The Importance of Reading Installation Instructions and Choosing an Experienced Flooring Installer with a Warranty

Why we recommend reading installation instructions before purchasing product and why it's important to pick an experienced flooring installer with an installation warranty:

Reading instructions before purchasing the product could save you money and hassle. Below are 2 examples:

Example 1: 

Manufacturers recently started manufacturing a thinner click LVP (under 5 mill) that requires a 1" subfloor and standard subfloors are 5/8". Unfortunately when it first came out some stores and contractors were unaware of this change. So what ended up happening is if the customers flooring installer read the instructions before installing the customer was finding out the installation would cost more money then they expected because another layer of plywood had to be installed to make the subfloor 1" thick. If the flooring installer did not notice this and the floor was installed on the 5/8" subfloor the flooring broke with in a year and needed to be replaced. Unfortunately, the manufacturers warranty was void because it was installed incorrectly. A good contractor would fix the issue at no cost to the customer since it's an installation error but unfortunately a lot of contractors do not do this. We know this from customers who were unfortunate enough to experience this and their previous installer did not follow through on the warranty of their work. Customers had to pay to have an entire floor ripped out, buy new product and pay for it to be installed. 

Example 2:

We recently had to replace a damaged floor that was installed(by another company)less then 2 years ago because they used underpad under an LVP product that already had pad attached to it. Adding additional underpad, under LVP with an attached pad, can create too much cushioning which causes the floor to come apart through use over time. Using double underpad can also void the manufacturers warranty. It will state in the instructions if additional underpad is needed. This is actually something your flooring installer should already know, with out having to read instructions, and it's a red flag about their knowledge/experience if they do not know this. 

Going with experts like Jay Martin Flooring can save you time and money by avoiding these types of mistakes. Unfortunately, some contractors are not aware of all the potential issues to avoid. Jay Martin Flooring has specialized in installing floors and tiles for 20 years and knows the proper installation of all material and we read the instructions. However, if we do make any installation errors we would fix the problem at no expense to the customer! We provide a 1 year warranty on installation to provide peace of mind!