Hardwood Floor Installation in Savannah, GA | Solid Oak and Heart Pine Experts
Solid hardwood flooring is milled from a single piece of timber, typically 3/4 inch thick with a tongue-and-groove profile. We install it throughout Savannah using blind-nailed fasteners driven through the tongue at a 45 degree angle. Fastener spacing runs every 8 to 10 inches.
Subfloor preparation determines whether the finished installation performs or fails. We check flatness to within 3/16 inch over 10 feet, which is the manufacturer tolerance behind most warranties. Plywood decking has to be dry, structurally sound, and mechanically fastened before any hardwood goes over it.
Acclimation is where coastal installations succeed or fail. We deliver the material and let it sit in the installed environment until its moisture content matches the subfloor beneath. That takes considerably longer here than the packaging suggests, and rushing it produces cupping within a single season.
We leave a 3/4 inch expansion gap at every wall and vertical obstruction, concealed afterward by baseboard and shoe molding. Wood moves seasonally with humidity, and a floor fitted tight to the wall has nowhere to go. That detail causes more failures than any other.
Solid hardwood suits above-grade rooms in properties with a controlled indoor climate. It rewards owners who intend to remain, because a 3/4 inch board carries decades of service in it. No other flooring category improves a property in quite the same way.
We install throughout Savannah and Chatham County, from the historic districts downtown to the island communities east and southeast. Every project gets the same crew from initial measure through final walkthrough, with no subcontracted labor. We are licensed & insured throughout Georgia.
Licensed & Insured · 50+ years experience
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Free in-home measure and moisture testing across Savannah.
912-330-6990Why We are the Best flooring contractor in Savannah, GA
Selecting a flooring contractor ultimately comes down to who actually shows up. It also comes down to who stands behind the installation afterward. We have installed flooring throughout Chatham County for over 50 years. The same crew handles your project from initial measure through final walkthrough. Subcontracted installation is where most flooring complaints originate, so we simply do not operate that way.
- Over 50 years delivering flooring installation, repair, and maintenance across residential and commercial properties throughout the region
- Full-service solutions including luxury vinyl plank, solid hardwood, engineered wood, porcelain tile, laminate, and broadloom carpet
- Skilled craftsmanship using precise installation methods including floating click-lock assemblies, full-spread glue-down, and traditional blind-nailed hardwood
- High-quality materials and factory-cured finishes selected to improve durability, appearance retention, and long-term dimensional performance
- Custom design options covering plank direction, seam placement, transition detailing, and stair treatments to match any interior
- Low-VOC adhesives and underlayment systems available on request for occupied residences, medical clinics, and sensitive environments
Get a written price for your hardwood floor project
Send us the rooms and the approximate square footage and we will schedule a free in-home measure. You receive one written number covering material, labor, subfloor preparation, and disposal of the existing floor. That figure does not move afterward unless demolition exposes structural damage nobody could reasonably have anticipated.
- Free in-home measure with no obligation
- Licensed & Insured throughout Georgia
- 50+ years installing across Chatham County
Request A Free Quote!
Tell us what you need. We reply the same working day.
Hardwood Species and Grades We Install
Species selection drives hardness, color, and price, and the differences matter considerably more than showroom samples suggest. We install the species that genuinely perform in a humid coastal climate. Here are the three groups we specify most often across the city.
White Oak and Red Oak
Oak accounts for most of the solid hardwood we install across the city. White oak rates 1,360 on the Janka hardness scale and red oak rates 1,290, so both handle ordinary household traffic comfortably. The practical differences are grain and moisture behavior.
White oak has a tighter grain and better moisture resistance, which genuinely matters on the islands. It also accepts gray and natural finishes cleanly, where red oak pushes pink undertones through any stain. Red oak costs roughly 10 to 15 percent less.
Heart Pine and Antique Pine
Heart pine is the historic flooring of this region and sits beneath carpet in a great many older properties downtown. Original boards frequently run 5 to 8 inches wide, considerably wider than modern stock. It rates around 1,225 on the Janka scale, softer than oak.
Heart pine dents, and owners of historic properties generally accept that because the patina is the point. Where an original floor survives in genuinely sound condition, we will say so rather than quoting a replacement you do not need. Matching old growth pine requires reclaimed stock.
Hickory, Maple, and Wider Formats
Hickory rates 1,820 on the Janka scale and is the hardest domestic species we install regularly. It suits households with large dogs or genuinely heavy traffic, and its color variation is dramatic. Maple rates 1,450 and runs pale and uniform, suiting contemporary interiors.
Maple is notoriously difficult to stain evenly, so we generally recommend it with a clear protective finish. Wide plank formats above 5 inches move considerably more with seasonal humidity. In this climate we either specify engineered construction or increase the fastening schedule.
