Luxury Vinyl Plank in Bellaire, TX

Start with the numbers, because Bellaire's housing story is in them. William Wright Baldwin founded the town in 1908 on part of William Marsh Rice's ranch, and the eastern 1,000 acres were cut into small truck farms called Westmoreland Farms. Bellaire incorporated in 1918, which is why Houston grew all the way around it without swallowing it. The population peaked at 19,872 in 1960, when the city was full of modest post-war houses; much of the original stock was three-bedroom, one-bath homes, and Southdale was built in the late 1940s with two-bedroom houses marketed to returning veterans. By 2020 the population was 17,202, fewer people living in much bigger houses. Between 1986 and 2006 the average home price went from $75,000 to $500,000, and developers tore down post-war homes one lot at a time to build new ones.

Then came Harvey. In August 2017, 1,936 of Bellaire's 6,688 homes flooded, about 29% of the city. Of those, 1,039 were built before 1980. After the storm some owners rebuilt from scratch with new homes designed to sit above flood levels, and others raised existing houses six feet or more on concrete piers. Permit activity in early 2018 ran well ahead of the year before.

So when we walk into a Bellaire house, the first question is which of three houses it is.

The original post-war house, still on its slab. These are the homes most exposed to water, and many have been through more than one flood or more than one remodel. Expect layers: old tile over older vinyl, adhesive, patched concrete. We take it all up, check the slab for moisture and flatness, and prep it properly. On the ground floor of a home like this, waterproof luxury vinyl plank or porcelain tile is the honest recommendation. If you love wood, engineered hardwood is the version built for a slab, but we will tell you plainly where the risk sits.

The raised house. A home lifted onto piers is no longer sitting on the ground, and its floor system is different from what it was. We look at what is underneath before choosing a product and an installation method, and in some cases that opens up options that do not make sense on a slab.

The new build. Bellaire's newer two-story homes are built higher, and owners usually want a floor that matches the investment: engineered hardwood in wide planks through the main level, tile in the baths and laundry, carpet or wood upstairs. A common request is matching wood across both floors so the staircase does not mark a change in material. We also do the stair treads, nosing and trim, so the finish carpentry matches the floor.

Across all three, the same rules apply. Houston-area clay soaks up water and swells, then shrinks, and slabs move with it, so tile goes over a crack isolation membrane. Gulf Coast humidity means wood and laminate acclimate in the house before installation. And on any slab we test for moisture before anything wood-based goes down.

One honest note. Some Bellaire homes still have older wood floors that an owner would like brought back to life. We're an installation company, so we don't resurface existing floors. We install new ones, and we do it well.

We don't make you come to us. We bring samples to your house in Bellaire, look at them against your cabinets and your light, and measure for a free in-home estimate, with no sales pressure.