I got 21 questions to go. I got 21 questions to flow….
For most of our clients, when they approach us, they’re working on their first renovation, so when it comes to flooring, we need to start at the beginning. To help people make the right floor choice, we’ve created a list of the most common questions we get asked.
Some of these questions you might already be thinking about. Others might come out of the blue. Some come with some extra reading, but if it all becomes too much, just give us a call. It will take you about 10 minutes to read, but we guarantee you’ll learn something, and it could save you time and money. Look at it like an Ultimate Flooring Guide.
1. Is a wooden floor right for our home?
Wood floors are softer than man made products such as Laminate or Vinyl. They’re also more expensive from a fitting and preparation perspective. They’re not perfect for every project, but we (…obviously…) think they’re awesome. We’ve written a blog about this topic here
2. Is Laminate any good?
Laminate is not good. It’s great. At Kite, we sell Premium Laminate, and it’s both super strong and realistic to wood. We struggle with vinyl floors, as Laminate performs just as well and is cheaper. If your on a tight budget, this is your best floor choice. You will also save on fitting costs, as it can be fitted by a local tradesmen. You can order samples of our Laminate floors from our website below and read a blog about them –
3. So, Kite Flooring, help me, what floor shall I choose?
You can learn more about our range full range below –
We sell premium laminates from £36, engineered oak planks are double this, and parquet is slightly more expensive again. Bespoke floors are the most expensive floors we sell; the more treatments, the more expensive the floor. Fitting wise, allow a similar cost to the product price, with a premium for parquet.
If your set on a wood floor, this blog can be helpful –
It can get very confusing. Our advice is to book a consultation with one of our team over the phone.
4. What is parquet flooring?
Parquet flooring are our patterned floors, such as Herringbone (small rectangles), or Chevron (the pointy one…). There are other types of parquet, as explained HERE, but these are the best sellers and most cost effective. Our best selling parquet products can be found in our Kent Range.
5. I’ve had a bad experience with a wood floor, will yours be different?
Like everything in life, there’s the average, good, and the awesome. An awesome wood floor will be well milled (so the planks slot together), have an attractive grade (no ugly knots..), and has high quality finishing to protect it, in either a lacquer or an oil. If you buy a cheap wood floor, the specification of all these factors will be low so the floor won’t perform well. We wrote a blog on floor pricing here.
6. Can I fit a wood floor in a Kitchen or Bathroom?
So, wood flooring doesn’t like liquid. It’s fine with light mopping or spills, but if puddles are left on it, over time, regardless of finish, it will mark. Wood flooring in kitchens or high traffic areas is fine, but we recommend additional matt protection is applied, such as this Maintenance Oil. This product from Ciranova is great – Maintenance Oil.
This will also help with slightly stronger liquids such as wine or oil. If you think your kitchen is really going to take some punishment (think 5 dogs and you run a nursery…), then you can apply additional coats of a strong hard wax oil to protect the floor, for not that much extra money. Just ask our advice on this.
We don’t recommend wood floors where there is going to be surface water left over time, such as shower rooms or kids bathrooms.
7. Are our floors eco friendly?
The flooring industry has some real challenges with sustainability. The default position of most flooring companies is to just say “we source sustainably”, but dig deeper and that’s not always the case. It’s a big topic, so we wrote a blog on it here
8. Do you ever offer sales?
This comes back to our blog about floor pricing. Most online flooring companies have a constant sales where they artificially discount products to stimulate demand. The sales never end…….literally. At Kite, we do things differently. This means selling on features and benefits, rather than through a countdown clock on a Valentines Day.
9. Is engineered wood a real wood floor and do you do solid wood floors?
An engineered wood floor is a layered, man made floor with an oak veneer on top (typically 3 or 4mm), and then a ply or birch and ply layered core. There are some variations on this design, but broadly, that’s the product. Engineered wood floors are more stable than solid floors, as they expand and contract less with heat changes (so less gaps and movement). We don’t sell solid oak floors unless we are doing complex parquetry with border work.
