Every hardwood floor installation Austin TX job we quote includes the full scope from tear-out to final coat. We do not nickel-and-dime you on the basics. Here is what is covered, and what we quote separately when your project needs it.
We measure every room, check subfloor flatness, and test moisture before quoting. You get a written scope with square footage, species, finish sheen, and a firm price. No ballpark numbers over the phone that change once we show up.
Your planks are delivered to the job site and stacked inside for 3 to 5 days to equalize with your home's humidity. We handle the unloading and the stacking. This step is included on every job, no exceptions and no upcharge.
Carpet, tile, laminate, and glued-down wood all come up with pry bars and an oscillating multi-tool. We scrape adhesive, bag the debris, and haul it off site. Your driveway is clear the same day we finish removal.
We check flatness to 3/16 inch over 10 feet and fill low spots with patching compound. Soft or rotted subfloor sections get replaced with new plywood. A flat subfloor is what keeps your finished floor from squeaking two years from now.
Planks are fastened with a flooring stapler or nail gun, sanded with a drum sander and edge sander, then finished with stain and three coats of polyurethane finish. Transition strips go in at every doorway and at the top of each stair.
Hardwood floor installation Austin TX is the process of acclimating, fitting, fastening, and finishing solid or engineered wood planks over a prepared subfloor. We start by checking subfloor flatness to within 3/16 inch over 10 feet, then run a moisture meter on the slab or joists. Planks get nailed with a flooring stapler or nail gun, seams staggered, and transition strips set at doorways. The job ends with sanding, staining, and three coats of polyurethane finish.
Austin homes need this work for a reason. Our swings between 30 percent winter humidity and 60 percent summer humidity move wood constantly, and a floor installed without acclimation will cup, crown, or gap at the seams within a season. We have been installing floors here since 2022, and we have seen what happens when a big-box crew skips the moisture reading. If you are searching for new hardwood floor installation near me Austin, ask whether the installer owns a moisture meter. That answer tells you everything.
Every job follows the same five stages, whether it is a single bedroom in Hyde Park or 2,000 square feet in Westlake. You will know what is happening each day and when the crew leaves.
Schedule
Call or book online — a real human picks up and confirms a 2-hour arrival window.
Diagnose
Licensed tech inspects on-site, then walks you through the cause and your options.
Fix
The job is completed to code and done right the first time — no shortcuts, no surprises.
Guarantee
Every job backed by a written workmanship warranty — and we stand behind it.
Moisture meter
Reads the moisture content of your slab or joists before installation. If the reading is too high, we stop and address it instead of installing over a problem.
Flooring stapler and nail gun
Fastens planks to wood subfloors with the correct angle and spacing. We match the fastener to your plank thickness so boards stay tight for decades.
Drum sander and edge sander
Levels the installed floor and removes old finish. The edge sander gets within an inch of the wall where the drum cannot reach.
Dust containment system
Pulls sanding dust into a HEPA unit at the source. Keeps your furniture, counters, and HVAC filter clean during the sanding stage.
Oscillating multi-tool and pry bar
Cuts under door jambs and around floor vents, and lifts old flooring without damaging the subfloor or the baseboards.
Floor roller and buffer
Presses finish into the wood grain and buffs between coats for an even sheen. This is what gives the floor its depth and durability.
NWFA installation standards
We follow National Wood Flooring Association guidelines for subfloor flatness, fastener spacing, and expansion gaps. These are the standards manufacturers reference when deciding whether to honor a finish warranty claim.
On-site acclimation
Planks sit inside your home for 3 to 5 days before installation. This lets the wood reach the same moisture content as your living space, which is the single biggest factor in preventing gaps and cupping after installation.
Three-coat polyurethane finish
We apply three coats of polyurethane finish with a light buff between each. That gives you a surface that resists scratches from dog claws and furniture legs, and it can be recoated in 10 years without a full sand-down.
EPA Lead-Safe work practices
For homes built before 1978, we follow EPA Lead-Safe protocols during removal and sanding. Containment, HEPA vacuuming, and proper disposal are all part of the job on older Austin homes.
01
What we do: We pull the carpet, check the slab for moisture, and install 900 square feet of engineered hickory over a vapor barrier. Engineered planks handle slab-on-grade conditions better than solid wood in this part of Austin.
→ A finished floor in 10 days, no carpet allergens, and a surface that can be refinished once or twice down the road.
02
What we do: We remove the damaged section, dry and seal the subfloor, and install matching white oak planks. The whole room gets sanded and refinished so the repair blends with the rest of the floor.
→ The kitchen floor matches the adjacent rooms exactly, and the repair is covered by our 5-year workmanship warranty.
