Aggregate Construction Group installs flooring throughout Los Angeles County, in single family houses, condominiums, and apartment buildings. Flooring is the trade homeowners assume is simple and it produces more callbacks than almost anything else in a remodel, because the material almost never fails on its own. It fails because of what was underneath it and nobody checked.
Los Angeles housing splits neatly into two conditions that fail in opposite ways. Post-war houses across the Valley sit on slab on grade, where moisture vapor moving up through concrete is the single most common cause of cupped wood and lifted plank. Older houses on the Westside and in the pre-war neighborhoods sit on raised foundations with board subfloors that have settled out of plane over eighty years. We test and measure for the right one before we quote, on jobs in Tarzana and out through Long Beach alike.
The Flooring We Install
We install solid and engineered hardwood, luxury vinyl plank and rigid core products, porcelain and ceramic tile, natural stone, laminate, and carpet, along with stair treads, risers, nosings, and transitions. Engineered hardwood is usually the right answer over a slab where solid wood is not, because the layered construction moves far less with humidity. Rigid core vinyl handles rental turns and wet areas where a fully waterproof surface earns its keep. Porcelain has largely replaced natural stone in bathrooms because it takes no sealing and does not etch. Where flooring meets custom stair parts or built-ins, our carpentry shop makes the pieces so the profiles match instead of nearly matching.
Slab Moisture, Flatness, and the Preparation Nobody Sees
Manufacturer warranties on wood and resilient flooring are conditional on substrate testing, and skipping it is what voids them. On concrete we run in-situ relative humidity probes under ASTM F2170, and where a moisture condition shows up we specify a moisture mitigation membrane rather than hoping the underlayment absorbs the problem. Flatness matters just as much, since most manufacturers require the slab to fall inside a stated tolerance over a ten foot span, and long plank telegraphs every dip. Self-leveling compound fixes that before installation, not after. On raised foundations we check for deflection, add blocking or a second subfloor layer where the boards move, and address the crawlspace moisture source before closing it in. Wood also has to acclimate on site, which is scheduled time rather than optional time. Painting is done before flooring goes in where both are in scope, which is the sequence we follow on interior painting projects.
Sound Ratings and HOA Rules in Los Angeles Condominiums
Replacing carpet with hard flooring in a condominium is a code question, not a taste question. The Los Angeles Building Code requires floor-ceiling assemblies separating dwelling units to meet an impact insulation class rating of 50 based on laboratory testing, with a field rating of 45 on individual jobs. The part owners miss is that the floor covering itself counts toward that rating, and once it does, it has to stay part of the assembly permanently and can only be replaced by another covering that provides the same impact sound insulation. Pulling out carpet that was carrying the rating and putting down plank on a thin underlayment can put the unit out of compliance and put the owner in front of the association. Most HOAs also run their own submittal process with a required underlayment specification. We build to the rating and give you the product documentation the board will ask for.
Asbestos Under Existing Floor Covering in Older Buildings
Old resilient flooring is a regulated material, not just an ugly one. South Coast AQMD Rule 1403 specifically defines resilient floor covering, including asphalt and vinyl floor tile and sheet vinyl, as asbestos containing when it exceeds one percent, and the rule requires a survey before demolition or renovation disturbs it. The black cutback adhesive under old tile is a frequent finding on its own. This comes up constantly in mid-century Los Angeles houses and in apartment buildings, and it is the reason a straightforward floor replacement occasionally turns into an abatement scope. We survey before demolition on older properties rather than after, the same practice we follow on our apartment renovation projects.
Hiring a Flooring Contrflooring installation Los Angelesactor in Los Angeles
Aggregate Construction Group holds California contractor license number 1034714 and carries general liability and workers compensation coverage. Flooring is quoted with the substrate preparation itemized separately from the material and the labor, because a bid that only prices square footage is a bid that has not looked at the slab. Request a walkthrough and we will confirm scope, timeline, and next steps within one business day.