Empire Carpet - $15 / sq ft for laminate floor

Yeah, don't budge for that gotta do it now thing. The planet is chocked full of flooring places, it's very much worth shopping around for.$15.00 a sq. ft. For laminate is beyond ridiculous. Most real woods are much cheaper, and tile too. Joke. 4951

I had measured and re-measured last night.  But it was funny when she was trying to not tell me the square footage or price per sq. foot, then she slipped and revealed it.It was the old hit them with an outrageously high price, then give them the super high price and tell them they have to do it now. 4951

Empire was big in the Midwest when I lived there 25 years ago....  The thing I found about them was you DON'T get what you pay for.  Seems like use the cheapest materials availalbe with the highest price and their advetised "specials" never apply. 4951

Also, check out Lowes and Home Depot online. You can get real wood and some good pricing. I would bet the same for laminate is possible as well. Sometimes you even get free shipping and that stuff is heavy!!Anyplace that orders high volumes is most likely going to be cheaper but all these places have sales so you just have to shop around, and you learn so much doing it too. Win/win for you! 4951

Lumber Liquidators and Build Direct have excellent prices.  The Empire lady said that the "cheaper" floors only last 3 months.  Yet some of these $2 per square foot or even $1 per square foot (12 mm and underpad attached) have 25year, 30 year and even lifetime warranties. 4951

fcabanski
if you buy from lumber liquidators, who installs?  what's the going price just for installation if you buy the flooring, padding, etc? 4951

"if
you buy from lumber liquidators, who installs?  what's the going price
just for installation if you buy the flooring, padding, etc?"LL shows the price of installation up to $2 per square foot.  The flooring I looked at there has underpad already applied.  But even top quality underpad is less than $1 per square foot.  Medium quality underpad is about 6 cents per square foot.  The molding and transition molding is under 50 cents per linear foot (I need about 12 feet of molding)Someone sent me a PM for a contractor who is doing a 900 sq. foot laminate install for $2400 including molding.  The flooring for that install is 12mm, with already attached underpad, and a 25 year warranty. 4951

@fcabanskiOk, thanks.  We found some flooring at floor and decor and it was around $2/sq ft (no padding).  If you find someone else, please PM me.
 
Was curious on the install price.  Hubby and my dad could do it, but again it's about time...and the older I get, the more I just want something done with less fuss! 4951

We are also shopping around for the same. Feel free to send any PM's my way with recommendations on contractors! Thanks! 4951

PM's sent, and yea, like FC stated, they gave us a great deal, we're having it installed the Monday before Thanksgiving, I'll let ya'll know how the install goes, a client of mine used them and said they do great work. 4951

Lowes has a 99 cent psf install on pergo laminate which is half off.  We just had a bunch of flooring done and its awesome. 4951

See?  Installing the flooring is like snapping together legos.  It isn't hard to install. 4951

I went to Yelp to review Empire Today.  There were only 7 other reviews there, but the story was the same, right down to the call to the "boss" and the miraculous deals the sales person convinced the boss to offer.There was one about the quality of the Empire flooring and the quality of their warranty.  Seems you don't get much for five times the going rate."On August 17, 2007 we purchased carpet and laminate wood flooring for
our entire house at a cost of approximated $5,200.00 from Empire Today.
Job # JN03316-525636. This product came with a 20-25 year warranty
against defects. I say 20-25 years because no one at E.T. seems to be
able to tell me exactly which it is for my particular floor. Around
March, 2011 I began noticing some fading and peeling along the edges of
some of the planks that got progressively worse over time. In July, 2012
I contacted E.T. and requested what kind of warranty came with our
floors. No one was able to tell me specifically but instead suggested
that I research it online. They sent one of their inspectors (Turk Boyd)
to look at the problem. Mr. Boyd was not able to tell me what kind of
warranty came with my product either and also suggested that I research
it online. Mr. Boyd stated that our particular laminate flooring had
been discontinued and more or less indicated that it wasn't that big of
deal. When the issue was further pressed, they sent out a third party
inspector (Superior Flooring Inspection Professions). In the end this
inspector stated in his report that the condition was caused by my
vacuum cleaner scraping against the floor when it is in the UPRIGHT
position. Be aware that this inspector asked to see my vacuum (which has
a setting for BOTH carpet AND bare floors) but he failed to plug it in
and roll it across the floor as in normal use. The vacuum will adjust
its level according to which setting you use (carpet OR bare floors).
However, he also noted that the peeling/fading is occurring in the
common living areas.  Based on this inspectors report, E.T. is refusing
to honor their warranty. Let me add that I vacuum my floors every single
day and the areas in the bathrooms and hallways are holding up very
well and does not have the fading and peeling that the primary living
area does. Therefore, this would indicate that the problem is NOT caused
by the vacuum cleaner as those areas would be affected as well. I feel
that their product is not as durable as they state it is, which would
explain the fading and peeling in the most lived areas of the house.
When I contacted E.T. to dispute the inspectors findings, E.T. agreed to
locate some leftover materials that match our current floors (because
they have been discontinued) and they would have an installer come and
replace the affected planks at OUR out of pocket expense. I refused to
accept this due to the fact that that we spent over $5,000 on this floor
with the understanding that it would hold up and was warrantied against
defects for 20-25 years. I cannot nor do I expect to PAY for additional
materials and installation when the company's product did not hold up
as expected. Also, I am nervous about having new planks mixed in with
the older existing planks because of the possible difference in shine
and coloration. Had we known their product would NOT hold up and most
importantly, that they would NOT honor their warranty, we NEVER would
have dealt with this company. Since the floors have been installed, I
have always taken very good care of my floors to avoid damage to them in
any way. So I was quite surprised when they began peeling and fading
around the edges." 4951

Empire has thousands of negative reports on ripoff report. Com. I use ripoff report to research a lot. Great free tool!!! 4951

I used Carpet Giant to install my laminate flooring.  I used Armstrong Flooring, i think i was like $5-$6  per square foot installed.  I was satisfied with their work on the laminate.Now Carpet Giant installed some tile, a different crew, and they did a terrible job.  My sister in Kingwood used Lakeside Flooring for laminate.  They gave her the cheapest price around and she was very satisfied with the install and her flooring. 4951