Featured Project Site-Finished Hickory Floors in a Roseville Remodel A main level broken into three different floor coverings rarely feels like one home. This Roseville remodel had vinyl in some rooms, tile in others, and carpet in the rest — each sitting on a subfloor built to its own height. We were brought in by a general contractor who was managing the remodel for the homeowner. The goal was a single continuous hardwood floor across the entire main level, a little over 1,200 square feet in total. Before any wood could go down, every old covering had to come out, and the whole level had to be brought to one plane. That's the kind of hardwood flooring work we handle throughout Roseville and the greater Twin Cities. Key Takeaways THE CHALLENGEThree separate floor coverings — vinyl, tile, and carpet — sat on subfloors built at different heights across one main level. THE INSTALLOur crew tore out every old covering, built new subfloor where needed, then installed, sanded, and finished solid hickory on site. THE RESULTOne continuous hickory floor across roughly 1,200 square feet, completed in just seven days by a crew of two. Site-finished hickory made sense here for two reasons. Hickory carries strong color variation board to board, which gives the floor real character and still coordinates with the traditional honey oak window and door trim you find in so many Minnesota homes. Sanding and finishing in place also leaves the surface flat from board to board rather than beveled at every seam — one of the details we walk homeowners through during Hardwood Flooring Services consultations. Project Summary Client Profile: General contractor managing a single-family remodel for the homeowner Project Location: Roseville, Minnesota Primary Objective: Replace three mismatched floor coverings with one continuous hardwood surface across the main level — the kind of scope we quote through a Free Flooring Estimate. Material Selection: Site-finished solid hickory with a high-durability, water-based, high-traffic finish, selected with help from our Flooring Showroom in Fridley. Key Outcome: Roughly 1,200 square feet of hickory installed, sanded, and finished in seven days by a two-person crew Mixed Coverings, Mismatched Subfloor Heights Our first look at the main level showed exactly what we expected from a home that had been updated room by room over the years. Vinyl, tile, and carpet each had their own territory, and each had been installed over a subfloor built to suit that specific product. Every house has its own unique subfloor issues, and that's especially true when several different products have shared one level. Tile typically sits on a thicker buildup than carpet or vinyl, so pulling it all out revealed a surface that varied in height from room to room. Running one hardwood product across the whole floor meant getting everything onto a single plane first. Tear-Out, Subfloor Prep, and Install Our in-house crew of two started with full removal — all the vinyl, all the tile, all the carpet, and the underlayments beneath them. Some spaces needed entirely new subfloor to bring them up to height; in others, the existing subfloor was sound and only needed prep. The job-site photos from this stage show the subfloor swept clean and level across the entire footprint before a single board went down. New subfloor down and level across the main level, with the hickory staged and ready to go in. With a flat foundation in place, the hickory went in raw and was sanded in place so every board sits at the same height with no bevel between seams. We then applied a high-durability, water-based finish rated for high traffic, working in sections across the main level. The whole project — tear-out through final coat — ran seven days, and you can see more of this kind of work in our Flooring Gallery or talk it through with the crew at our Fridley Flooring Contractor showroom. Raw hickory going down over the new subfloor, before sanding. Applying the water-based, high-traffic finish across the newly sanded hickory floor. One Continuous Hickory Main Level The finished main level reads as one space. Spaces that were previously separated by tile edges, carpet transitions, and vinyl seams now flow together on a single hardwood surface, and the natural color variation in hickory keeps a floor that large from looking flat or repetitive. The honey oak trim around the windows and doors stayed exactly where it was — and it still coordinates. That's worth noting for Minnesota homeowners who assume updating the floor means replacing all the trim too. With a high-traffic, water-based finish on top and a properly leveled subfloor underneath, this floor is built to carry a busy main level for years. Planning a Main-Level Hardwood Remodel? We've been installing, sanding, and finishing hardwood across Roseville and the Twin Cities metro since 2009, and we work directly with general contractors, designers, and homeowners. Our installation crew is full-time and in-house — the same people who help you chart the course are the ones in your home doing the work. Thinking about pulling out mismatched floor coverings in your Roseville home? Give us a call or schedule your free on-site consultation, and we'll measure the space and check your subfloor at no cost. Lakeside Floor Coverings 7500 University Ave NE APT 1, Fridley, MN 55432 Call 763-503-0100 or Schedule Online Frequently Asked Questions How long does hardwood flooring installation take in a Roseville home? This Roseville main level — a little over 1,200 square feet — took seven days from tear-out to final coat with a crew of two. That window covered removing three different old coverings, subfloor prep, installing the hickory, sanding, and applying the finish. Timelines shift with square footage and how much subfloor work a home needs, which is why we check the subfloor during the free in-home inspection. Will new hardwood clash with my honey oak trim? Not necessarily. The hickory we installed here coordinates well with the traditional honey oak window and door trim that's so common in Minnesota homes, so the homeowner got a fresh floor without replacing the trim. Choosing a species and finish that works with your existing woodwork is something our floor captains help you sort out with samples in hand. Why does subfloor prep matter when replacing multiple floor coverings? Different products require different subfloors, so a home with vinyl in one room and tile in another usually has subfloors built at different heights. To run one continuous hardwood floor, everything has to come to a single plane first — which can mean new subfloor in some areas and prep work in others. Skipping that step shows up later as uneven boards, movement, and finish wear.