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Is my flooring quote complete?

Check that your flooring quote names each room, the wood or tile product and its quantity with overage, removal and disposal of the old floor, subfloor preparation and moisture testing, underlayment, transitions, baseboards, furniture moving, dates and payment stages, plus the work, materials, completion date and price that FTC guidance lists for a written estimate.

Source: Federal Trade Commission consumer advice on home improvement contractors, read 15 October 2026.

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

Plain cartons of flooring planks stacked on a pallet in a garage beside a roll of underlayment.

Key facts

What should a written flooring quote list?

Ask for a written flooring quote that measures each room, names the exact wood or tile product, states how much extra material is ordered for cuts and waste, and splits removal of your old floor, subfloor preparation, installation, trim work and cleanup into separate line items with a finish date.

The FTC's consumer guidance, read 15 October 2026, says: "A written estimate should include a description of the work to be done, materials, completion date, and the price." On a floor, the work means tear-out, preparation and laying, while the materials mean the flooring itself plus underlayment, adhesive or mortar, grout and trim pieces.

Source: Federal Trade Commission consumer advice on home improvement contractors, read 15 October 2026.

  1. Measured area: Does the quote give square footage room by room, and does it count closets, hallways and the space under appliances that will be moved?
  2. Product: Which brand and product line, wood species or tile series, plank width or tile size, finish and colour are named, and is the wood solid or engineered?
  3. Overage: How much extra material is ordered for cuts, pattern layout and breakage, and who keeps the unopened boxes left at the end?
  4. Setting materials: Which underlayment, moisture barrier, adhesive, thinset mortar or crack-isolation membrane is included, by product name?
  5. Acclimation: Where and for how long will wood planks sit inside your home before installation, and does the schedule allow for that wait?
  6. Layout: Which way do planks run, where does the tile pattern start, and is a diagonal or herringbone layout written as its own line?

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Which items are often left out?

Check your flooring quote for tear-out and haul-away of the old floor, slab moisture testing, levelling, transitions at doorways, baseboard or quarter-round, door trimming, appliance moving and grout sealing. Use these as missing-item prompts, and ask the bidder to mark each one included or excluded in writing.

Ask whether the bidder removes the existing carpet, tile, wood or vinyl, how many layers it expects underneath, and who hauls the debris away. If tear-out exposes rotted subfloor panels or damaged joists, ask for a photograph and a written change order before any repair; structural framing work is a separate scope from this flooring checklist.

Ask how the installer will check a concrete slab or plywood subfloor for flatness and moisture, which test it names, and whether grinding high spots or pouring self-levelling compound is included or listed as an extra line. Get that answer on paper before any material is ordered.

Ask which transition strips, thresholds, reducers and stair nosing are included at each doorway or step, whether existing baseboards come off and go back on or are replaced, whether quarter-round is added, and who trims door bottoms and door casings so the new floor fits beneath them.

Ask who moves furniture, disconnects and reconnects the refrigerator, washer or dishwasher, and covers cabinets and walls during cutting. For tile, ask about grout colour, grout sealing and caulk where the floor meets a tub, shower or wall. In a condominium or other community association, attach any association rules on flooring or underlayment to your written scope.

The FTC's warranty guidance, read 15 October 2026, says: "Warranties might cover a lot or a little, but the details should be in writing." Among its coverage questions is this one: "Will the warranty cover problems that happen if you change the way a product works or misuse it? Or does it cover only problems that happen after you maintain or use the product according to the directions?" Ask each bidder to name the manufacturer installation instructions it will follow for your product, and attach the product warranty terms to its quote.

Source: Federal Trade Commission consumer advice on warranties, read 15 October 2026.

If your home has older vinyl floor tiles or sheet flooring, EPA's Learn About Asbestos page, read 15 October 2026, lists "Vinyl floor tiles and the backing on vinyl sheet flooring and adhesives" under the heading "Where asbestos may be found:". EPA's Protect Your Family page says: "Generally, you can't tell whether a material contains asbestos simply by looking at it, unless it is labeled." It continues: "If in doubt, treat the material as if it contains asbestos and leave it alone." The same page says: "Don't sand or try to level asbestos flooring or its backing." It also says: "When asbestos flooring needs replacing install new floor covering over it, if possible." Ask whether your quote removes that old layer or installs over it, and why.

Source: EPA, Learn About Asbestos, read 15 October 2026.
Source: EPA, Protect Your Family from Exposures to Asbestos, read 15 October 2026.

