Floor Demolition & Prep

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Old Floor Removal and Subfloor Prep in Greater St. Louis

Tear-out, haul-away, and subfloor leveling - the prep work that makes every new floor in Greater St. Louis look (and stay) perfectly flat.

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Tear-out and prep across Greater St. Louis

A new floor copies whatever is under it. A hump in a subfloor turns into a hollow spot under vinyl plank. A soft sheet of plywood turns into a squeak by the second winter. A slab that is still giving off moisture turns into a failed glue line. Veteran Flooring handles the part that comes first: tearing out the old floor, hauling it off, checking the deck for rot and water, and flattening what is left so the new material has something honest to sit on.

We pull glued tile, nailed hardwood, floating laminate, bonded sheet vinyl and tacked-down carpet, and we show up with the tools each one takes - chipping hammers, a ride-on scraper for slabs, HEPA vacuums, and self-leveler when the floor calls for it. New construction in St. Charles County usually sits on slab, while city homes and mid-county ranches sit on joists over a basement. Those are two different demos. Our St. Peters service page goes further into the slab side.

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Tear-out and prep across Greater St. Louis

What every demo and prep job includes

We quote a fixed scope so nothing gets renegotiated with a chipping hammer running in the next room. Every job carries the same baseline, and anything unusual we uncover once the old floor is up gets photographed, priced and shown to you before we keep going. That is the point where most homeowners have been burned before, so we would rather spend ten minutes on the phone than surprise you with a change order at the end of the week.

Removal of the existing floor, whatever it is - carpet, tile, hardwood, vinyl or laminate
Plastic containment and HEPA vacuums on every dust-making tool
Haul-away and disposal of the old material, pad and tack strip
Subfloor inspection for rot, soft spots, movement and past water
Moisture readings on wood and on concrete before anything new goes down
Self-leveling underlayment across the high and low spots
A swept, photographed floor the installation crew can start on

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Financing Through Hearth And Synchrony*

*Subject to credit approval. Applying takes a few minutes and does not commit you to a project. Ask about our veteran and first responder discounts when you schedule.

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Keeping the dust in the room it belongs in

Old thinset, tile and cutback adhesive throw silica dust, and in houses built before 1990 the vinyl tile and the mastic under it can contain asbestos. We seal the work area with plastic, run air scrubbers, vacuum at the source and wear the right protection. If a material looks like it needs testing, we stop and have it tested rather than grinding it into the air of somebody's house. We have worked this way since 2015, and you can read more about how our crew operates if you want the longer version.

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Keeping the dust in the room it belongs in

Flat matters more than most people are told

Manufacturers spell out a flatness tolerance in their instructions and then deny warranty claims when it gets ignored. Go more than an eighth of an inch out over six feet and vinyl plank joints start separating, laminate clicks pop underfoot, and tile cracks along the ridge. We level to whatever the product actually calls for, screw down anything that moves, and cut out deck material that is too far gone to save. It is the cheapest part of a floor to do right and by far the most expensive one to skip.

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Flat matters more than most people are told

Demolition and prep pricing in Greater St. Louis

Priced per square foot with labor and materials in. Most jobs get one flat number after a walk-through, and this work is often folded into the installed price of the new floor.

Option	Typical price	Notes
Carpet, laminate or floating floor tear-out	$1.25 - $2 / sq ft	Haul-away included
Glue-down vinyl and sheet goods	$2 - $3.50 / sq ft	The adhesive residue is what takes the time
Tile and thinset over a wood subfloor	$3 - $5 / sq ft	Hand chipping in older city homes and ranches
Tile and thinset over a concrete slab	$3.50 - $6.50 / sq ft	Ride-on scraper on the larger areas
Self-leveling underlayment	$2.50 - $4.50 / sq ft	Only across the areas that need it

Pre-1990 flooring that tests positive for asbestos goes to a licensed abatement contractor. We coordinate that and pick our work back up once the area is cleared, but we do not perform abatement in-house.

Floor Demolition & Prep - frequently asked questions

Yes. Removal, loading and disposal are all in the demo price, including carpet pad, tack strip and broken tile. There is no dumpster parked in your driveway for a week and no pile at the curb waiting on bulk pickup day. If we run into material that needs special handling, you hear about it before any of it goes in the truck.

