Why a floating floor still depends on what is under it
A floating floor is not fastened down. It rests on the surface below, connected to itself by its own joint system.
That makes the surface below it important to the installation. Depending on the product, dips, high areas, movement or unsound sections can affect support, fit and joint performance. Manufacturers set flatness and substrate requirements for their products, and those requirements are what the preparation has to satisfy.
The specific requirement belongs to the product you have chosen. Subfloor Flatness and Preparation covers the subject in more depth.
What we can evaluate before installation
We can review conditions that are visible and accessible:
- the subfloor type, where it can be identified
- flatness across the installation area
- visible damage, soft spots, movement or deterioration in accessible areas
- how the existing floor sits and behaves
- moisture considerations relevant to the space and product
- transitions, door clearances and how added height would affect them
We are looking at flooring installation requirements, not performing a structural inspection.
Published preparation rates
| Work | Rate |
|---|---|
| Floor leveling | $3.00 per sq. ft. |
| Subfloor repair or replacement | $5.00 per sq. ft. |
| 1/8-inch plywood or luan overlay | $5.00 per sq. ft. |
| Floor-prep mobilization / trip charge | $250 per prep day |
Preparation quantities are determined from the conditions found, and each appears as its own line in the written estimate.
The $250 prep-day charge is in addition to the per-square-foot quantities, not instead of them. The written estimate identifies the prep-day allowance included in the quoted scope; if the preparation scope changes, the applicable project pricing has to change with it.
How preparation charges combine
Preparation is not a single line item. A room can need more than one kind of work, and the charges stack.
For example, a project could involve replacing a damaged section of subfloor and then leveling a low area nearby, with the preparation carried out before installation. That project would carry the subfloor repair quantity, the leveling quantity, and the prep-day charge — three lines, not one.
Your written estimate lists each of these separately so you can see what each condition is costing you. Pricing covers how preparation fits into the estimate overall, and the Flooring Project Cost Estimator can give you a planning range while you think it through.
What stays unknown until the floor is opened
This is the part worth reading twice.
We can price what we can see. We cannot price what is under an existing floor covering, inside a wall or beneath a subfloor panel, because it is not visible and we will not pretend to diagnose it from a photograph or a description.
When an existing floor comes up, conditions sometimes appear that were not visible beforehand — damage, deterioration, moisture, or construction that differs from what was expected. Those conditions are outside the original assumptions and may require additional project-specific scope and pricing before the planned installation can continue in that area.
The published rates above are not a promise that every subfloor problem can be corrected under them. Some conditions fall outside what these rates were meant to cover, and some fall outside flooring work entirely.
Preparation is not structural repair
There is a real line here.
Flooring preparation gets a surface into a condition where a floating floor can be installed to the product's requirements. It addresses conditions in the floor and subfloor that would prevent a floating floor from being installed to the product's requirements.
Structural work — joists, framing, foundation, load-bearing conditions, or anything that requires engineering judgment — is a different discipline and outside our scope. A condition that appears structural may require evaluation by an appropriate qualified trade. We do not diagnose structural conditions or apply a flooring-preparation rate to them.
What this looks like on a real project
On the Kitchen Floor Preparation and Installation project, targeted leveling was carried out on the areas that needed it, and the floating-floor installation followed.
That is one project's preparation. It is not a template. Preparation needs are specific to each floor, and another kitchen of the same size might need nothing, or might need something different.
Common questions
Will $5.00 per square foot fix any subfloor problem? No. It is the published rate for subfloor repair or replacement within flooring preparation scope. Conditions outside that scope — including structural conditions — are not covered by it.
Does the $250 apply once or per day? Per prep day, and in addition to the per-square-foot preparation quantities. How many prep days a project needs is set in the written estimate.
How is the preparation quantity worked out? From the conditions actually found. Each kind of preparation is quoted with its own quantity and appears as its own line, so you can see what each condition is costing.
Is preparation included in the $5.99 LVP package? No. Leveling, subfloor repair or replacement and overlay are all separately priced. See Click-Lock LVP Installation.
Can you tell me what my subfloor needs from photos? We can tell you what a photo shows. We cannot tell you what is underneath a floor that has not been opened.
What if you find something worse once the old floor is out? A newly exposed condition is outside the original assumptions and may require additional scope and pricing before installation can continue in that area.
Next step
Tell us the rooms, what is on the floor now, and anything you have noticed — soft spots, dips, movement, past water. If preparation turns out to be needed, it will appear as its own priced lines in the written estimate rather than as a surprise.