I'm in the middle of updating my Construction Cost Sheet, and I also have an annoyingly expensive hardwood order to pay for today... so now is a great time to talk about Budgeting for Hardwood.

First, there are four categories of expenses for you to consider for hardwood (unfinished/finished-on-site); hardwood material, install labor, hardwood finishing, and repair labor. 

1. Hardwood material (unfinished hardwood). $2.5 to $6 per square foot. This is the only part of budgeting for hardwood that has variety, and a lot of your overall hardwood budget is dependent on this decision. Hardwood comes in a handful of different types, grades, and sizes, and ultimately you can decide between over a dozen different combinations. This is why our estimate range is so big. We can break this down a little further into three categories; builder grade, mid-level, and high-end. 

• Builder grade hardwood. $2.5 - $3.25 per square foot. 
• Mid-grade hardwood. $3.25 - $4.5 per square foot. 
• High-end hardwood. $4.5 - $6 per square foot.

2. Hardwood install labor. $1 to $3 per square foot. This is for new installations, and not for repairs or other small jobs. There is not much variety here or much to elaborate on. Just remember that any "per square foot" price should take economies-of-scale and minimums into account. This means that the larger the job, the lower cost per square foot; and visa versa. This also means that a 50 square foot job will not cost $50... they will probably have a minimum job cost of $500, more or less. 

3. Hardwood finishing/re-finishing. $2.25 to $4.25 per square foot. This is for the standard sand, stain, and 2 coats of poly. 

4. Hardwood repair labor. $250 to $2,500+ per job. Large range right? In this business, this can be anything from small patching to entire room hardwood repairs. The prices on the high end are less common because at a certain point you just replace the existing with new. However this is a good range to start with and then break it down into further categories by the size of the job

• Small job. $250 to $750 per job. This includes small patching and light repairs. For a general idea, I would consider this no more than 50 square feet. 
• Medium-sized job. $750 to $1,500 per job. This is probably a situation where significant repairs need to happen in multiple locations. This could be anything from 50 to 100 square feet of repairs.
• Large job. $1,500 to $2,500+ per job. This is as bad as it gets before you give up and install all new flooring. I added the "+" because there are scenarios where you may have to pay more, but it is much less common. This is typically a job where almost all rooms of the house require significant repairs. Many times this is in historic homes where you either need to or want to keep the existing hardwood.

In summary... Hardwood is expensive. This is why builders have begun considering LVP more often, and hardwood finished on-site is becoming considered almost a luxury item. If you add it all up for a new construction project, builders have to pay about $7 per square foot (or more) for hardwood material, labor and finishing. For just 1,500 square foot of hardwood, that is $10,500! 

(Time for our disclaimer; These prices are specific to the Richmond, Va market and other markets should adjust accordingly. The high end of our range does take higher-end markets into consideration. Richmond, Va is a mid-level market in regards to construction pricing.)

Let us know what you think and what you are paying. Happy Rehabbing!