Much less than a typical tear-out, though nobody honest promises zero. Plastic walls at the doorways, HEPA vacuums attached to the tools, air scrubbers running through the day, and gear changed at the containment line. Kitchens and bedrooms next to a tile demo stay usable. We also vacuum and wipe down the surrounding rooms before we leave each afternoon.

We check it during the estimate with a straightedge and a level instead of guessing. Plenty of floors are already inside tolerance and need nothing at all. If yours is out, leveling appears as its own line on the quote so the cost is visible up front. Prep work qualifies under our financing options as well, which helps when a tear-out turns up more than expected.

It turns up more often than people expect, especially in basements and around exterior doors. We stop, photograph what we found, and walk you through it. Small areas of rotted decking we cut out and replace ourselves. Mold belongs to another trade, so we bring them in, wait for the area to be cleared and dried, then finish prep and keep the job moving.

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From the first call to the final sweep

Working with Veteran Flooring

Tell us what you have

Call {{phone}} or send us the rooms and square footage. We will set a time at your place, or you can stop by the showroom.

Measure and quote

Erik measures, checks the subfloor, and writes one price for the whole project, back to you within one business day.

Install with the owner on site

We protect the house, prep the subfloor, and lay the floor. {{ownername}} is there while the work happens.

Walk it and stand behind it

We clean up, walk every room with you, and back our labor for a full year on top of the manufacturer warranty.

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Happy homeowners in their living room with new flooring

Reviews

4.9 stars from 88 Google reviews, written by homeowners across Greater St. Louis.

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Flooring estimator measuring a room for a new floor

Free estimate

We measure the space and get one written price back to you within one business day.

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Professional flooring installer laying new plank flooring

Services

Installation, hardwood refinishing, repair, tear-out and subfloor prep, for homes and commercial spaces.

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What we stand for

What we hold ourselves to

The owner on site Dale Wyatt is on your job while the work happens. Questions about a transition, a stain color, or what we found under the old carpet get answered by the person accountable for the floor.

One honest number Erik measures the rooms and checks the subfloor before he quotes, so the written price covers the whole project. It does not grow halfway through the install.

Certified craft We are certified by the National Wood Flooring Association, bonded and insured, and our team carries more than 80 years of combined experience in this trade.

You hear from us You get a schedule, progress photos while the crew works, and a straight answer the day something under the old floor changes the plan.

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Craftsman carefully installing quality hardwood flooring

Take a peek

See it in a real room

Browse hardwood, refinished oak, luxury vinyl and tile we have installed in {{areaName}} homes, then bring your favorites by the showroom.

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Right around the corner

Serving families across Greater St. Louis

We work out of Maryland Heights and cover the city, mid-county, and St. Charles County: century-old brick two-flats, postwar ranches, and new builds alike. One hallway or the whole house, we will come look at it and give you a straight price.

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We are a veteran-owned flooring company that has worked in Greater St. Louis since 2015, and Dale Wyatt is personally on site for the projects we take on. Our team carries more than 80 years of combined experience, we are NWFA certified, SBA-verified as a Veteran-Owned Small Business, BBB members, bonded and insured. You can also come look at samples in person at our showroom in Maryland Heights.

Estimates are free and we get the written quote back to you within one business day. Erik handles the measuring: he walks the rooms, checks the subfloor, and prices transitions and stairs so the number covers the whole job. Ask about our veteran discount and first responder discount when you schedule. They cannot be combined with other offers.

Usually, yes. A lot of St. Louis brick homes and mid-county ranches have red or white oak strip flooring sitting under old carpet. We pull up a corner, see how much wood is left above the nails, and sand with dust containment equipment. Before we commit to a color we test stains on your own floor, because oak in your light does not look like a sample in our showroom.

We do. We finance through Hearth and Synchrony, and you can apply before you pick a material so you know your budget while you shop. The application takes a few minutes and approval does not obligate you to anything. Call (314) 897-4383 and we will send you the link.

Our labor comes with a one-year workmanship warranty, and the flooring itself carries the manufacturer warranty that comes with the product you choose. If something is not sitting right, call the office or email veteranflooringstl@gmail.com and we will come look at it. Coming back to make it right is part of the job, not a favor.

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