Timeline is the second most common question after cost, and "a few days" isn't a useful answer when you're planning around it. Here's the real, stage-by-stage timeline.
Acclimation: the step that happens before installation even starts
Wood needs to sit in your home for 3–5 days before installation to settle at the humidity it will actually live in — skip this and floors risk gapping or cupping within the first year. This stage doesn't look like progress, but it's the reason our floors don't need emergency repairs six months later.
Installation itself
Once acclimated, installation for an average-sized room typically takes 1–3 days depending on square footage, layout complexity, and whether stairs are part of the project — stairs take meaningfully longer per square foot than open floor because each step is essentially its own small installation.
Sanding and finishing, if solid hardwood
Solid hardwood finished on-site adds sanding and multiple coats of finish, each needing dry time between coats — this stage typically adds 2–4 days beyond the installation itself. Engineered and pre-finished hardwood skip this stage entirely, which is part of why they're often faster overall even when the installation day itself is similar.
Cure time before normal life resumes
Even after the last coat looks dry, a finish needs longer to fully cure before furniture, rugs, and heavy foot traffic return — walking in socks is usually fine within a day, but we'll give you a specific timeline for furniture and rugs based on the finish used.
What can extend the timeline
A few things reliably add days to the estimate above: high humidity slowing finish dry time, subfloor repair discovered once old flooring comes up, special-order species or plank widths with longer lead times, and multiple rooms or stairs adding to both the installation and finishing stages. None of these are unusual — they're exactly why we walk your specific home before giving a timeline instead of quoting one over the phone.
A realistic total for a typical project
For a roughly 1,000 sq ft solid hardwood project: 3–5 days acclimation, 2–3 days installation, 2–4 days sanding and finishing — call it 7–12 days start to finish for solid hardwood done right. Engineered or LVP projects of the same size typically run 2–4 days total since they skip acclimation and on-site finishing. We'll give you an exact timeline specific to your project and square footage during your free in-home quote — see our hardwood flooring page for more on the installation process itself.
