You're not looking at the right thing. Look at the total bottom line for each quote. Each place will have different fees for moving furniture, the quantity of furniture that they will move for that fee, additional fees for oversize objects, ripping out the quarter round, replacing the quarter round, possibly finishing the quarter round, disposal fees etc.. All of that adds up to a different bottom line total when you are comparing apples to apples. Make sure no one is forgetting any one of those items. Then check to see if they are licensed and insured, and actually insured rather than carry around a 2 year old raggedy card. If they damage your home, going cheap will NOT be worth it to you.

The numbers I gave are the bottom line divided by square feet. No one has had any separate items for moving furniture, quantity, size, taking out quarter round, disposal, etc. - they just list supplies and labor and that includes all of the same things (tear-up, haul-away, moving, etc). The only difference was the installation warranty.

With that said, knowing that the values I gave are for the same quantity of work and the same products, what would lead to the big price differences? Can some places really get the supplies a lot cheaper than others? Or do they have less skilled workers who they can then pay less?

And how do you check if they're licensed and insured? Just ask them? Or is there an independent source I can go to to verify?

Thanks!

This is the same problem I had when looking for carpet. I had to actually sit down and write columns for the various expenses to see which was better deal. It was hard to compare installers because everyone that came out to do measurements stated they were from a carpet company. I ended up going with Lowes d/t saving almost $800 dollars and they had the 18 month interest free promotion. They did a go job.