There’s a reason they call it “the village” There’s a reason they call it “the village”: even in mansion blocks by the cricket ground or in Georgian terraces a few streets back, or even in a newly minted block with lots of glass on the Vauxhall side: there’s always a question underneath: will this floor actually last?
We’re best Flooring Fitters London, and we don’t use the word “durable” lightly: it’s why we’re in the game in the first place.
How a DIY Floor aged faster
A badly fitted floor doesn’t fall to bits straight away: it ages faster. The gaps grow wider, the boards start lifting above the skirting and by the time you’re two years down the line, you’ve paid for a bargain but you’re already tired of it.
Working with a professional fitter puts the main effort where it’s needed most: in preparing the subfloor, testing the moisture, leaving room for expansion, and working our way along with the boards at a pace and pace. Nothing more.
If you skip any of those steps, you’re borrowing time against the lifespan of your floor without realising it.
We’ve been called to dozens of Oval flats where the floor was fitted three years ago and the owners are already considering new flooring. I’ve compared that to floors we did ten years ago that are still going strong: same category, very different aging.
What underlayment More Than the Boards Matters
Spend thousands on the best laminate on the market, fit it onto a damp, uneven floor and you’ve wasted every penny. The subfloor is the foundation of the house: if that’s wrong, everything else suffers.
In Oval’s mansion blocks by the cricket ground, we regularly find concrete slabs that trap moisture for longer than expected. Georgene terraces a few streets back have original joists that settle over time. Neither is forgiving to shortcuts.
We go into jobs and check both before quoting. Not when we’re already working. Before.
Why Fitters Win Over products
Two similarly labelled packs of laminate, two vastly different floors: one with wide expansion gaps and a quick fitter, another with the same product lasting for ten years. We don’t always see the difference with the photo, but every detail makes a difference to how the floor ages.
An overcommitted fitter shuffles boards through quickly and gets onto the next property: a good fitter checks each row as they go along and catches small errors from each row before it snowballs into a larger issue down the line.
That difference over the course of ten years, not ten minutes. You won’t notice in week one: you’ll feel it, or you’ll not feel it, five years down the line.
Where Shortcuts Cost You
Search for “wood flooring repair near me” frequently enough and you’ll start noticing a trend: almost all call outs for repairs are due to installation errors rather than product breakdown. Missing acclimation gaps, oversights in using the expansion space, damp damage from unseen moisture: they all hit the floor within a few years of fitting, and they all could have been avoided with a few simple measures.
Costly fixes that might as well be extra expenses for the original fitter: removing the floor, restoring the subfloor, and starting again.
We carry out repairs of this sort frequently in Oval and surrounding areas: the first half is undoing the original (shortsighted) installation before putting things right.
How Long a Properly Fitted Floor Lasts
Laminate fitted according to the instructions, over a properly prepared floor and using suitable underlay: over ten years with no problems. Engineered wood fitted in the same way: even longer.
All the numbers were wiped out once you start cutting corners: a floor fitted without the underlay, without the right acclimation, over a damp subfloor: today it shows its age by Christmas and tomorrow it shows it to the company who fitted it.
People Ask: Does a Good Fitter Mean a Longer-Lasting Laminate Floor?
Absolutely yes, and it gets increasingly obvious the longer you go: a good fitter measures every subfloor for moisture before starting, takes into account what the end-user intends to do with the floor and fit the correct expansion to allow for expansion, and leaves the subfloor plenty of room to breathe.
A trained laminate fitter will actually save you money over the course of the floor’s life by getting it right from the start: a cheap, “quick” installation will be looking at a return visit in a couple of years, and would cost a lot more.
Experience Eases Our Fitters’ Step
Twenty years on the job, fitting floors across South London: we remember well which shortcut caused what problem, where the subfloors used to trap water and where they don’t, and which glue resulted in the most resilient finish. Every fitter walks with a comprehensive testing kit, including moisture meters, and the company we use has full public liability insurance and all our fitters pass CRB checks before we send them to your property.
Every flooring job is guaranteed in writing against all materials and every step of the installation process: we’ve repaired floors fitted by other companies and are aware of what happens when shortcuts get taken and how to avoid it happening again.
Ask before a bad fitting turns into a repair job
Contact us on 020 3322 7001 before your current DIY attempt turns sour and results in unanticipated repairs, or post a short note online and we’ll call you back with a weekly schedule. Our bookings for September are already filling up, as soon as the weather changes: most people prefer to have a fresh floor for the holidays.
Waiting makes everything more expensive, so get in touch today at 020 3322 7001 or visit www.floorsfittersoflondon.co.uk to see our availability. Wood Floor Fitters London: taking the time to get it right first time.