Prefinished hardwood on a typical 800 to 1,200 sq ft Everett main floor takes 2 to 4 working days to install. Unfinished, site-finished hardwood takes 7 to 10 days because sanding and three coats of finish follow the install. Add 3 to 7 days of acclimation before either one starts, a day for tear-out if old flooring is coming up, and a day for a staircase. Wills Flooring installs prefinished at $3.25 per sq ft and unfinished at $2.75 per sq ft.
The honest answer to "how long will this take" has two parts, and most quotes only give you one. There is the time a crew is in your house making noise, and there is the total calendar time from the day the wood is delivered to the day the couch goes back. For a Boeing family in Silver Lake trying to plan around shift schedules, or a Port Gardner condo owner with a building work window, the second number is the one that matters. Here is both, day by day, based on how our crews actually run jobs in Everett.
Day by day: a 1,000 sq ft prefinished install
- Day 0 · Delivery and acclimationBoxes arrive and sit open in the rooms where they will be installed, at normal living temperature. Engineered needs about 3 days; solid oak needs 5 to 7, longer in a wet Everett winter. Nothing else happens yet.
- Day 1 · Tear-out and prepOld carpet, pad, staples and tack strip come up, or old laminate is pulled. We check the subfloor for squeaks, high spots and moisture, screw down loose sheets and grind or fill as needed. In a 1920s Riverside house this can take the whole day; in a 1990s Eastmont home it is often half.
- Days 2–3 · InstallationA two-person crew lays roughly 300 to 500 sq ft of straight-lay prefinished plank per day, including cuts around cabinets and closets. Racking boards for color mix, nailing or gluing, and fitting under door jambs are what eat the hours. Diagonal or herringbone patterns cut that pace nearly in half.
- Day 3 or 4 · Trim and transitionsQuarter round or base shoe goes back on, transitions to tile and carpet are set, and vents are fitted. Furniture can go back the same evening on a nailed prefinished floor; glued floors need 24 hours before heavy loads.
Why site-finished takes a week longer
Prefinished
Factory-finished boards
- Install 2–4 days, then done
- Walk on it the same day
- No dust from sanding, no finish odor
- Micro-bevels between boards; factory finish is very hard
Unfinished
Site-finished boards
- Install 2–4 days, then sand 1–2 days, then 3 coats over 3–4 days
- Off the floor during finishing; socks after 24 hours, furniture after 72
- Completely flat, seamless surface and any stain color you want
- Install $2.75 per sq ft plus refinishing rates for the finish work
Price your Everett hardwood install right now
Hardwood Installation Calculator
Installation pricing from our published rate card. Material is quoted separately based on the floor you choose.
Job size vs. working days
| Project | Prefinished | Site-finished | What adds time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 sq ft, two bedrooms | 1–2 days | 5–6 days | Closets, several doorways per square foot |
| 1,000 sq ft open main floor | 2–3 days | 7–8 days | Kitchen island, appliance moves, tile transitions |
| 1,500 sq ft main floor + 13 stairs | 4–5 days | 9–11 days | Stairs are about a full day for a straight run of 13 treads at $125 each |
| 2,200 sq ft whole house | 5–7 days | 12–14 days | Usually done in two phases so you can live in half the house |
| Glue-down on a slab, any size | Add 1 day | Add 1 day | Adhesive open time and flatness prep on concrete |
Working days, not calendar days. Add acclimation before the first day and, for site-finished, finish cure time after the last coat.
What speeds a job up and what slows it down
The age of the house
Riverside and Bayside homes from the 1900s to 1920s almost always need subfloor work: sistered joists, shimmed low spots, sometimes a new plywood layer over old plank subfloor. Silver Lake and Eastmont houses from the 1990s and 2000s usually have flat OSB or plywood and go faster by a day.
Room shape and cuts
Every doorway, closet, angled wall and cabinet toe-kick is a set of hand cuts. An open rectangular living room installs at the fast end of the range. A chopped-up floor plan with five bedrooms and two halls installs at the slow end even at the same square footage.
Pattern and plank width
Wide planks cover ground faster than 2¼ in strip. Herringbone, chevron and diagonal layouts roughly double the cutting and layout time. Mixed widths and long European planks need more careful racking so the joints look random, and that sorting happens before a single board is nailed.
Building access and scheduling
Port Gardner and downtown Everett condos limit work hours and elevator use, which can turn a two-day job into three. Our showroom is about 15 minutes away in Lynnwood, so material and crew logistics are simple; the building rules are usually the constraint.
Do not skip acclimation to save days: Solid hardwood installed straight off a cold delivery truck in an Everett winter will gap when the furnace dries it out, or cup if the house is more humid than the boxes were. Acclimation is dead time on the calendar, but it is the cheapest insurance the job has. We drop the wood off early so the clock starts before the crew arrives.
How to keep your install on schedule
- Clear the rooms before the crew arrives. Every hour spent moving furniture is an hour not laying floor. Empty closets too; they are the slowest square footage in the house.
- Run the house at normal living conditions. Heat on, windows closed, humidity where it will be when you live there. Acclimating wood to a cold empty house then warming it up defeats the purpose.
- Settle transitions and trim decisions early. Whether quarter round is painted, whether the tile threshold stays: these decisions made on day three cost a return trip.
- Sequence the other trades. Painters should finish walls before the floor and come back for base trim after. Cabinets go in before hardwood in most kitchens, appliances after.
- Ask for a written schedule with the quote. Our hardwood installation quotes list the days, the acclimation period and the cure times, and are backed by a 1-year workmanship warranty.
Hardwood installation timing questions from Everett
From Silver Lake families, Riverside remodels and Port Gardner condos.
How long does it take to install 1,000 square feet of hardwood?
How long does hardwood need to acclimate before installation?
Can I stay in the house during hardwood installation?
How long before I can walk on new hardwood floors?
Does installing hardwood on stairs add much time?
What is the fastest way to get hardwood installed in Everett?
Get a dated schedule with your Everett quote
We measure, check the subfloor, bring samples and hand you a firm written price with the install days, acclimation and cure times spelled out.
Wills Flooring serves Everett, Seattle, Sammamish, Lynnwood, Edmonds, Kirkland, Snohomish and the rest of Snohomish and King County from our Lynnwood showroom. See our hardwood installation in Everett, WA, hardwood installation service, published price list, hardwood acclimation, when you can walk on new hardwood and how far out to book.
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