03
What we do: We install 400 square feet of solid red oak over the plywood subfloor, nail it down, and finish it with a satin polyurethane. The room is ready for furniture in 4 days.
→ A bonus room that feels like part of the house instead of an afterthought, with a floor that handles kids and dogs.
04
What we do: We work overnight to sand and refinish 1,200 square feet with a commercial-grade polyurethane finish. The dining room is back in service by the next lunch rush.
→ A floor that looks new without a single lost day of revenue, plus a finish rated for heavy commercial traffic.
Austin sits on a mix of slab-on-grade and pier-and-beam construction, and each one needs a different approach. Slab homes in Circle C and Cedar Park need a vapor barrier and moisture testing before anything goes down, because Central Texas slabs wick groundwater after heavy spring rains. Pier-and-beam homes in Zilker and Travis Heights have crawl spaces that need ventilation checks, or the wood subfloor stays damp year-round. Our climate swings from 30 percent humidity in January to 60 percent in August, and that movement is what causes most floor failures we see. We acclimate every bundle on site for 3 to 5 days, and we schedule installations to avoid the wettest weeks of spring when possible. If you are looking for affordable hardwood floor installation Austin Texas, the price difference between a crew that acclimates and one that does not is small. The cost of fixing a cupped floor is not.
Zilker
Many 1940s bungalows here have pier-and-beam subfloors that need crawl space ventilation checks before installation. We look for signs of moisture damage on the joists first.
Circle C
Slab-on-grade construction throughout. Every install here starts with a moisture meter reading and a vapor barrier under the planks.
Downtown Austin
High-rise condos need acoustic underlayment to meet HOA sound rules. We spec products that keep footfall noise within the building's requirements.
Westlake
Larger homes with wide-plank installations. Wide planks move more than narrow ones, so acclimation time here runs the full 5 days.
Summer humidity swings from 40 to 60 percent
Wood expands and contracts with every swing. Without acclimation and a proper expansion gap at the walls, planks cup or gap within one season.
Slab-on-grade construction across most new builds
Concrete wicks moisture from the ground. Every slab install needs a vapor barrier and a moisture reading below 4 percent before we lay planks.
Older pier-and-beam homes with unventilated crawl spaces
Trapped moisture under the house moves up into the wood subfloor. We check ventilation and look for rot before quoting the job.
Cedar fever season from December through February
Homeowners run HVAC systems harder, which drops indoor humidity. We recommend a whole-home humidifier to keep wood floors stable through the winter.
Most of our Austin calls start with one of these four complaints. Each one has a fix, and none of them require living with a bad floor forever.
Problem
Cupped boards trap dirt in the seams, feel rough underfoot, and get worse every humid season until the floor has to come out entirely.
Our Fix
We test the slab or joists with a moisture meter before installing, then use the right underlayment and vapor barrier for your subfloor type. If the source is a plumbing leak or poor drainage, we flag it so you fix the cause, not just the symptom.
Problem
Squeaks mean fasteners have loosened or the subfloor has moved. Gaps wider than 1/8 inch let crumbs and pet hair collect and make the floor look older than it is.
Our Fix
We refasten loose subfloor panels before installing, use the correct nail pattern for your plank width, and acclimate material so it does not shrink after installation. Our 5-year workmanship warranty covers gaps and fastener failure.
Problem
A water heater leak or dishwasher overflow can warp 100 square feet of floor in under 48 hours. Left alone, the damage spreads and the subfloor starts to rot.
Our Fix
We cut out the damaged boards, dry and treat the subfloor, and install matching planks. If the damage is widespread, we can replace a whole room and blend the stain to your existing floor so the repair is invisible.
Problem
Urine soaks past the finish into the wood itself. Sanding alone will not remove the smell, and the dark stains stay visible even after refinishing.
Our Fix
We replace the affected boards with matching species and grain, then sand and finish the whole room so the new boards blend in. For severe cases we can do a full tear-out and install new hardwood planks over a sealed subfloor.
Wood floors change how a house lives. They hold up to kids, dogs, and dinner parties, and they can be sanded back to new instead of torn out. Here is what you actually get when the install is done correctly.
Adds resale value
Real hardwood is one of the few upgrades that appraisers in Travis County price into a home. A 1,200 square foot install in oak or hickory typically returns 70 to 80 percent of its cost at resale, and buyers touring homes in 78745 or 78749 notice the difference between wood and laminate within seconds of walking in.
Survives Texas humidity
Engineered hardwood planks with a plywood core move far less than solid wood when indoor humidity swings. We acclimate every bundle on site for 3 to 5 days at your home's actual conditions, so the floor you get in November still sits flat next July when the AC is running hard.
