What to know before you start
A new floor is only as good as what's under it. Squeaks, gaps, lifted seams and cracked tile usually start with the subfloor, the underlayment or a material that wasn't given time to adjust to the house.
DougCO Builds checks those layers before anyone picks a plank. Our estimator measures each room, looks for dips and soft spots, and notes stairs, doorways and what has to come out. Every installer then prices that same list, from tear-out to the last piece of trim.
What the job includes
- Moving furniture and pulling up old carpet, vinyl, tile or wood
- Hauling away old flooring, pad and tack strip
- Subfloor repairs, screwing down squeaks and leveling low spots
- Underlayment or moisture barrier matched to the floor and the room
- Acclimating wood and other materials in the house when the maker calls for it
- Installation in every room in the scope, including closets and stairs
- Transitions, thresholds and new or reset baseboards and shoe molding
- Trimming door casings and doors so they clear the new floor
What we scope
Hardwood
Solid or engineered wood, prefinished or finished on site, plus sanding and refinishing existing floors.
Luxury vinyl plank and tile
Water-resistant floors for kitchens, baths, basements and busy family rooms.
Laminate
A wood look on a click-together core, usually floated over a pad.
Carpet
Wall-to-wall carpet and pad for bedrooms, basements and stairs.
What drives the cost
Every project is different, so your True Bid prices yours line by line after the site visit. These are the things that move the price most.
- Square footage and layout
- Open rooms go faster than layouts broken up by closets, angles and doorways.
- Material
- Hardwood, vinyl plank, laminate and carpet each come in a wide range of grades and thicknesses.
- Tear-out
- Glued-down flooring and old tile take far more labor to remove than carpet.
- Subfloor condition
- Dips, squeaks, water damage and uneven concrete have to be fixed before the new floor goes down.
- Stairs
- Each tread and riser is cut and fitted by hand, so stairs take more labor than their size suggests.
- Trim and transitions
- New baseboards, shoe molding, thresholds and trimmed doors add material and labor.
Permits and HOAs in Douglas County
Replacing flooring usually doesn't need a building permit, whether you live in Castle Rock, Parker, Lone Tree, Castle Pines, Larkspur or unincorporated Douglas County. That can change if the job grows into repairs to the floor framing, or moves walls, plumbing or wiring along the way. Condo and townhome associations sometimes have their own rules for hard floors and sound underlayment.
Older homes need one more check. Some older sheet vinyl, floor tiles and the adhesives under them may contain asbestos. Testing may be required before demolition, and Colorado has rules for how that material is tested and removed. We flag it in the scope before any tear-out.
Built for Douglas County
Colorado's dry air is hard on wood. In winter the furnace pulls indoor humidity down and hardwood shrinks, opening gaps between boards. When humidity rises again, the boards swell. Letting the wood adjust to the house before it goes down, and running a humidifier in winter, keeps that movement small.
In some Douglas County homes, expansive soils under the basement can make the slab shift or crack over time. A slab that moves can crack tile and leave a new floor uneven. Our estimator checks the slab and notes cracks or high spots before you choose a material.
How DougCO Builds runs your project
- Tell us about itSend the basics through the project form. We call to set up a site visit.
- One site visitOur estimator measures, photographs what's there and talks through what you want.
- Your True BidYou get a written, line-by-line scope and a budget before any contractor sees the job.
- Contractors bid on the same scopeVetted local contractors bid without your contact details. You compare the bids side by side.
- We manage it with youWe check insurance and licensing before work starts, then walk the job at milestones and at the finish.
Questions to ask before you hire
- What subfloor prep is included, and how will you handle squeaks and low spots?
- Does this product need to acclimate in the house, and what does the maker require?
- Which underlayment or moisture barrier will go down, and why that one?
- Who moves furniture and appliances, and who resets the toilet if a bathroom is included?
- What does the manufacturer warranty cover, and what does your labor warranty cover?
Flooring questions
Do I need a permit to replace flooring in Douglas County?
Usually not. Swapping one floor covering for another doesn't need a building permit in the towns or the unincorporated county. Structural repairs, or plumbing and electrical changes made along the way, can change that.
Hardwood or luxury vinyl plank?
Hardwood can be sanded and refinished more than once, but it reacts to dry winter air. Vinyl plank handles water and pets well and moves less with humidity, but it can't be refinished. Our estimator can write both into the scope so the bids show the difference.
Why does my hardwood get gaps every winter?
Dry indoor air pulls moisture out of the wood, and the boards shrink. Small seasonal gaps are normal in Colorado and often close when humidity returns. A humidifier helps.
Can new flooring go over my old floor?
Sometimes. Some floating floors can go over flat, sound vinyl or tile. Carpet and pad always come out first, and anything loose or uneven has to be fixed. The new floor height at doors, stairs and appliances also decides it.
