Please critique this flooring quote

[Account Closed]

Hello all, I am a newbie investor- bought my 1st out of state rental . The property is a 3bed 1.5 bath- needs new LVP flooring in kitchen/living room/hallway/bathroom and basement . Bedrooms have hardwood- which need to be refinished.  Total home size is 2000 sft, finished above ground is 1000 sft.

I got a quote that seems high to me (when compared to other quotes) - I am copy pasting it here . As I have no experience in this, would appreciate any suggestions.

Flooring:
• Living Room / Hallway: Remove living room and hallway carpet, including padding and tack
strips (approximately 300 square feet), legally dispose. Provide and install new LVP. Cost is
based on Lumber Liquidators #10044289. Provide and install approximately 75 linear feet of
new clear shoe molding. Cost has been included to stain and polyurethane new shoe.
o Total Cost: $3,224.00
• Hardwood Refinishing – Remove shoe molding throughout all three (3) bedrooms, legally
dispose. Cost includes rough and finish sanding existing hardwood floors, applying stain, and a
minimum of three (3) polyurethane coats on approximately 450 square feet. Provide and install
approximately 170 linear feet of new primed shoe molding in all three (3) bedrooms.
o Total Cost: $2,689.00
• Bathroom – Remove existing vinyl flooring, legally dispose. Replace underlayment as
necessary. Provide and install new LVP (cost based on lumber liquidators #10044289),
approximately 35 square feet. Provide and install approximately 15 linear feet of new primed
shoe molding.
o Total Cost: $450.00
• Kitchen – Remove existing vinyl flooring, legally dispose. Replace underlayment as necessary.
Provide and install new LVP (cost based on lumber liquidators #10044289), approximately 170
square feet. Provide and install approximately 40 linear feet of new primed shoe molding.
o Total Cost: $2,186.00
• Basement – Provide and install new LVP (cost based on lumber liquidators #10044289),
approximately 390 square feet. No cost for new subfloor. Cost includes providing and installing
approximately 80 linear feet of new primed ranch base molding.
o Total Cost: $3,523.00

o Total Flooring Cost: $12,072.00

[Brian Beck]

@Michael King is accurate, if you are comfortable and have the time (especially with the LVP) you could save a ton by doing it yourself.  I tell our homeowners this all the time, floating floors go down quickly once you get past the first two or three courses and get your spacing down, the bulk of the cost is in the installation.

With regards to your quote above, as a Class A General Contractor in Washington DC, we'd charge the below:

Living Room/Hallway:  ~$2,550,  if you go directly thru our flooring subcontractor you are probably closer to $1925.

Hardwood Refinish: $3,050 (GC), $2,300 (Flooring Vendor)

Bathroom (Assumes Toilet is Pulled): $350 (GC), $265 (Flooring Vendor)

Kitchen: $1550 (GC), $1150 (Flooring Vendor)

Basement:  $3120 (GC), $2,350 (Flooring Vendor)

Total:  $10,620 as a general contractor, If you were to go direct to our flooring vendor it'd be closer to $8,000

Based on what I know our flooring contractors pay for the work, the sand/refinish at $6/Ft may have a little wiggle room depending on the company's structure and overhead.  The prices on the LVP seem a little high.   Definitely paying General Contractor pricing (not custom home pricing, but GC pricing none the less based on DC pricing.

I'd get a few other bids from local vendors to do your due diligence.  I wouldn't recommend necessarily going with the cheapest bid purely on price, as a contractor I've made that mistake before with subcontractors.   Their is some truth to the 'You get what you pay for.'   I'd recommend getting a few more bids and check their references and confirm their licensing is in order also.

Hope that helps, if you do have questions, please don't hesitate to ask!