Flooring Installation in Middletown, NJ

Middletown is the product of one very specific building boom. Its population more than tripled between 1950 and 1970, reaching 54,623, and the Garden State Parkway, which opened to traffic in 1954, was one of the forces behind that growth. That postwar growth shaped much of the housing you see in the township today.

That matters for flooring because construction from the 1950s through the 1970s often follows a recognizable pattern: plank or early plywood subfloor over dimensional joists, a crawlspace or full basement underneath rather than a slab, and, in many homes, an original oak strip floor that was covered with carpet at some point. Pulling that carpet up can be one of the less expensive flooring decisions a homeowner makes — if the boards underneath have the thickness left, a sand and refinish usually costs less than new flooring.

Split-levels and raised ranches, where they occur, bring their own detail: several floor planes at different heights, which means transitions, and stair runs connecting them. Those are hand-worked, and they are priced separately from the flat floor area — see our breakdown of stair refinishing cost per tread.

In the communities along the bay, some homes began as summer bungalows that were later converted to year-round dwellings. Framing and subfloors in those homes can differ from a 1960s tract house. That is workable, but it needs checking before anyone quotes a price.