Hello,
I have a 610 sq ft condo in downtown Manhattan with parquet floors that I had sanded and refinished when I moved in 7 years ago. I'm planning to sell the condo in 2 months. My decision to replace the floor became certain when a recent leak of 5 gallons from my living room aquarium caused the floor to buckle and break in a 3 sq ft section. Being a newbie I don't know exactly what type the flooring is, but the parquet squares are about 3/8" thick and in the buckled area I can see there is a white thin foam like paper under them.

I feel overwhelmed when I look for professional hardwood installers because there are so many of them. My questions are:

What type of flooring would net me the best resale value and also have the most wide appeal?
About how much should I expect to pay for the whole job for my condo size (bedroom + living room = 610 sq ft, some jogs in walls), also taking into account the area I'm in.
The buckled tiles could be removed fairly easily. Can I save a lot on the price by removing the existing floors myself? If so, how much would it cost for me to dispose of the flooring?
How should I choose the right installing professional?

Though many people have told me it's not hard to install a new floor myself, I would definitely like to have the job professionally done; I don't want to risk mistakes.

Advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Joe

Since you are going to sell your condo, this question is best left to your realtor. Flooring styles and tastes are regional.


One cannot determine cost until a product is selected.


Not really. If it's fairly easy for you, it will be easier for a contractor. Besides, you may be better off having the existing floors repaired by a quality flooring contractor.

Enter your city here: http://www.woodfloors.org/consumer/findPro.aspx
Get at least three bids to compare prices, ask for references, licenses, insurance, etc. Two things to remember. You get what you pay for and, you're going to be moving. You want the floors to look good but no reason to pay a premium for the next owner.

Gary,
Thanks for your advice. I'm going to check out the NWFA link. Getting three different estimates seems like a good idea. I'm hoping I won't have to deal with too much of a hard sell from them during this process.

Thanks much,
Joe

The first NWFA certified professional I spoke to was candid about my prospect of installing new floors prior to selling my condo. His thoughts were that I would never get back the money spent on the flooring when I sell the condo unless the existing floor was so bad that it turned away prospective buyers- but that's exactly the dilema.

The floor is old, and up to a week ago when the water damage occurred, it was serviceable. There's now a 3 ' radius in a fairly visible and walkable area where the damaged parquet tiles have been removed.

Are there options I have to 'fix' this and make the floor more presentable for sale without a major reinstallation?

Advice again is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Joe

You probably won't get all your investment back. But then again... how long can you afford to have your condo on the market before you find just the right buyer?

Did the guy offer you any suggestions? In other words a "repair" is not possible?

His suggestion was to offer a large chunk of the money that I would spend on a new floor to the prospective buyer as a bonus incentive for the sale. He didn't have any advice about just repairing the damaged area.

I was hoping I could get away with just replacing the tiles in the section where they're currently missing, then resurfacing the floor. What I don't know yet though is if it's possible to do this and a uniform look throughout the affected area when the job is done. If it can be, or at least very close to it, I could save a bundle and have what I think would be a dramatic improvement to the condo prior to the sale.

Get somebody else to look at it. It could be that particular parquet is not readily available, but there are mills who can closely match what you have now. They would need an actual sample piece to go by.

But getting the old and new to match after refinishing is a different story and your floorguy would have to guide you on that part.

It also maybe that the existing parquet is an engineered style common with Bruce, Sykes and Anderson parquets from the 60's and 70's. Those often have a very thin veneer and sanding them is quite tricky. Without further info, it's difficult to make any recommendation outside of getting professional advice in person.