10. But I want a really thick oak veneer?
You can get floors with 6mm or even 7mm oak veneers, but we don’t often sell them. Remember, 1) you won’t ever see or notice that extra material (it’s on the floor) and 2) these are not structural floors, so extra thickness doesn’t give more stability. The one argument that’s commonly used is that a thicker floor will give more sands (should you want to refresh it). We think it’s important to be able to sand floors, but don’t think it’s necessary beyond one of two sands, which you can achieve with a 3mm veneer. If you’re going for an expensive floor, remember, if you sand it, you remove all the expensive finishing.
11. Should I buy an oiled or a lacquered wood floor?
These are the two main finishing types for the oak veneer of your floor. The normal rule is that an oiled floor will mark easier, but is easier to repair. A lacquered floor is harder to mark but harder to repair. At Kite, we generally sell oiled floors, even though they require more maintenance, because we love how you can make them shine again with a little oil. You can also create more interesting finishes. There is nothing worse than a cheap lacquered floor (you may have ordered samples online…), but with premium lacquers it’s almost impossible to tell the difference between oiled floors. For most residential uses, we normally recommend oils, unless clients say to us “I want a wood floor, and I never want to think about it again”. In which case, lacquer is a good choice, as there is almost no maintenance required. But, don’t overthink this. A good oil or lacquer will both perform well, so just choose the floor you like and move on.
12. Click system or tongue and groove?
These are the systems that join the planks of your floor together. Tongue and groove systems require PVA glue to fully bond the tongues into the grooves, click systems just click together. Generally, more expensive floors are a tongue and groove system, and our fitters prefer them, because this method never fails. Click systems have a bad reputation with the flooring community because they tend to be used on cheaper floors, and can fail, causing the floor to then move. Builders often prefer to fit click systems, because it’s quicker to fit. At Kite, we generally sell tongue and groove floors, and that’s because the better quality floors use this attachment system. However, the concept behind a Click System is a sound one, and if the system is good quality, it can work just fine. Having said this, we often see poorly designed click systems. Laminate Flooring and our Hardened Oak range are both click systems (and they’re really strong).
13. Is my floor compatible with underfloor heating?
Boom! This is a big one. Generally, the answer is yes. But the question is not “is my floor compatible with underfloor heating), it’s “is the floor I want compatible with the system I have chosen”. This is a full blog topic, which we have written here –
14. What order should I fit the floor?
Flooring generally comes at the end of a project. The one possible exception are decorators, but make sure they cover the floor when they’re working. The big debate everyone has is always “Kitchen or Floor” first.
Generally, if you’re fitting a floated floor, you should fit the kitchen first. Then leave of the plinths and the end sections off and run the new flooring up to the legs of the kitchen units. The plinths can then be refitted, and you will have a perfect finish. With a glue down floor, you can put the kitchen on top, and some kitchen companies prefer this way of working. There are definitely some plinth designs where the kitchen needs to be fitted on top, but this is quite rare and only with very expensive kitchens. Generally the arguments go, Kitchen on top and you will have a cleaner finish (although we don’t always agree with this..) and you will be able to change your kitchen layout in future, or, alternatively, floor in last, and you will be able to change your flooring easily if you have any problems (say a leak..) and you will save some money on floor area and fitting costs (this is very marginal!). So really, the answer is both options work, but check with your kitchen company on their preference.
15. Whereabouts does Kite fit floors?
Our fitting teams are based in and around Central London, so we try and keep most of our work there. We do sometimes travel for larger projects however, 1) we strongly believe our teams should be no more than one hours drive from their projects, meaning they can not only return if snagging is needed, but can also maintain a work / life balance, and 2) we struggle to compete with local labour, especially when they are willing to work for cash and are below the £85,000 VAT threshold. Our fitters generally focus on Parquet and Glue Down floors, so whilst their final finish is better, they can be more expensive.
