How We Rank Flooring Companies

Key facts

Region	Sacramento
Flooring businesses checked	311
Companies ranked	124
Not ranked, each with its reason	83
Google and Yelp reviews read	3,539
Companies emailed as a homeowner	106
Real prices received	25
Last update	Oct 23, 2026

The four parts of the score

Each part has a fixed maximum, and every company page shows all four numbers next to the total, so you can see where a score comes from. Only companies with an active CSLB license we could match are ranked.

Mystery shop · up to 40 points

We email each company as a homeowner and ask for a price for a real project: the floor type, the area and what has to come out first. A reply gets 10 points. A real price gets 16, or 8 when it covers only labor or only material on an installation job. A reply within 4 hours gets 7 more (4 within a day), and a named product or a written warranty gets 7. A company gets 0 here until it answers; so far 25 of the 106 companies we emailed sent a real price. Euro Flooring scores 40/40.

Reviews · up to 35 points

We read the Google and Yelp reviews ourselves and mark the ones that complain about the work: one or two stars, or a complaint about the installation. That share gives up to 15 points, and reviews from the last two years count double, so an old reputation can't carry a company that works badly today. The share of 4 and 5 star reviews from the last two years gives up to 10. The combined star rating gives the last 10, and it barely moves with the number of reviews: 30 reviews or 400 at the same rating score the same. Floor Coverings International scores 33/35.

License · up to 15 points

From CSLB records: an active license with the C-15 flooring class gets 10 (7 for a general B or C-54 tile license), and workers' compensation on file gets 5. How long the license has been held earns nothing: a company licensed in 1970 and one licensed in 2020 score the same here.

Offer · up to 10 points

What a company publishes about its own install crew, a written installation warranty, a showroom, samples to your home, a free measure, financing and published prices. Decorz Flooring Kitchen & Bath scores 8/10.

What earns no points

Years in business. An old company is not a better installer by default, and on Reddit and in the reviews we read, homeowners judge the crew that shows up, not the founding year. We still show the license year on every profile as a fact.

The number of reviews. Review counts grow with age and size, and stars can be bought. We read the reviews instead and count what they say about the work.

The cap for poor work

If one review in five complains about the work (recent reviews counting double), or the combined Google and Yelp rating is under 4.0, the total is held at 45 whatever the other parts add up to. A fast reply or a big showroom can't make up for floors that fail. 11 ranked companies are held at 45 right now, and each profile says why.

Why stars alone are not enough

13 companies rate at least one star lower on Yelp than on Google, and 45% of companies get mixed or negative reviews on communication, the most criticized part of the job. A star average hides who answers a quote request, who holds a current license and what customers complain about, so we check those directly.

How we pick "Best for"

The home page names one company for each of nine needs: value, hardwood, LVP, laminate, fewest complaints, fastest real quote, an all-in quote, the lowest labor rate, and showroom and samples. Each pick goes to the leader by its own measure among the top 30 companies, so one company can lead more than one. A company held at 45 for complaints or a low rating gets no pick.

Rankings by flooring type

The hardwood, LVP, laminate and carpet pages use a score for that floor: Price 35 (the quote we got for that floor, full points for an installed price), Reviews 30 (reviews about work with that floor), Offer 20 and Trust 15. Companies that sent us a price for that floor come first; the rest follow in the same list.

Who we do not rank

We rank only companies with an active CSLB license we could match, and not companies that install only through a big-box store. 83 companies are not ranked, and each profile shows the reason. 6 of the businesses we checked have a suspended license, bond or workers' comp.

How a company gets ranked

1. We list it

   We collect flooring businesses in the Sacramento region from Google Places and Yelp listings.

2. We match its license

   We look it up in CSLB records by name and number. No match, no rank: the company goes on the not-ranked list with its reason.

3. We read its reviews

   Google and Yelp, one by one: the floor, the kind of job, six parts of the job and whether it complains about the work.

4. We email it as a homeowner

   A real project with the floor type and area. We record how fast it replies and whether the reply has a real price.

5. We check what it publishes

   Warranty, crew, showroom and samples on its own site and listings.

6. We add up the parts

   The four parts make the score out of 100, the cap applies to poor work, and companies are ranked by that score. We update the ranking every month.

No company pays to be listed or to change its position.

Questions about the ranking

How is the score calculated?

Four parts add up to 100: Mystery shop (40 points, how the company answered our quote request by email), Reviews (35, complaints about the work and the last two years in the Google and Yelp reviews we read), License (15, from CSLB records) and Offer (10, what it publishes about warranty, crew and showroom). Years in business and the number of reviews earn no points. A company where one review in five complains about the work, or rated under 4.0, scores 45 at most.

Why are some companies not ranked?

We rank only companies with an active CSLB license we could match. 83 companies are not ranked, and each profile shows the reason, for example: "We could not match a CSLB license; it may be listed under another name."