Flooring contractors quote replacement because replacement is what they sell. A general contractor can open the floor, fix what is actually wrong underneath, and put the surface back - which in most Los Angeles homes is a fraction of the cost.
A squeak is movement between the subfloor and a joist, or between two layers of subfloor. Bounce is a joist that is undersized, over-spanned, cut for a pipe, or missing its blocking. Neither one is caused by the wood you can see. We locate the joists, fasten the subfloor properly, add blocking or sistering where the framing is deficient, and shim the gaps - working from below where there is a crawl space, and through the surface with proper repair and refinishing where there is not.
A soft area near a bathroom, dishwasher, refrigerator, laundry or exterior door is almost always long-term water. We open it, find the source, replace the compromised subfloor and joist material, and rebuild. Painting over a stain or laying new flooring over a wet subfloor guarantees a repeat visit within two years.
Individual damaged hardwood boards can be cut out and woven in, then stained and finished to blend. Buckled or gapped hardwood usually indicates a moisture problem, and once that is corrected some floors relax back. Failed laminate and vinyl plank sections can often be lifted and replaced if you have leftover material - keep your offcuts, they are worth money. Loose or hollow-sounding tile gets injection-bonded or reset. Cracked grout gets removed and replaced.
If you are about to install luxury vinyl plank, large-format tile or engineered wood, the flatness tolerance of the subfloor is what will make or break the result. We grind high spots and use self-levelling compound to bring the floor into tolerance. Skipping this is the reason planks separate and large tiles show lippage.
We will always tell you honestly when a floor is beyond repair and replacement is the better value - but we will show you the reason rather than just quoting the bigger number.
Usually yes. With crawl space access we do it entirely from below and never touch the finished surface. Without access we fasten from above into the joists, then countersink, fill and finish - visible only if you know exactly where to look, and invisible on carpet.
Treat it as urgent. Soft means the subfloor has lost structural integrity, which means water has been present for a long time, which means there may be rot or mould in the framing and possibly a live leak. It gets worse and more expensive every month.
We can replace and blend individual boards and spot-finish them, and on many floors the result is very good. On a floor with heavy sun fading or an unusual finish, a blended patch will be noticeable and the honest answer is that the room needs refinishing. We will tell you which case you are in before we start.
Often. Separation usually means the floor was installed with no expansion gap at the walls, or moisture got underneath. We relieve the perimeter, replace damaged planks and reclose the joints. If the core boards have swollen with water they must be replaced - swollen laminate does not recover.
If you are installing large-format tile, luxury vinyl plank or engineered wood, almost certainly yes. Manufacturers specify a flatness tolerance and most older Los Angeles floors do not meet it out of the box. Installers who skip this step are the reason floors fail early - and it voids most warranties.
