Skilled Hardwood Flooring in the Landmark Historic District, Savannah

Solid hardwood is what we install most often inside the Landmark District. These are above-grade properties and solid timber suits them, provided the framing underneath is sound. We source wide plank material where the original board width demands it.

Nineteenth century subfloors carry accumulated deterioration from plumbing failures and long-past water intrusion. We open the affected area, establish the moisture source, and replace deteriorated decking properly. Matching original heart pine means sourcing reclaimed material rather than purchasing new stock.

Downtown properties are frequently three stories with the principal rooms above ground level. Those staircases are steep, narrow, and rarely uniform between treads. Each tread is measured and fitted individually, and the work prices per step rather than by area.

Bathrooms and kitchens downtown have generally been reconfigured several times across a century. Porcelain tile handles that moisture exposure where no timber product reasonably could. Substrate deflection is the governing constraint, so we evaluate framing before quoting any rigid finish.

The district operates under review requirements governing alterations visible from the public right of way. Those requirements concentrate on exteriors, facades, windows, and anything affecting the streetscape character, which means interior flooring generally falls outside that scope entirely.

We confirm rather than assume, because requirements vary and properties occasionally carry additional protections. Where a project touches anything visible externally, we will tell you to check before proceeding. Establishing that early is considerably cheaper than discovering it midway through.

Properties here predate dimensional standardization, so joist spacing and board widths vary within a single room. Subfloor boards frequently run diagonally rather than perpendicular to the joists beneath. Original flooring was commonly face-nailed rather than blind-nailed through the tongue, which changes entirely how an existing floor lifts.

That construction affects everything downstream, including fastening schedules and how a floor is lifted. We survey the structure before quoting rather than pricing from a room measurement and an assumption. Discovering irregular framing partway through demolition is precisely how downtown projects overrun their schedule and their budget together.

The 400 block of Gaston Street and the streets around the squares were laid out for carriages. Narrow lanes, restricted loading, and limited parking make material delivery genuinely difficult. Upper floor apartments compound it, since everything travels up a staircase by hand.

We establish access arrangements during the survey and build the labor into the written figure. A contractor who prices downtown work as though it were suburban will either lose money or add charges later. We would rather quote it accurately from the beginning.