When Is The Best Time to Buy Flooring in the Year? - Detailed Floor Buying Guide

But they can be almost outrageously expensive in others. Considering how pricey a home renovation or even new construction can be, you’re probably up to saving some money.

In this guide, we’ll show you exactly when the best time to buy flooring is so that you can plan ahead accordingly.

What Is the Best Time of Year to Buy Flooring?
 

December - January

When is the best time to buy flooring?

Generally speaking, you will find a lot of beautiful floorings on sale from late December to January!

During the winter months, stores will try to quickly empty their old inventories to make way for new stocks. To do that, they have to offer steep clearance sales (15% to 30%, depending on the model). Take advantage of these deals and snap up the most beautiful models that you see available.

You should also plan your home renovation or building around this timeframe to get access to cheap floor planks. Sure, it’s inconvenient since it’s right in the middle of winter. But the low price of the new floorings is worth the extra effort.

May - June

The second best time of year to buy flooring is around the middle of May to June. Many stores offer 30% discounts during this time. Keep tabs on your local stores (via their social media) and quickly head on over when they announce sales.

A great reason to buy during this season is that it’s still within the year, so most of the floorings available will still be in vogue. Unlike in winter or early summer seasons, where you will find many floorings already out of style. This is the best time to buy hardwood floors.

However, watch out for models that are marked lower than the rest. They may be cheap and seem like a steal, but stores don’t just drastically mark down models for no reason. They may already be out of style, or they may have poor construction. You should avoid these models if possible.

You must be quick. This time of the year is peak renovation season. Many homeowners receive tax rebates at this time of the year, so it's the perfect time for people to go out and hunt for new floorings. Many people are probably eyeing the same floorings as you. Someone else may snap them up before you if you don't work quickly.

Another difficulty of buying new planks this season is that, if you're going to get them professionally installed, services can be a bit more challenging and expensive. As we mentioned earlier, the May - June period is the peak renovation season. Contractors are usually very busy and charge more for their services than at other times of the year.

Worst Times of the Year to Buy New Flooring

Pricing is usually higher around early Fall (August to November). New stocks are harder to come by for stores during this time, so they need to push prices up. It’s very rare for clearance sales to occur during this season. It’s not impossible, however, so it’ll still be worth keeping an eye out.

You should also avoid holidays, too. During this time, a lot of people flock to stores to buy new floorings and renovate their homes. Try to buy floorings before or after the holidays.

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When Is the Best Time to Buy Hardwood Flooring?

Although early fall is generally considered a bad time to shop for new floor planks, it’s the best time to install them.

In the fall, the weather is usually mild, and humidity is at just the right level for an easy and fussless installation. Hardwood floors are susceptible to moisture. The planks can crack, warp, or experience cupping if the humidity level is too high or too low.

The same harmful effects also occur to hardwood floor planks when they are subjected to temperatures that are too low or too high, as well. Since fall is the transitioning period between the hot summer and cold winter seasons, the temperatures are cool (between 70°F and 80°F). This is the perfect temperature for hardwood adhesives to work.

Hence, buying and installing new hardwood floors this season means you don’t have to worry about any of the above. Additionally, your new planks' acclimatization period can be shorter.

When Does Flooring Go on Sale for Laminate and Vinyl Floorings?

Laminate and vinyl floorings are more popular than hardwood these days due to a variety of factors. They are cheaper, less vulnerable to the environment, and most importantly, they are just as beautiful as hardwood. The answer to this question mostly lies in the ability of these floorings to resist environmental stresses like moisture or temperature.

Unlike hardwood, these types of floors are less sensitive. So, you can buy and install them at any time of the year. They will still need to be acclimatized, of course, but you don’t need to wait for days or pick the perfect season. You only have to wait for around 48 hours before these planks are ready for use.

When to Install New Floors

Planning when to purchase new floorings is just one part of the equation. The next important decision that you have to make has to do with when to install your new floors. Similar to the price of new floorings that fluctuate throughout the years, if you want your floors to be professionally installed, then pricing will change from season to season, too.

Usually, contractors charge based on how in demand their services are. So, during holiday seasons or tax-break seasons in April and May, costs can be very expensive. That is if you managed to find a contractor who’s still available for hiring in the first place.

During slower seasons in the year like late December to January, costs are cheaper.

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The Four Seasons: What Is the Best Time to Install Your New Floors?

Let’s put the issue of contractors to the side and focus just on time for this section. Like we mentioned earlier, there are ideal (and non-ideal) time windows for installing new floors or renovating. Previously, we mentioned the best season to install new floors is in the fall. But what about the others?

Well, there’s nothing that’s stopping you from hammering out a new floor during the other times of the year. So long that your (or the contractor’s) building techniques are good and precautions are taken, even hardwood floors can be safely installed in the dead of winter.

In this section, we’ll explore some of the challenges that you will have to watch out for if you must install your floors in spring, summer, or winter.

Spring

Spring is a pretty symbolic season and installing a new wood floor can make for a great start to the new year. However, spring also presents its own issues. If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, spring is easily the rainiest season of all. That means a higher humidity level that makes your floorings more difficult to install. Particularly, they can cause your floor planks to swell and buckle.

Not to mention, temperatures can be quite cold, which means the boards are going to contract. If precautions aren’t taken, they can expand after they’re installed and warp.

Summer

Summer may sound like the perfect time for a home renovation or construction project. If you have kids, the time coincides with their vacations. So, you can set up a holiday somewhere else while the house is being fixed up. Or if you decide to take up the job yourself without professional help, if your kids are old enough, they can lend a hand, too.

But, according to our data, it’s one of the least ideal times to install a new floor for the same reason as above: humidity. Depending on where you live, summer may bring about a lot of rain. And with rain comes a high humidity level that’s going to affect your boards and cause them to warp or swell.

And as expected, summer’s temperature can be a problem, too. The hot temperature can cause the boards to expand. If you don’t account for the expansion, the boards will contract and leave hideous gaps on the floor later on once the temperature cools down.

Additionally, if the temperature indoor is over 80°F, floor adhesives are going to take a lot longer to solidify.

Winter

Winter may sound like the best time to install new floors for a lot of people. It’s right on the cusp of the holiday season when guests will come over. What better way to wow friends and families than with a brand new floor? It can be a great conversation starter over dinner.

But in actuality, the logistics behind installing new floors during winter are complicated. Complicated enough that some deem it to be the worst season to install a floor. This is because the weather is the driest. Not only the ambient humidity is dry, in houses that use furnaces or boilers to warm, but the humidity level indoors can also be even drier than usual.

Hardwood planks can crack from excessively low humidity. It’s pretty much similar to how your skin can harden and crack in the cold air. The dry air sucks out all of the moisture within the wood, leaving it dry and brittle. Cracked wood planks don’t just ruin your floors’ aesthetic, they will also lead to expensive repair bills in the long term.

The cold temperature of winter can also be problematic. Other than causing floor planks to contract and may swell up later. Additionally, cold weather will also cause floor adhesives to not bond correctly.

So, rather than planning for a winter renovation, it’s best that you do everything during the fall, if possible.

Conclusion

And that’s everything that you need to know about the best time to buy flooring! To recap, what is the best month to buy flooring? Well, there are two timeframes that you should anticipate if you plan to have a home renovation soon: from late December to January, or from May to June.

And if you’re going to install your new floors, the best time to do it is in the fall!