Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - How to become a flooring contractor?

I was thinking of doing flooring installation as a side business on the weekends. Does anyone know how to get into this? Does one need to get a contractor's license? Or perhaps it depends on the type of flooring one would specialize in (e.g. wood vs glueless laminates)?

What are some effective ways to market one's services? In the local paper? On a contractor website? Which one? Working with a flooring retailer?

What rates can an independent contractor get? I've read that installation fees run anywhere from $1 to $4/sq ft.

Also, for you experienced floor layers, I was wondering how long it takes you to do a room, for example a 500 sq ft room. After working on two houses so far,, I think I'd be able to do a 500 sf room in one day (maybe 10 hours), including the underlay (assuming I'm installing glueless laminate flooring). Is that reasonable?

Thanks for any advice.

I suggest if your going to take up the trade, even part time, it is best to take some certification classes, to really learn right from wrong. You would hate to eat your labor, along with buying the customer new flooring, to boot. Even salt & pepper doesn't make it taste better. :wall:


Take some small business classes! This is where most contractors fail. They don't know what it takes to run a business, and do work for the same weekly wage as they were doing it as an employee. The end up in the poor house!!!

I won't touch a laminate install for less then $2.10 a sq.ft.