Flooring: fitting, replacing and restoring floors

Solid wood and parquet can be sanded and refinished many times, but they move with humidity and need care over underfloor heating. Engineered wood has a real timber top layer on a stable core; it copes better with heating and with changes in humidity, and the thicker the top layer, the more times it can be sanded. Laminate is a printed surface on a fibreboard core: hard-wearing and affordable, but it cannot be sanded and most types dislike standing water.

Vinyl comes as sheet, as luxury vinyl tiles or planks glued down, and as rigid click systems. It suits kitchens and bathrooms, but it needs a very smooth subfloor because every bump telegraphs through. Carpet remains the usual choice for bedrooms and stairs, and the underlay matters as much as the carpet for comfort, warmth and noise.

Floor sanding restores existing floorboards or old parquet. The sander takes off the old finish and a thin layer of timber, gaps can be filled or slivered, and the floor is then oiled or lacquered.

Before fitting anything, a good fitter checks the subfloor. Timber floors may need loose boards screwed down, damaged boards replaced, or a plywood overlay. Concrete floors and new screeds should be tested for moisture, because glue-down floors and wood react badly to residual damp. Uneven floors may need a levelling compound, which takes time to cure.

Solid and engineered wood usually needs time to acclimatise in the room before fitting. Doors often have to be trimmed, skirting boards removed or beading added, and thresholds between rooms of different heights need planning. These steps are where cheap quotes save time, and where problems start.

Many leases for flats restrict hard floors on upper storeys, require carpet in some rooms, or demand acoustic underlay approved by the freeholder. Replacing carpet with wood or laminate without consent is a common source of disputes with neighbours and freeholders. Read your lease and ask the managing agent before ordering.

In homes built before 2000, old vinyl floor tiles and the black bitumen adhesive under them may contain asbestos. HSE lists asbestos vinyl floor tiles, bitumen adhesive and paper-backed floor coverings among the materials to watch for, and grinding off asbestos flooring needs an HSE licensed contractor. A careful fitter lays over sound tiles where possible or has them tested before lifting them.

Source: hse.gov.uk

• the rooms and their approximate size, including stairs and landings
• the floor you want, or the choices you are weighing up
• what is there now and whether it must be lifted and removed
• the subfloor, if you know it: floorboards, chipboard, concrete
• underfloor heating, and whether it is water or electric
• for flats: any lease rules on flooring or underlay
• for offices or shops: whether work must happen outside opening hours

The quote should separate the cost of the flooring from fitting, and list preparation: uplift and disposal of old flooring, subfloor repairs, levelling, moisture checks, underlay, trims, thresholds, door trimming and skirting. If the fitter supplies the flooring, ask for the product name and the wastage allowed for, especially with herringbone or patterned layouts, which cut more material. For sanding, ask about dust extraction and the finish being used, and how long you must keep off the floor afterwards.

After you confirm your phone number and email address, we offer your job to flooring businesses in your area without showing who you are. The first fitter to buy it is the only one who gets it; the request is then removed. The fitter pays Offrano for it, so you pay nothing.

We email you the fitter's name, address and phone number before the fitter receives your contact details. We cannot promise that a fitter takes every request, and unsold requests are withdrawn after 21 days. We confirm that buyers are registered businesses but do not inspect their work, so ask to see floors they have laid and what they guarantee.