The cheapest bid is usually the one that excluded the most. Enter what each contractor quoted and what it covers, and this puts all of them on the same footing.
Everything below is priced from the same figures used in the cost guide, so the adjustments are consistent with the rest of the site.
Used to check the quoted price against the normal installed range for that material. A bid well under the range usually means an entry-grade product, a thin wear layer or veneer, or labor trimmed somewhere you cannot see.
Drop in a screenshot of each quote and the page reads it for you. Anything the quote does not say in writing counts as excluded — that is the entire point of the exercise, so check what the scan found before trusting it.
A quote that excludes demolition is not cheaper — it just moves that cost to a second invoice, or to your weekend. The adjusted total adds a fair market estimate for everything a quote leaves out, so the comparison is between finished floors rather than between pieces of paper.
The figures used to fill gaps are national mid-range rates. Your market may run 20 to 40 percent either side. The purpose is to expose the size of a gap, not to tell a contractor what to charge. Take the flags back to them and ask.
Three bids on identical scope usually land within about 15 percent of each other. When one is far below the others, the usual explanation is not generosity — it is a shorter list of inclusions, a thinner product, or an assumption that the subfloor is perfect.
"Turnkey" and "complete installation" are not scope. The items on this page are the ones that get added later, and a contractor who has genuinely allowed for them will have no difficulty putting them in writing.
At minimum: material with the specific product named, installation labor, demolition and disposal of the existing floor, subfloor preparation, underlayment or pad, and how baseboard is handled. Over concrete it should also state moisture testing. Stairs are priced per step, and furniture moving, appliance disconnection and toilet pulls are separate line items on most quotes.
Almost always because they are not quotes on the same job. Bids on genuinely identical scope usually land within about 15 percent of each other. A much lower number normally means a shorter list of inclusions, a thinner wear layer or veneer, or an assumption that the subfloor needs no work. Compare the exclusion lists before comparing the totals.
Not automatically, but it deserves scrutiny. The common pattern is not a contractor working for less — it is a contractor who has left demolition, subfloor prep or trim out of the number, so the difference reappears later as a change order. Price the missing items and compare finished floors rather than pieces of paper.
Whether the slab has been moisture tested, and to what standard. In-situ relative humidity testing to ASTM F2170 is the accepted method. Installing over an untested slab is the most common cause of adhesive failure, cupping and delamination, and moisture damage is excluded from essentially every manufacturer warranty — so the cost lands on you.
It should say one way or the other. Many quotes assume the room is empty on the day, which is fine if you know that in advance and a problem if you do not. The same applies to disconnecting appliances and pulling toilets, both of which are commonly excluded and both of which have to happen before the floor can go down.