Installation FAQs

When installing a new floor, a ¼-½” gap must be left around the perimeter of the wood to allow for expansion in the wet and dry seasons. It also minimizes the possibility of buckling boards if a moisture issue occurs. Molding or baseboard is used to cover the gap. If you have molding and are installing on top of an old floor, new molding will be required since  the new floor will be higher. If you have new walls and no baseboard yet, we can install ½” up to the wall and the baseboard can be installed on top of the floors covering the gap which will eliminate the need for molding. An easy and cost-effective way to conceal the gap is to have paintable pine molding installed. This is becoming more popular to finish off the floors and is less expensive than having finished wood molding.

Most pre-finished floors come with a selection of moldings and reducers. Depending on the manufacturer, some can be expensive.  We can custom design and stain oak or maple to substitute molding or transition pieces at a lower price. Exotic woods are a little more difficult to match the variety of colors and grains. We can provide a sample on-site for your approval.

Yes. We can provide this service, but we do not take away the debris.  We will take any debris from ripping out a floor to your trash site.  You can call your township for a bulk pickup depending on the township. The amount of floors ripped up this usually runs from $30-$75.

There is now the largest selection of pre-finished woods there has ever been. We can only offer the colors the manufacturer chooses, which limits the exactness of matching in some situations.  If you have a unique floor and we have nothing in our showroom that matches, we can call one of our suppliers for a sample close to the color you are looking for. We can provide a custom unfinished installation floor.  This procedure includes supplying and installing wood, sanding with custom staining onsite with your approval, and commercial grade refinishing.  You can have any color you want, and there will be no micro bevels.  The downside to this is the process can go from 1-2 days to 2-4 days due to urethane drying time, depending on the size of the installation.

Is a small bevel on the edge of a pre-finished board; only pre-finished floors have beveled edges and all pre-finished floors have them.  The reason for a beveled edge is to visually separate one board from another, relieving the need for sanding even if the boards are slightly uneven. It is visually impossible to tell.

We do not stock pre-finished wood and will need to order it. Most woods our suppliers have in stock at a location near us. We can usually have the wood delivered in 1-2 days.  If our manufacture has it in stock. At a different location, we can have it delivered in 3-5 days.  We can price out for you accordingly an unfinished wood plus staining and refinishing price.

The only advantage to having wood installed underneath cabinets are keeping the toe-kick height at 3 ½”.  Many contractors will not install cabinets over pre-finished floors because they may harm them. One option is to install plywood under the cabinets.  After the kitchen is almost finished, install the pre-finished wood up to the plywood that is under the cabinets, and no one will see the difference.  Another option is to have a custom installation done with unfinished wood; most contractors feel more comfortable with this because the onsite finished wood can be easily fixed if a scratch is made during other construction work.

Yes.  We offer the best prices on the Main Line and Delaware Valley for middle to top-of-the-line woods.  Our showroom features samples of wood and most of the selection can be available in 2-3 days. If you see something elsewhere and would like a AHF price on the wood, ask us.  There are frequent sales the manufacturers offer on different woods. Be sure to ask us if there is a sale on what you are looking for or something similar.

There are three options without installing a wooden subfloor.  1) Glue-down install engineered flooring. Engineered flooring is a layer of real wood — thickness depending upon the manufacturer — with 5 to 7 layers of crossed plywood on the bottom to act as its own sub floor.  Cheaper engineered wood cannot be sanded. We offer many different manufacturers, some of whom put such a thick wear layer of wood that it has as much sandable wood as a ¾” solid piece of oak, making a properly maintained engineered wood last a lifetime.  Ask us is the wood you are looking at is sandable.  2) Glue-down a solid wood on your floors.  There is a new glue which allows us to glue down solid woods.  This new compound acts as a sturdy rubber which essentially creates the solid floor to act as a floating floor.  3) Have an unfinished piece of engineered installed with a very thick piece of wear layer and have us sand and refinish the floors.  This can be more expensive, but it will match any floors you have in your home because the same sanding and refinishing procedure will be used on both floors.  You will not recognize it is engineered wood installed at a different time than the rest of your floors.

Yes but these underlayments are also completely unnecessary and marked up.  We have seen some companies mark up their underlayment materials 150-250% and get it because it is ‘needed.’  For floors installed on a wooden subfloor, the BEST moisture barrier is wood.  It comes in the form of plywood to red oak to antique heart pine.  Installing a foam underlayment reduces noise to the floor below but the amount is rarely worth the cost of materials.  For floors on concrete sound isn’t a concern.  Most concrete beds are 4-6″, and have sufficient mass to muffle sounds.  The glue used in a glue-down procedure is a urethane-based glue. It is waterproof.  Urethane glue is one of the best sealants you can have.  Only under rare circumstances should you require an underlayment for the purpose of buffering water or sound.

No.  Glue down floors is applying the glue to the bottom surface of the boards so each board is interlocked and connected to the floor.  The floating process includes gluing the boards to each other. The entire floor can be lifted up.  Ardmore does not float floors. Here's why:

– Wood boards are strong and straight; concrete is strong but almost never perfectly flat.  There is 1-2 spots where the natural rolling in the concrete causes an air pocket between the wood and concrete.  When stepped on, the floor gives a ‘clop.’  Sound barriers are required for floating floors but will not eliminate this ‘clop’ping.  If you are worrying about a floor underneath the concrete, the sheer mass of the concrete, glue and wood is enough to sufficiently muffle the sound from travelling downstairs.

– Floating floors have no barrier between it and the concrete besides a moisture barrier.  The most commonly used moisture barrier for floating floors is cork.  It helps prevent moisture rising from the concrete however if the cork is saturated and water is still coming, water will leak into the wood and cause water damage.  The urethane glue used in a glue down floor is waterproof and will prevent any moisture from leaking through it.

– Floating floors are more susceptible to water damage.  When floating floors absorb excessive moisture, the entire floor expands.  There is a ¼” – ½” gap between the edges of the floor and the walls.  Wood is strong.  If it expands and uses up the gap, the only place for it to go is up. The entire floor will bubble up.  If there is sufficient water and time, and heavy furniture on the floor, the floor can be weighted down and compromise the surrounding walls through the force of its expansion.  When a glued down floor has water damage, the area is contained to a small area (3-4 boards), which can be replaced.

– Repair work on floating floors is difficult.  The floor is connected and flowing; it is nearly impossible to remove one piece without damaging the adjacent board.  This can cause a chain effect with an undeterminable outcome on time and the number of boards needing to replace.  With a glued down floor, the board can be chiseled out and a new board fitted in its place.  It is easier to not gouge out the solid concrete (which can be filled in with glue until flush) than it is to not nick a piece of the neighboring boards.

– Wood installers install wood on the side; they mainly install carpet and laminate. A large amount of floating floors are installed simply because the installer only knows how to install it that way.  Floating a floor is a similar process to installing a laminate floor.  Most wood professionals agree a glued down installation is superior to a floating installation.