.30/sf delivered) and go with a supplier that offered higher milling standards and better moisture control. Saving money- white oak and black walnut are the hot American hardwoods right now. The price of both has gone up significantly in the last few years. Red oak, on the other hand, has not been popular and the price has dropped significantly. Stained, red oak and white oak are almost identical. Red oak tends to have slightly more color variability in the natural form and also more variability in growth rates (ring spacing). It's not quite as hard as white oak, but hard enough for any active family. Finishes- your installer will recommend a finish for the wear your floor will encounter. I went with a tung/oil resin mixture, but this has a MAJOR disadvantage of slow dry time and smell. The commercial water-based finishes are probably the best choice for most people. A random width hardwood floor is unique looking and very beautiful. We are still happy with ours after 2 1/2 years: Here is a link that might be useful: Random width R&Q red oak floor

ricewO, I had found someone from Angie's list on July 4th that sounded great but he had to be booked in advance and could not buy the BR-111 product at the same great price as from TrueHardwoods.com so told me to buy it and call him and he would see when he had time. He wanted me to order one extra box but he said if I was going to be picky on boards, then two extra boxes. I had ordered 8% extra and he felt that was not enough (he was right I see now). When I called him to tell him I think I made a mistake with the order and I should have ordered 2 T-Moldings and 2 Reducers and not 3 Reducers and no T-Moldings, he told me I needed 4 Reducers and 1 T-Molding. He was too far from me to do a quick stop over here to measure again. My current installer before hiring him, came by and pulled up the carpet to test which molding he brought with was the right one and also bought me a white foam pad with a big board to stand on (pulled the rug and padding up so the wood and pad would be on the cement floor)to let me make a decision on if I liked the feeling of a glued down floor or a floating floor. That is when I decided that I did not want 3 extra boxes of wood like my neighbor who ordered a different product from TrueHardwoods.com so I went with my current installer and also my current was able to begin right away. BUT I see now that I was wrong and my current is not doing a good job and I am afraid for him to cut new molding to install since all his cut boards are poorly done with various size spaces next to my wall. Also the installation itself was done wrong and I had to call the manufacturer of the FloorMuffler with Ultra Seal and put them on Speaker phone since the current installer did not believe the instructions and was not using the ULTRAseal tape (he had it tucked under the pad!) at all and was not gluing the pieces together and was not putting the pad up against the wall a bit. The manufacturer said to insulate and protect from moisture he was doing it wrong and I was right. Then my current installer did it right in front of me and then when I left the room and came back I saw he was doing it wrong again! He installed damaged boards and some of the boards are not enough distance form each other with the seams. I am unhappy with his installation but very happy now with the beautiful Brazilian Cherry floors and so glad I went with the 5" wide boards since the grain is gorgeous and the coloring is now the orange reddish color I felt it should be when first installed despite not looking like that in the box. I really would like someone to install the last row of boards when the new box comes in and cut the new baseboard trim to install it so the cuts and piecing together can be professional. If I have no one else, I would have to have the current installer complete the installation of the wood with me there the whole time since I do not trust him anymore. I almost did not hire the current installer when he did not return my phone calls when I found the 47 foot crack in the cement floor but he arrived Thursday morning without return my phone calls the prior night or the prior days and I wanted the floor done. He also ripped out two side corner moldings near my tiles (my brother took the molding off the walls everywhere else and did a good job) and metal is showing and he cracked two tiles. He installed the two T-Moldings and you can see nail heads and he scratched the molding and a tiny crack now from putting the nail in the molding. Now I see why he wanted to reuse the old trim since I do not feel his carpenter skills are that good. He was referred by a client of mine that used to sell the current installer insurance before he retired from the insurance business. I had a painter come in today to give me an estimate on just painting the walls and not the trim. I have another painter coming by at 2 PM to give me an estimate also. Thank you ricewO for the suggestion of Angie's list. I may call back the other installer as well as all the messages I left last night on Angie's list's carpenters, flooring installers and painters. Thank you for your nice offer. I wish you lived near me.

Help please: so this is CME's website where they say they've installed "thousands" of Ikea kitchens (as Traemand subcontractor I assume). http://www.cmeco.net/home.html  Is it a red flag to you that there's NOTHING about them online whatsoever, like they're some kind of fake company? I have messaged the other one recommended above, but so far I like CME's plans and would just as soon go with them. I did contact the Reddit person mentioned above, thanks. No reply yet.

@thatsmuchbetter @klem1 This wasn't about shopping for a certain price point at all. I wasn't looking to hire cheap, I was looking to hire "good". That being said, this is a small 1940's cottage, not Versailles we are talking about. I hired a contractor who seemed capable of doing a good job and ended up with a bit of a mess on my hands. I have since had two professional tile installers (both with good references, etc.) come out and tell me two different ways in which they would fix this problem. One said remove and start over, the other said tile over it. Hence, my reason for asking Houzz's opinion. I appreciate what both of you have offered. I feel confident now that the floor "should" be removed and I know that I will feel much better having a separate tile installer do the job, instead of letting the original contractor attempt to re-do it.