Laminate flooring installation.
Laminate is everywhere these days. It is a replica of wood, stone, or tile. It is much cheaper than the real deal and does well in most homes. The construction is rather basic. It is made of a composite wooden base, topped with a photographic layer, and sealed with a protective layer.
There is a large gap in quality with laminate flooring depending on the brand. DIY store laminate can look great in the beginning, but years down the line the laminate will get scratches, and the joints will begin opening. If water gets under the laminate, the wood will swell up. Trade quality laminate is your best option by far. You can truly get a classic, trade quality laminate with a ton of variety. It will last a long time too, and you’re looking at 15-20 years if you take care of it.
To put it all together, it can float on underlay rather than being fixed down. Makes it quicker to install, and you could, in theory, take it up and move it, even though nobody realistically does. The underlay matters more than you’d think. If you skimp on it, you will feel every single imperfection in the floor underneath. Also, a good underlay with real acoustic backing will make a difference to how the floor feels and sounds when you walk on it.
Bathrooms, on the other hand, are the one place we would suggest using vinyl instead. Water resistant laminate handles splashes fine, but with a real flood, or a persistent leak, it will swell up and need replacing over time.
Modern vinyl has come a long way, and some of the luxury vinyl tiles look so good you’d need a close look to spot they’re not real wood or stone.
Sheet vinyl works well in kitchens, bathrooms, utility rooms, and anywhere that gets wet regularly. It’s fully waterproof, easy to wipe clean, and it’s affordable. The trick is neat cuts around pipes, doorways, and corners. Vinyl shows up sloppy work, so it needs measuring and cutting properly.
LVT, or luxury vinyl tile, is more expensive than sheet vinyl but is more appealing visually, too. Unlike laminate, however, they have the advantage of being waterproof, making them ideal for bathrooms and kitchens. Some varieties of LVT snap together, while others must be glued down. Which option you choose depends on the subfloor and how permanent of a flooring option you want.
Cushioned vinyl is softer and warmer underfoot, meaning it is more comfortable for standing while cooking, for example. However, it’s more prone to dents if a heavy object is dropped. In contrast, rigid vinyl is tougher. It feels cold and hard underfoot but has better durability.
Vinyl’s durability also comes with a tradeoff, as it has a lifespan of around 10 to 20 years, depending on how much foot traffic the area receives and the quality of the vinyl flooring. People are often surprised by vinyl’s durability, but it is by no means damage-proof. For example, dragging furniture across a vinyl floor is a surefire way to scratch it.
Hardwood Flooring
There is certainly a luxury feeling to walking on real wood floors. The downside is the price; real wood is expensive. One major benefit is the decades-long lifespan. Also, they can be refinished and sanded multiple times, as they can with wooden furniture. It is also a a good real estate investment, as they increase the value.
Solid wood planks are actual timber that is 18-20mm thick. Oak is very common because it does not get to worn down with every day usage and it is visually appealing. Other types of wood are available but they are often rare and very expensive.
Engineered wood has real wood sitting on top of plywood. This makes it more stable than solid wood. It is less likely to warp and more likely to be useful with underfloor heating. Solid wood does not do well with underfloor heating. The engineered wood has a veneer thick enough to be sanded down and refinished more than once. It is cheaper than solid wood and more expensive than laminated wood.
The way we fix it down not only depends on the type of wood but also what surface it is being placed on top of. It is also very important to get the subfloor flat. Wood does not hide bumps and dips like carpet does.
One thing that catches people out – wood needs to acclimatise before fitting. Leave it in the room for 48 hours minimum so it adjusts to the temperature and humidity. Skip this and you’ll get movement and gaps appearing.
You can choose from ready-to-experience wood or unfinished that gets worked on after it’s settled. Pre-finished wood is quicker and has less mess. Unfinished wood offers more freedom over the end result.
You should keep wood floors away from bathrooms and areas that get really wet. They’ll deal with happens if you clean the spill quickly. Kitchens might be a tricky choice, but you should be careful with the water.
Often the existing floor needs work before anything new gets laid right over it. Squeaky boards, damages, and uneven spots.
Old wood floorboards can look brilliant after being restored, sanded and polished. Getting it back to the original finish is tough work, but the end result is worth the elbow grease. Not every floor is worth it though. If boards or a noted cheap flooring material exists, this is where you want to spend the money making new things instead.
Squeaky boards can be a real pain. Replacing damaged spots gets the most done, as ignoring them just makes things worse.
Other times, you’ll need to swap individual boards if they’re too gone. A lot of time is spent on locating older properties, but it is usually doable.
Removal and placement of cracked and/or loose tiles is tedious and time consuming. If an exact match is too difficult, close matches are acceptable.
Underfloor Preparation
Clearing the previous flooring is the part that usually spends the most time. New flooring can not just be placed over the top of whatever base is there. The base has to be clean, dry, level and solid.
With concrete, we use a moisture meter that shows a reading over 75% relative humidity. If there is moisture, we have to patch the high moisture level, and then we can discuss flooring.
If a concrete base is uneven, we use a leveling compound. Dips and lumps are flooring problem obstacles. laminate joints close improperly, vinyl bubbles, wood creaks. In order to fix this, we need to fill the low areas, then smooth down the high areas, and then use a leveling compound if needed.
The previous flooring has to be fully removed, and that means vinyl, carpet, underlay, rods, and all of the glue residue. Leaving old flooring, or even part of it, can cause a lot of problems with the new flooring.
To make with creating a stable, even floor, we laid down rough-sawn plywood over top of any uneven floorboards and screwed them down, filling any joint gaps with foam.
Usually, we have to cut skirting boards, especially for the laminate flooring that requires an expansion gap around the perimeter. We remove these boards, cut and lay the floor, and then reattach the skirting or replace them with new ones.
Some flooring options we always have in stock, while others need to be ordered. This means we have to include some lead-time when providing quotes.
What you get
From when we start to when we finish, we typically finish an average sized room in one to two days, though with larger areas or more complex layouts, this can take more time. We prep the floor before we lay any new flooring, and we always do this thoroughly; we don’t take any shortcuts as this can lead to future problems with the floor.
Where we can, we shift larger pieces of furniture but it helps if you can remove smaller items like decorations in advance to minimize the clutter we have to work around. We lay dust sheets down in the doorway to the room and at the top and bottom of the stairs to keep dust contained and to protect surfaces.
We do make a lot of noise when working, and we do require the room to not be in use while we are working in it. Once we are complete with the flooring and any finishing touches we have, we do our best to tidy the space, and we take any rubbish with us.
Reach out to us if you require any flooring services. We are located in Croydon and service all surrounding areas, and we can determine what will fit and what you desire for your budget.