Refinishable for decades
Solid hardwood planks 3/4 inch thick can be sanded and refinished 4 to 6 times over their life. That means a floor installed this year can be brought back to new in 2040 instead of replaced. Laminate and vinyl plank cannot do that, which is why we steer families toward solid or engineered wood when the budget allows.
Cleaner indoor air
Wood floors do not trap the dust, dander, and pollen that carpet does. For Austin households dealing with cedar fever from December through February, that matters. A damp mop and a pH-neutral cleaner once a week is the whole maintenance routine, no shampooer rentals and no deep-clean appointments.
Google ★★★★★4.9
Installed 780 square feet of white oak in our Zilker bungalow. They found a soft spot in the subfloor and fixed it before laying planks. Dust containment kept the house clean. Fourteen months later, not a single gap or squeak.
Yelp ★★★★★4.8
Three quotes for our Circle C house and these were the only ones who mentioned moisture testing. Acclimated the hickory 4 days, installed 1,100 square feet, finished on schedule. Stain match to our stairs is perfect.
BBB ★★★★★5.0
We manage rental units downtown and needed a fast turnaround between tenants. They removed old carpet and installed new flooring in 5 days. Straight pricing, no change orders, cleaned up better than they found it.
General Wood Flooring LLC has been installing and finishing wood floors in Austin since 2022. In that time we have handled everything from 1930s pier-and-beam homes in Travis Heights to slab-on-grade new construction in Cedar Park. Our installers are trained on NWFA installation standards, and we hold EPA Lead-Safe certification for work in pre-1978 homes, which matters in older Austin neighborhoods where lead paint is still present on trim and subfloors. We carry a Texas state contractor license and full liability coverage on every job.
Real experiences from customers who chose our Hardwood Floor Installation services.
“We had 780 square feet of white oak installed in our 1940s bungalow. The crew found a soft spot in the subfloor near the back door and fixed it before laying a single plank. Dust containment was no joke, my wife's bookshelves were spotless. Floor has been down 14 months now and not one gap.”
Marcus T.
Homeowner, Zilker
“Got three quotes for our Circle C house and these guys were the only ones who mentioned moisture testing. They acclimated the hickory for 4 days, installed 1,100 square feet, and finished on schedule. The stain match to our existing stairs is perfect. Worth every dollar.”
Priya R.
Homeowner, Circle C
“We manage six rental units downtown and needed LVP and hardwood installed between tenants. General Wood Flooring turned a 900 square foot unit around in 5 days, including removal of the old carpet. Straight pricing, no change orders, and they cleaned up better than they found it.”
Dale W.
Property Manager, Downtown Austin
Real answers to the questions we hear most often from local homeowners and property managers.
Engineered planks have a plywood core that resists the humidity swings common in Austin slab homes. We install them over concrete with the right underlayment and vapor barrier, which is often the smarter choice for 78741 and 78742 properties built on slab.
View Engineered Hardwood InstallationSolid 3/4 inch planks are the gold standard for pier-and-beam homes in Travis Heights and Hyde Park. They can be sanded and refinished 4 to 6 times, and they nail down cleanly to wood subfloors with a flooring stapler.
View Solid Hardwood InstallationIf your existing floor is scratched or gray but structurally sound, refinishing costs roughly half of a new install. We sand back the old finish, repair damaged boards, and lay down fresh stain and polyurethane finish in 3 to 5 days.
View Hardwood Floor RefinishingOur dust containment system pulls sanding dust straight into a HEPA unit, so refinishing a 600 square foot living room does not coat your whole house. Ideal for occupied homes and for anyone with allergies or asthma.
View Dustless Sanding & RefinishingWant to move from golden oak to a warm walnut or a modern gray? We test stain samples on your actual wood before committing. Duraseal and Minwax both offer colors that read differently under Austin's bright south-facing windows, so we always test first.
View Floor Staining & Color ChangePet stains, water damage from a failed water heater, and squeaky floors are all fixable without replacing the whole room. We cut out damaged boards, match the species and stain, and blend the repair so it disappears.
View Wood Floor RepairCall us at 512 877 7960 or send an email and we will get back to you the same business day. We answer the phone Monday through Friday, 8am to 6pm, and we run 24/7 emergency response for water-damaged floors. Same-day estimates across Austin and Travis County.
Phone
512 877 7960Address
6900 Deep Cir, Austin, TX 78744
Hours
Mon–Fri: 7AM – 7PM
Sat: 8AM – 4PM
Sun: Emergency Only
24/7 Emergency Available
