Hardwood Flooring Installation in Calgary

Solid vs engineered in Calgary homes

Calgary's indoor humidity can drop to 15% in February and climb past 50% during summer thunderstorms. Solid 3/4-inch hardwood handles that swing if it's nailed to a wood subfloor and the home runs a humidifier — without one, gaps in winter and cupping in spring are normal, not a defect.

Engineered hardwood is the more forgiving choice for basements, concrete slabs, and homes with in-floor heat. We install glue-down and floating engineered floors using manufacturer-approved adhesives and proper expansion gaps at every wall, transition and column.

Acclimation and moisture

Boards sit in your home for 5–14 days before install, stacked stickered so air can move through the pack. We take pin moisture readings on the wood and the subfloor and don't start until the two are within manufacturer spec — usually 2–4% of each other. Skipping this step is the single most common reason new hardwood fails in Calgary, and we won't do it.

What the install actually involves

Subfloor flat to 3/16 inch over 10 feet, vapour retarder where required, racking the boards to avoid H-patterns and short ends, blind-nailing or gluing per the spec sheet, and tight, even reveals at every wall. Finished floors get a final tack-cleaned pass and we leave the trim and quarter-round paint-ready or installed depending on your scope.