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How many flooring bids should I compare?

Get several written flooring estimates, since FTC home improvement advice says to get multiple estimates, yet spend more effort on one shared scope covering rooms, the old floor coming up, subfloor preparation, underlayment, transitions, baseboards and disposal, because a pile of bids cannot repair a job each company pictures differently.

Source: FTC home improvement hiring guidance, read 15 October 2026.

Researched by the InstaBids editorial team. Last checked: 15 October 2026

A sunlit open living area with light wood-look plank flooring, seen from the patio.

Key facts

Why do bids for one job differ?

Start with the layers under the new surface, since that is where flooring bids can split apart: whether old carpet, tile or vinyl comes up, who hauls it away, how the subfloor is flattened or dried, which underlayment goes down, and how doorways, thresholds and baseboards are finished.

Under its heading on multiple estimates, the FTC's July 2022 home improvement article adds: "A written estimate should include a description of the work to be done, materials, completion date, and the price." On a floor, the materials line can name the product, the underlayment and any moisture barrier, so ask each company to list all three.

Source: FTC home improvement hiring guidance, read 15 October 2026.

Ask what each company will do if the old covering comes up and the subfloor underneath is stained or damp. EPA's guide to mold and moisture at home says: "Mold may be hidden in places such as the back side of dry wall, wallpaper, or paneling, the top side of ceiling tiles, the underside of carpets and pads, etc." When replacing carpet, ask whether drying or subfloor repair is its own line item or excluded.

Source: EPA brief guide to mold, moisture and your home, read 15 October 2026.

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When is a comparison less useful?

Ask whether your existing floor needs testing before collecting more flooring bids when an older home has vinyl tiles, sheet vinyl or dark adhesive underneath. Extra estimates cannot settle whether that layer should be disturbed, and each bidder may assume a different removal and disposal plan for it.

EPA's list of places where asbestos may be found includes "Vinyl floor tiles and the backing on vinyl sheet flooring and adhesives". Its homeowner page adds: "Generally, you can't tell whether a material contains asbestos simply by looking at it, unless it is labeled. If in doubt, treat the material as if it contains asbestos and leave it alone."

Source: EPA learn about asbestos, read 15 October 2026.
Source: EPA protect your family from exposures to asbestos, read 15 October 2026.

Among the don'ts on that EPA homeowner page: "Don't sand or try to level asbestos flooring or its backing. When asbestos flooring needs replacing install new floor covering over it, if possible." Ask each bidder whether its plan removes the old layer or covers it, and how that choice changes the floor height at every doorway.

Source: EPA protect your family from exposures to asbestos, read 15 October 2026.

How can I ask several companies the same questions?

Use a single room sheet as your question set: for each room, write its measurements, the floor there today, the new material, the neighbouring floor it meets and whether baseboards and door casings stay. Every flooring company receives that sheet with identical photographs, keeping written scopes on the same rooms.

  1. Old floor: name the layer coming up in each room, and ask whether its disposal belongs in the bid.
  2. Subfloor: ask how flatness and moisture are checked, and what happens when a soft or damp spot turns up.
  3. Underlayment: ask which underlayment and moisture barrier the manufacturer installation instructions call for, and whether the bid follows them.
  4. Acclimation: ask how long the boxes sit inside your home before installation, and where they are stored.
  5. Transitions: list each doorway, threshold and stair edge, and ask which trim piece each one gets.
  6. Furniture and appliances: say what you will move yourself, and who disconnects and moves the refrigerator.

If a bid involves cutting stone tile or grinding a concrete slab, OSHA's crystalline silica page says: "Respirable crystalline silica – very small particles at least 100 times smaller than ordinary sand you might find on beaches and playgrounds – is created when cutting, sawing, grinding, drilling, and crushing stone, rock, concrete, brick, block, and mortar." Ask where cutting happens, whether water or dust collection is used, and how indoor dust is cleaned up.

Source: OSHA crystalline silica, read 15 October 2026.

Should I ask whether a quotation has a charge?

Ask which flooring assessment steps a company folds into its estimate and which it books as a job of their own: a moisture meter reading, lifting a carpet corner to see the subfloor, or arranging a lab test of old tile or adhesive. Each answer belongs in the written scope.

A moisture reading taken during an estimate is a measurement, while leveling compound or new plywood is installed work. Keep them apart on paper: the reading belongs to the assessment, and any repair sits on its own line of the written scope with a start date.

What should my request include?

Describe your flooring job with a wide photograph of each room, a close-up at a doorway or floor vent where the existing layers show, and shots of any stains or soft spots. Add a written scope with measurements, the product you want, your home's construction year and which furniture stays put.

Contact details stay hidden until the homeowner picks a contractor and they confirm the connection.

Source: InstaBids process and privacy, read 15 October 2026.

What should I do when written bids arrive?

Compare written flooring bids line by line with your room sheet beside them, checking measurements, removal and haul-away of the old floor, the named product, underlayment and moisture barrier, and each transition and baseboard detail. A blank line on any of those is a question to send back before choosing.

If a bid names laminate or engineered wood flooring, EPA's page on composite wood products says: "After March 22, 2019, composite wood products must be labeled as TSCA Title VI compliant. These products include: hardwood plywood, medium-density fiberboard, and particleboard, as well as household and other finished goods containing these products." Ask whether the product's core is one of those materials and, if so, whether its box shows that label.

Source: EPA formaldehyde emission standards for composite wood products, read 15 October 2026.

Floor height is the item most worth settling in writing. Once the new layers go down, a door that no longer clears the floor or a threshold that becomes a trip edge turns into a change order, so pick the bid whose written scope says how each doorway will be finished.

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Source: InstaBids process and privacy, read 15 October 2026.
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Sources for the facts on this page

Sources checked: 15 October 2026.

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