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This article could be a hundred pages long, but here are few ways why you’ll save money shopping at a real flooring store;

While it may seem to make sense that some flooring may be 20% or 30% less expensive to shop for flooring online, here are a few considerations. How much extra is the freight? Most freight companies won’t make home deliveries so will you have to pick it up at a freight terminal? Who is responsible for any shipping damages? Not all flooring is suitable for all applications—for instance, laminates shouldn’t be used in kitchens or baths.

If you have a complaint and the online company will replace it, who is responsible for removing the floor, packing it up and shipping it back. Most flooring stores have a difficult time finding competent installers, how successful do you think you might be in doing the same thing and then, who guarantees their work? Remember that installations not done in accordance with manufacturer’s specifications may void all warrantees. All installed products require installation materials and accessories which must be purchased by you. Add it up and you are taking a risk with little or no savings.

Buying from the “Big Boxes” or any non-flooring store is also a risk. If you don’t believe this, just look up customer complaints on a particular store on the internet. Usually you don’t have trained personnel at the point of sale to guide you in the purchase of acceptable flooring for different applications. Much of their inventory is closeouts or one time purchases so matching this material at a later date is usually impossible. Most of their merchandise is private labeled so you can’t comparison shop. Many stores bid out their installations so the installer you get is the person who bid the cheapest price. Good installers never have to do this. Many use installers to measure the jobs and they get paid by the square foot, so the more they measure the more they get paid. Add to this that adding additional material makes the job easier for them, more expensive for you. You may be buying as much as 20% more material than needed making their unit price deceiving, which is why unit price shopping is a waste of time and money. The only price that is comparable is the final total price of the same material installed in your home when the installers leave.

Many of the non-flooring stores charge for the measure, an old psychological ploy used to stop consumers from shopping. We all know that when money is passed, most shoppers do stop shopping. Never pay for a measure. Free installation is always a scam. It either has to be included in the price of material or what the “Big Boxes” do is advertise “basic installation” which doesn’t include: prep work, installation sundries and materials, stairs, sometimes delivery, furniture, moldings and a host of other things most specialty retailers routinely include. If you think installation is free, buy the flooring somewhere else and ask them to install it for you. Many “free” installs cost several hundreds of dollars.

Wood is a blind item. Few people know that wood is graded on several levels, the lowest being wood that is irregular, split and not cut straight requiring several hundred dollars additional to install. I was in the business fifty years before I knew that all the wood in the same box is not the same grade even though you paid for it. An Armstrong employee mentioned that up to 50% of the pieces in a box of a popular 100 year guarantee wood floor from a national chain is less than desirable.

The message is that, bottom line, it is safer when all things are considered, and less expensive to buy from a reputable flooring specialty retailer where the merchandise and install are guaranteed and everything that is needed for the complete job is included than purchasing online, at a national mass merchandiser or a shop-at-home outfit. 

Every flooring material has its plusses and minuses and all flooring isn’t suitable for all applications. Obviously, your chances of finding a flooring expert at any non-flooring store like the “Big Boxes” or discount stores are slim to none. Your best chance of finding someone knowledge would be at a flooring specialty store—but which one? Stores aligned with a merchandising group like Abbey Carpet, Flooring America, Carpet One or Big Bob’s increase your chances of finding an expert as they have training programs to ensure that all staff members are knowledgeable. That isn’t to say that unaligned specialty stores don’t have knowledgeable employees, but you are definitely more secure with stores that I’ve listed above.

First of all, most non-flooring stores are interested in the “buy” rather than quality, so their preference is for discontinued goods or imported merchandise. What is wrong with this? Everything! Every day specialty stores listen to tales of woe because customers of the “Big Boxes” ran short and there is no more of the flooring available. Now what they spent instead of saving is a complete waste. Or the Chinese laminate that was such a good deal had numerous episodes of the surface layer chipping off or a locking system that was impossible to put together. Again, money got flushed down the drain. Or why didn’t their employees tell me that water would make my laminate curl up.

Ceramic is obviously a durable floor, but why weren’t you told that if you spend time in the kitchen that the surface is hard to work on or used in a bathroom it is cold and slippery or that if you have toddlers, a fall on ceramic may be a trip to the ER or that heavy objects dropped on ceramic can break it or that something dropped on ceramic is guaranteed to break? While beautiful and long lasting, did anyone let you know that you may not love the chore of cleaning the grout with a toothbrush (the most common complaint). You may be able to live with these shortfalls, but wouldn’t you rather know beforehand.

Everyone loves hardwood floors, but who would ever let you know that not all wood you buy in the box is serviceable. In the business for fifty years, I didn’t know this. That $3.99 wood that lasts forever may have half the pieces of any box less than serviceable, so which is cheaper, a select wood at $5.99 or a half box at $3.99 from a big discounter? And, of course, not all species are serviceable in all areas. This is why your purchase from a flooring specialty store is not only likely to be less expensive, but a far safer purchase.

Carpeting is always a risky purchase even with all the incredible warrantees printed on the label. Synthetics never wear out so what good is any warrantee? What people don’t know, cheap bargain carpet “uglies” out and when that happens, you wish it would wear out. Serviceable carpeting manufactured properly and used in the manner intended can look good for twenty years or more but it requires years of experience to know how and why enough to explain to customers which purchase makes the most sense.

The beautiful looking carpet in a builder’s home for sale is lucky to be serviceable for more than a couple of years. To me, that’s a waste. People looking for a bargain are in my wife’s store saying I saw the same carpet at the big box for less, when in fact, the carpet they saw looked alright, but in reality was poorly made. First, the Big Boxes change the name so you can’t shop and secondly the most successful mill president that ever lived has stated more than once, if I laid out several samples in front of several mill execs, unless he made it, not one could tell me what it is worth. This is a “blind’ item and you need professional assistance to choose wisely.

Everything I have written about so far applies to all flooring materials. Choosing wisely with the help of a knowledgeable flooring person will save you a lot of heartache as well as a lot of cold hard cash.