Vanguard

Flooring Installation

Flooring installation in Orlando starts from one fact. What goes on a Florida slab is a different decision from what goes on a subfloor. There is no crawl space. Moisture moves up through concrete. And the whole house runs its air conditioning hard for half the year.

Placeholder image. Two remodelers in respirators assessing a stripped 1980s Florida living room with exposed terrazzo and a part-removed ceiling.

What works here

Porcelain and ceramic tile is the default. Humidity does not affect it, it stays cool underfoot, and it does not care if the slab sweats. Luxury vinyl plank is warmer and quieter, and good ones handle moisture well. A cheap one telegraphs every imperfection in the slab. Engineered wood is possible with the right underlayment and a moisture test first. Solid hardwood direct to slab is a gamble we will talk you out of.

Where flooring installation goes wrong here

Two places. First, skipping the moisture test. It is cheap before you order material and ruinous afterwards. A slab that reads high lifts an adhesive, or cups an engineered board, within a year. Second, skipping the flatness check. Large-format tile and long planks telegraph every hollow in a forty-year-old slab. Neither is negotiable under the Florida Building Code for a job that has to pass.

Test the slab, then level it

A moisture test before ordering, and a flatness check after. Large-format tile and long LVP planks are unforgiving of a slab that undulates, and self-levelling compound is far cheaper than lifting a finished floor. If the carpet is coming up, look for terrazzo first: it may already be the best floor in the house.

Not sure this is the right scope yet?

Most projects change shape once someone stands in the room. The walk-through is where that happens, and it costs nothing whether or not you go ahead.

See how a project runs

Start with a walk-through

Tell us the room, the city the home is in, and how to reach you. We will say plainly whether it is work we should take on.

Get a free estimate

Built by Renzo Johnson