Frequently Asked Questions

Head to Book a job from the menu, tell me the address and a bit about what you need doing, and send it over. There's no charge for this - I'll look it over, confirm the price and a start date with you, and then you can secure the booking. If you've already had an online quote, paste its reference (e.g. JQ0007) and I'll bring your answers across so you don't have to type them twice.

If you'd rather talk it through first, use Book a call from the menu, leave your number and a good time, and I'll ring you back.

Once we've agreed a price and start date, there's a booking fee of 20% of the agreed price to secure your slot. It's non-refundable, but it comes straight off your final invoice - it's part of what you're paying for the job, not on top of it.

From your project page you can pay the full balance, or a part-payment of any amount up to what's outstanding - come back and pay more whenever suits you. Card payments are handled by Stripe; your card details never touch our servers.

If something needs putting right, get in touch and I'll agree it with you first. A Credit refund is a book entry - it comes off what's outstanding on the job, no money changes hands yet. A Cash, Bank transfer or Cheque refund means real money has actually been handed back to you - if I already owe you something, that payment settles what's owed rather than adding to it. Either way, you'll see it reflected on your project page and on the invoice.

You'll get an instant estimate range based on what you tell me - it's a rough guide, not a fixed price. If you'd like to go ahead, book the job (pasting the quote reference saves retyping everything) and I'll confirm the exact price and a start date with you before anything's charged.

Yes - card payments go through Stripe, a PCI-compliant payment processor. Your card details are entered directly into Stripe's own secure fields and never pass through or get stored on our servers.

On your project page, under Invoices. You'll get a proper PDF for the booking fee, any part-payments, the final invoice, and any refund - each one itemised, dated and downloadable any time.

Yes - once your booking fee's paid, a Messages thread opens on your project page. Use it for questions, updates, or to send a photo - I'll get an email whenever you post.

Measure the room's length and width in metres at the longest points, and multiply them together for the area in square metres. For an L-shaped or awkward room, split it into two or more simple rectangles, measure each one, and add the areas together.

Yes - I'd always add around 10% on top of the bare floor area, more for patterned products like herringbone or a diagonal lay, to cover cutting, trims and any mistakes. It's much cheaper to order a bit extra up front than to run short mid-job and wait on a second delivery.

Break it down into rectangles - a bay window, a chimney breast recess, an opening into a hallway - measure each section on its own and add them together. If it's a genuinely awkward shape, don't worry about getting it perfect; I'll always do my own exact measure-up before ordering materials.

Yes - once we've agreed to go ahead, I'll come out and take proper measurements myself before ordering anything, so what gets ordered matches the room exactly.

A hard-wearing floating floor - a printed image layer under a tough wear layer, over a fibreboard core, click-fitted together in planks. It's one of the most budget-friendly ways to get a wood-look floor.

A DPM is a thin plastic sheet laid under the underlay to stop moisture rising up from the subfloor into the laminate. I fit one on solid (concrete) subfloors as standard - timber subfloors usually don't need it, since they're not a moisture source in the same way.

Yes - it cushions the floor underfoot, helps deaden sound, and evens out very minor imperfections in the subfloor. It's laid loose under the laminate, not fixed down.

Laminate expands and contracts slightly with changes in temperature and humidity. Leaving a small gap (usually 8-10mm) around the edge of the room stops the floor pushing against the walls and buckling. Beading covers that gap so it's invisible once fitted.

Beading is the slim trim fitted around the room's edge to hide the expansion gap between the laminate and the skirting board or wall. I'd always recommend it - without it, that gap is left on show, and it's the neatest way to finish the edge properly.

Depends on the room size and how much prep the subfloor needs, but a straightforward single room is often a one-day job. I'll give you a proper time estimate once I've seen the room.

Luxury Vinyl Tile - a resilient, waterproof floor covering that comes in realistic wood- and stone-look finishes. It's glued down flat to the subfloor rather than floating, so it feels solid underfoot.

No - LVT is bonded directly to a smooth, prepared subfloor. What matters far more than underlay is the subfloor prep - it needs to be flat and smooth, since LVT will show up every bump or dip underneath it.

Mastic is a flexible sealant used to finish the edge where the LVT meets a wall, doorway or another floor covering - it gives a neat, waterproof finish and allows for the tiny amount of movement floors naturally have, without cracking like a rigid filler would.

The subfloor gets skimmed with a smoothing compound to give a flat, smooth base - any lumps, dips or old adhesive residue will show through a floor this thin, so this step matters more than with most other floor types.

