anything more serious should be corrected. This work is usually straight-forward: wooden floors may need some judicious planning of warped boards: concrete floors may need a thin coat of self-levelling screed. We will be pleased to arrange for a quotation for this work.

Edges

Because these floors 'float' as one large sheet, allowance must be made for expansion in hot weather. The neatest way of covering the necessary expansion gap is to lay the new flooring under the skirting board. This is often no more complicated than re-siting the existing skirting a little higher. Perhaps even better, some clients prefer to take the opportunity to replace existing skirtings with something a little more decorative, to compliment the new floor surface. New skirtings are surprisingly inexpensive. The alternatives are to fit complimentary-coloured wooden quadrant/scotia, or to fill with a purpose-made mastic.

Fitting costs

We offer a guide price for fitting each square metre of laminate or hardwood floor. The work is very time-consuming. Because the majority of the work is in fitting around doors, and up to edges, some smaller areas (e.g. loos, bathrooms, and halls) are inordinately labour intensive. For this reason, each installation is quoted for, as a completed job, and with its particular fitting requirements in mind.

DIY Installations

Many customers with basic woodworking skills choose to buy their flooring materials for DIY installation. The fitting of floating wood and laminate floors is not desperately difficult, but it is very time-consuming. For anyone who is prepared to devote a weekend to fitting a room, there's a considerable saving to be made, certainly sufficient to make the necessary investment in an electric jigsaw.