Florida Statutes section 469.002(3), read 15 October 2026, states: "Licensure as an asbestos contractor or asbestos consultant is not required for the moving, removal, repair, maintenance, or disposal, or related inspections, of asbestos-containing resilient floor covering or its adhesive, if: (a) The resilient floor covering is a Category I nonfriable material as defined in NESHAP and remains a Category I nonfriable material during removal activity. (b) All such activities are performed in accordance with all applicable asbestos standards of the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration under 29 C.F.R. part 1926. (c) The removal is not subject to asbestos licensing or accreditation requirements under federal asbestos NESHAP regulations of the United States Environmental Protection Agency. (d) Written notice of the time, place, and company performing the removal and certification that all conditions required under this subsection are met are provided to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation at least 3 days prior to such removal. The contractor removing such flooring materials is responsible for maintaining proof that all the conditions required under this subsection are met." Ask any bidder who proposes removing older resilient flooring or its adhesive to explain in writing how that removal will be handled.

Source: Florida Statutes section 469.002, Exemptions, read 15 October 2026.

What should the payment terms say?

Compare each flooring payment with a stage you can see: material delivered to your home, old floor removed and subfloor prepared, installation finished room by room, then trim, grout and cleanup accepted on a walk-through. Ask what a first payment covers and how a subfloor change order is approved before it is paid.

The FTC's consumer guidance, read 15 October 2026, says: "Don’t pay the full amount for the project up front." The same guidance says: "And never make the final payment until the work is done and you’re satisfied with it." Ask the bidder to set its last payment against a walk-through list covering transitions, baseboards, grout and any door trimming.

Source: Federal Trade Commission consumer advice on home improvement contractors, read 15 October 2026.

If you buy the flooring yourself, ask the installer to show labour and setting materials as their own lines, say who checks the delivered boxes against the order, and explain what happens to the schedule when a shipment arrives short or damaged.

Does the quote say who pulls the permit?

Use the permit line to learn whether your flooring bidder expects a building permit at your address. Ask the bidder to state in writing who would apply, who books any inspection and who gives you the closeout record afterward.

Palm Beach County's Contractor Regulations page, read 15 October 2026, includes this hiring tip: "Make sure a permit is pulled (if applicable - click here)." Another tip on that page reads: "Do not make the final payment until the permit is closed out." If a flooring bidder names a permit, tie your last payment to that closeout.

Source: Contractor Regulations, Palm Beach County Code Compliance, read 15 October 2026.

Florida DBPR's What Requires a License page, read 15 October 2026, lists "Paint; install cabinets, wood or tile flooring, and insulation regardless of compensation." in the table column headed "Does not need a DBPR License". Keep any repair to joists or other structural framing as a separate written scope outside this flooring quote.

Source: Florida DBPR, What Requires a License, read 15 October 2026.

What should my request include?

Describe each room in one written scope with photographs: a wide shot of every floor, close-ups of the current surface, doorways, stairs, cracks and soft spots, and the edges where the floor meets cabinets or a tub. Add room measurements, the product you have chosen, if any, and which furniture stays.

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

How can I compare it with other written quotes?

Compare flooring quotes line by line against the same measured area: product named, overage, removal and disposal, subfloor preparation and moisture testing, underlayment, transitions and trim, then start and finish dates. Where a bidder's square footage or product differs from your written scope, ask it to explain before you choose.

The FTC's contract checklist, read 15 October 2026, begins "Before you sign a contract, make sure it includes" and one of its items reads "any promises made during conversations or calls related to issues such as the scope of work and the cost of labor and materials". The same guidance adds: "And, make sure all blank spaces are filled in." Ask each bidder to put any spoken promise about levelling, acclimation or trim into its written quote.

Source: Federal Trade Commission consumer advice on home improvement contractors, read 15 October 2026.

  1. Area: Does every quote measure the same rooms, and how far apart are the square footage figures?
  2. Material: Is the same species, tile series or plank thickness named, or only a colour name?
  3. Preparation: Which quotes include moisture testing, levelling and a moisture barrier, and which leave them as extras?
  4. Edges: Are transitions, stair nosing, baseboard or quarter-round and door trimming in every quote?
  5. Old floor: Who removes it, who hauls it away, and how is any older vinyl or adhesive handled?
  6. Timing: What start date, acclimation period and finish date does each bidder give, and when can you walk on the floor or move furniture back?

Hold any upgrade, such as a thicker underlayment or a larger tile, as a separate option beside your original version rather than a silent swap. When your room measurements, preparation answers and trim choices are settled, use the same written scope to request every competing written quote.

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Sources for the facts on this page

Sources checked: 15 October 2026.

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