Wood Flooring

Addicted

Completed on our first flat on the 11th April with a plan to move in on 30th of May. This is mainly due to the fact we could only afford to go for a bit of a 'fixer upper' so have been and will be spending all weekends ripping everything out and redoing bathrooms, floors and full decorating (sanding... so much sanding).

Im keen to get an engineered wood flooring in and am in the process of getting a few quotes, but as Ive not got a great deal of experience in this area I'm hoping a couple of you may be able to tell me what I *should* be paying roughly for labour/ materials.

Basic info:

Screed flooring (1st floor flat), and Ive already ripped up and disposed of the original carpet and grippers

Flat, no cracks, no major issues and will be swept/hoovered ready for the fitter

52.2 square meters

Aiming to have it either cut into existing skirting or skirting replaced (ie not using beading)

One 2.7m tiled edge to fit against in the kitchen

Looking at lacquered engineered light oak, 150-180mm wide, 14mm thick, packs with 1.5m-2m fixed lengths (ie not random lengths as Ive heard this can end up with 80% short lengths)

Decent underlay


At the moment Ive had 3 quotes for labour and they vary quite significantly, but of course I'm looking to try and get someone to do the job properly so not necessarily going for the cheapest as he seemed a bit of a cowboy tbh.

Any pointers/advice/help/experience would be appreciated

Cheers

madadd

some things to consider
lacquered v oiled lacquer may sound clean and maintenance free but once scratched it is difficult to hide mark, whereas oil although it does need some minimal maintenance subject to wear if it gets marked simply sand out and re oil.
Skirtings if your budget will stretch then replace skirting you will be much more pleased with look and finished result.

Whereabout is project - PM if you want- do you want a price for supply and fix or just fix?

Lurker

What area did you buy in? Trying to buy first home at the moment, the whole this is a pain in the a**se.

Addicted

Cheers @madadd. Think we're going to go with lacquered purely on the basis of hassle free plus I'll order a few more spare lengths in case of replacement when it comes to sell the place. Looking at the floating rather than the glued for that reason too. The guy who quoted last night said the same about the skirting. Was just trying to get an idea really on 'fair' cost for labour as it seems to vary so wildly. Some charge per meter, some by day rate, some for a flat cost! Happy to pay for a good job but you dont want to be taken for a ride you know?

Bought in Hornsey (N8). 2 bed flat. Prices are insane tbh @Lurker. We wanted a house but had no chance of that once we saw the prices. Had to stretch our budget even for what we got! 35 yr mortgage...

Baldybonce

Make sure on the lease you're allowed to have wooden flooring as in some flats you can't.