Yes - that's one of its main advantages over laminate or wood, which is why it's such a popular choice for kitchens and bathrooms.

Amtico is a premium LVT brand, with a wider choice of finishes and the option of bespoke patterns, borders and inlays. The fitting process is similar to standard LVT, just with more attention paid to design and setting-out, and it's moisture-tested first to make sure the subfloor's within Amtico's own tolerances.

Yes - that's one of the main reasons people choose it. I mark out the laying pattern, any borders and bespoke inlays before fitting, so it's worth deciding on the design early, before I order the materials.

Same principle as standard LVT - a smoothing compound feathered to a flat, primed finish - plus a moisture test first, since Amtico has its own stricter tolerance for subfloor moisture than cheaper LVT products.

Solid wood is exactly that - one solid piece of timber through its full thickness. Engineered wood has a real wood veneer on top bonded to layers of plywood underneath, which makes it more stable and better suited to a wider range of subfloors, including with underfloor heating.

Yes - the boards need to sit in the room for a period beforehand to adjust to the room's temperature and humidity. Skipping this is one of the most common causes of gaps or movement in a wood floor after fitting.

Generally engineered wood is the safer choice over underfloor heating - it's more dimensionally stable. Solid wood can move more with the heat cycling on and off, so I'd talk this through with you before recommending it in that situation.

Secret-nailing fixes solid boards down through their tongue so no nails show. Gluing bonds the boards to the subfloor - common for engineered boards over a solid subfloor. Floating means the boards click together and sit on an underlay without being fixed down at all, similar to laminate. Which one's right depends on the product and the subfloor.

Sheet vinyl comes in large rolls and is welded or sealed at the seams for a fully waterproof finish - it's the practical choice for a wet room, bathroom or utility. LVT comes in individual planks or tiles and gives more of a premium, wood-plank look.

The edges where vinyl meets a wall, door bar or another floor need sealing so water can't get underneath - that's what keeps a wet room genuinely waterproof, not just water-resistant.

Anywhere fully waterproof flooring matters most - kitchens, bathrooms, utility rooms - since the sheet and its welded seams give a genuinely sealed floor.

A thin batten with angled pins, fixed around the edge of the room against the skirting. The carpet is stretched onto those pins to hold it taut and in place, without needing to be glued down.

It's the cushioning layer laid down before the carpet, and it makes a bigger difference than people expect - it affects how the carpet feels underfoot, how long it lasts, and how well it insulates sound and heat. A good underlay is worth the money.

A door bar is a trim strip fitted in a doorway to neatly finish the edge where carpet meets another floor covering, and to stop the carpet fraying or lifting at that edge over time. I'd fit one at any doorway where the flooring changes.

Broadloom carpet comes in one continuous roll and is stretched wall-to-wall over gripper rods - the usual choice for a living room or bedroom. Carpet tiles are laid individually, usually in a brick or quarter-turn pattern, and are more common in hard-wearing or commercial-style spaces since a damaged tile can be replaced on its own.

For broadloom, I fit the gripper rods and door bars, lay and join the underlay, then roll out the carpet, cut it in and power-stretch it onto the grippers so it sits taut with no wrinkles. Carpet tiles are set out from the centre of the room and laid to a brick or quarter-turn pattern instead.

Screeding is levelling and preparing the subfloor so whatever goes on top of it - laminate, LVT, carpet, wood - has a flat, sound, even base. It's the groundwork that every other floor depends on.

I start with a survey of the existing floor - moisture readings, checking it's structurally sound, and a level check. Then I strip out any old flooring and adhesive residue, repair or fill any major defects, prime the surface, and apply either a latex smoothing compound or a flow screed depending on how much levelling is needed.

They do a similar job but at different scales. A latex smoothing compound is a thinner layer for fine-levelling a floor that's already reasonably flat. A flow screed handles bigger dips and more serious levelling, laid thicker.

It depends on the product, the thickness, and conditions in the room. As a general guide, a latex smoothing compound is often walkable within a few hours and ready for flooring the next day, while a full flow screed can need considerably longer, especially if it's laid thick - always allow extra time on a bigger job. I'll give you an accurate drying time for your specific job before we start.

Not always, but it's worth checking - some dips and unevenness are only obvious once you kneel down and sight along the floor, or they only cause a problem with certain flooring types (LVT and Amtico show up far more than carpet, for instance). I'll always check the subfloor properly before recommending whether it needs it.