Plank Width and Board Grade
Board grade describes appearance rather than structural quality, which surprises most people. Select grade runs clean and uniform with minimal knots, while character and rustic grades show considerably more variation. Grade shifts price by 20 to 30 percent without changing how the floor performs.
Standard strip flooring runs 2 1/4 inches wide and remains the most dimensionally stable format in this climate. Plank widths of 5 inches and above read more contemporary but move more seasonally. We adjust fastening schedules and acclimation time accordingly.
Our Hardwood Floor Installation Process
The installation itself is the shortest part of the project. Most of what determines a twenty year floor happens before the first board is fastened. Nearly every failure we are called to inspect traces back to a preparation step somebody skipped.
Measure, Moisture Testing, and Acclimation
We measure every room, then test moisture content in both the subfloor and the flooring material. Wood subfloors should read below 12 percent, and the differential between subfloor and hardwood should stay under 4 percent. Those two readings govern the entire schedule.
Material then acclimates on site with the climate control running normally. We allow a minimum of 5 days here, and longer on the islands where ambient humidity sits higher year round. This step has no visible output, which is precisely why it gets skipped.
Subfloor Preparation and Layout
We lift the existing floor, remove fasteners and residual adhesive, then inspect the decking underneath. Loose panels get screwed down, and any deteriorated section gets cut out and replaced before we continue. Nothing goes over a substrate we would not stand behind.
High spots are sanded and low areas filled until the surface holds 3/16 inch over 10 feet. Century-old properties downtown routinely need this, because settlement leaves very little genuinely level. We then dry-lay the first rows and confirm the finished layout.
Installation, Sanding, and Finishing
Boards are blind-nailed through the tongue so no fastener appears on the finished surface. We stagger end joints by at least 6 inches and maintain the perimeter expansion gap throughout. Installation runs roughly one day per 300 to 500 square feet.
We install prefinished material in almost every case, which eliminates site sanding entirely and shortens the project considerably. The factory-cured aluminum oxide surface is also measurably harder than anything applied on site. The floor is walkable immediately on completion.
Why Savannah Flooring Company Is the Best Hardwood Floor Installation Expert
Local Expertise in Savannah, GA
We have installed hardwood across Savannah for over 50 years, and this market has genuine peculiarities. Coastal humidity, crawl space construction on the islands, and century-old subfloors downtown each change the specification. We know which neighborhoods sit on slab before we arrive.
Professional Installers
The crew that measures your project is the crew that installs it, from start to finish. We never subcontract hardwood installation, which is where the majority of flooring complaints originate. Blind-nailing, stagger patterns, and stair work are skills built over years rather than weeks.
Commitment to Customer Satisfaction
You receive one written figure covering material, labor, subfloor preparation, and disposal of the existing floor. It does not move unless demolition uncovers structural damage nobody could reasonably have anticipated. We walk the completed floor with you before leaving, and corrections happen immediately.
Frequently Asked Questions About Hardwood Floor Installation
Solid hardwood generally runs 9 to 16 dollars per square foot installed, covering material, labor, subfloor preparation, and disposal of your existing floor. Species drives most of that range, with red oak at the lower end and hickory or wide plank formats at the top. Subfloor condition moves it further, and century-old properties downtown often need leveling. The in-home measure is free and carries no obligation.
Solid hardwood is milled from a single piece of timber, normally 3/4 inch thick, with a tongue-and-groove edge profile. It is blind-nailed through the tongue into a wood subfloor, so no fastener is visible on the surface. Because the entire board is solid timber rather than a veneer, it wears for decades. It requires a wood subfloor above grade and a 3/4 inch perimeter expansion gap.
Allow 5 days of on-site acclimation before installation begins, and longer on the islands. Installation itself runs about one day per 300 to 500 square feet, so a 1,000 square foot area takes two to three days to fasten. Prefinished material is complete at that point, with no finish coats to dry and no waiting before the furniture returns.
No, and we do not recommend attempting it. Solid hardwood needs a wood subfloor it can be nailed into, and concrete releases vapor for years after curing. Slab construction is common west and south of the city. The correct answer there is engineered wood, which handles slab moisture with the right underlayment, or a plywood sleeper system where solid hardwood is genuinely required. We test the slab either way.
White oak at 1,360 Janka or hickory at 1,820 handles commercial traffic best, specified in 3/4 inch thickness with a commercial-grade finish. Retail and hospitality spaces benefit from a factory-cured commercial finish, which resists abrasion better than a site-applied one. For very heavy rolling traffic we usually recommend a resilient product instead. We are happy to walk your space and give an honest recommendation.
Thinking about solid hardwood? Book a free measure and find out what it costs.
912-330-6990