16. What is a subfloor and why does it matter?
The subfloor is the structural floor your new floor will sit on; remember, the flooring we sell is only cosmetic. Subfloors are either floorboards, some form of man made wood structure (such as plywood or OSB boards), or concrete. Your subfloor must be sound (so no movement), level (no dips, humps or ridges), dry (no moisture) and ideally flat (but this is nice to have…). There are tolerances for this that are set out in the British Standards 8201 for floor fitting – we have a blog on this here –
If your subfloor doesn’t meet these requirements, then remedial work must be taken. This can involve stapling plywood, levelling compound, and damp reduction strategies. It can all get very technical. There are also certain things you simply cannot do, such as glueing floors directly to OSB boards or damp concrete. There’s another great blog about some of the issues we come up against here.
17. Do your prices include installation?
Unfortunately not. Floor fitting prices vary based on the type of flooring (so Laminate, Plank or Parquet), and also the fitting strategy (Glued down or Floated). Also don’t forget subfloor preparation costs. With Parquet, the floor almost always needs some form of levelling compound. Our fitting costs can be anywhere from £35 per m2 for our cheaper floors, up to £70 per m2 for parquet with block borders. Subfloor costs can vary a similar amount based on its condition.
18. Do I need a professional floor fitter?
It makes sense to use a professional floor fitter, where it is a technical fitting project, with subfloor works, and where the final finish needs to be perfect. However, sometimes it makes sense to work with a local contractor. This is especially the case 1) where you have a competent contractor onsite, 2) it’s a small area or 3) it’s a straightforward floor to fit such as a laminate. We’ve written a blog about this topic here –
If you do decide to use another fitting team, remember to read our terms and conditions. The big one is always the fitter responsibility. Check the floor before its fitted, as there can be no claims after the floor has been installed.
19. Floated or Glued down?
Most people don’t know there is more than one way to fit a floor. But, it’s one of the most important decisions you can make, and has a big impact on your finished project. Factors that will affect your decision are 1) the type of flooring, 2) the condition of your subfloor, 3) your budget, 4) whether you need sound insulation or a Damp Proof sheet and 5) what your contractor is comfortable with. At Kite, we try to glue our floors down, as you can then ensure there is no movement. It’s also easier to replace planks, should any issues arise down the line. Laminate floors, however, are always floated. We’ve written a blog about this topic here.
20. Expansion gaps? What’s the deal….
Most people know that wood floors expand and contract with changes in the season. You crank your heating on in the winter, the wood dries out, and the floors shrink. In Summer, it’s more humid, so the floors pick up moisture and expand. To prevent problems, the floor needs to have somewhere to move to, and this is where expansion gaps come in. For floated floors, this is generally around 10mm to 15mm, for glued down floors, it can be slightly less. The planks will always expand more in the width, than in the length. This expansion needs to be covered with something, and broadly there are three strategies; 1) remove and refit skirting boards, 2) scotia beading or flat bar and 3) 9mm mdf to create a second skirting and then decoration. Most of the time, at Kite, we do option 1, but remember, you may need to buy new skirting, if it doesn’t come off the wall cleanly, and you almost always need some decorating, to ensure a good finish. A presentation, with the different options is attached is below –
21. How do I maintain my floor?
The first thing is no strong detergents! For oiled wood floors, use a natural soap, say every two weeks, and you can also use a maintenance oil, if you want to make the floor look like new again. You’ve guessed it, we have a blog just here –
Lacquered floors just require light mopping, ideally with a floor soap suitable for lacquered floors. Laminates are also much less sensitive, so a light mopping is fine.
So, there you have it. 21 of our most common flooring questions. It’s quite a long list. But we guarantee, if you made it to the end, your flooring project will run a lot smoother.
Floor Novice to Floor Expert; I got 21 questions to go…. 21 questions to flow…..
Let’s go.
