Wooden Flooring
Installation, sanding and finishing of hardwood, engineered and parquet floors.
Get a QuoteNew floors laid, and old floors brought back.
We install and restore solid hardwood, engineered boards and parquet. A great deal of what we do is restoration: an original pine or oak floor under carpet, or a parquet floor under vinyl, is very often worth saving and will outlast anything laid over it.
Engineered board suits underfloor heating and basements far better than solid timber because its layered construction moves much less with changes in humidity. Solid timber has the advantage that it can be sanded back many more times over its life.
Parquet is a separate skill. Blocks lift, bitumen residue has to be dealt with, and the pattern has to be kept true while missing blocks are matched in.
Three passes, not one, and the dust under control.
Sanding is done in successive grit passes, each one removing the scratch pattern left by the last. Jumping straight to a fine grit leaves the deeper marks in place, and they appear the moment a finish is applied and the light catches the floor.
Edges and corners need separate machines from the main belt, and the transition between the two is where amateur jobs show. The aim is a floor with no visible boundary between the field and the perimeter.
Machines are run with dust extraction. It will never be a dust-free process, but the difference between extracted and unextracted sanding in an occupied home is substantial.
Oil, lacquer or stain, and what each one asks of you later.
Hardwax oil penetrates the timber and leaves a natural, low-sheen surface that feels like wood rather than plastic. It can be spot-repaired in a worn area without redoing the whole floor, but it wants re-oiling periodically.
Lacquer sits on the surface as a harder film and resists spills and traffic better, which suits kitchens, hallways and rental properties. When it does eventually wear through, the repair is a full re-sand rather than a local patch.
Stains change the colour before the finish goes on. Timber takes stain unevenly depending on grain and species, so a sample on the actual floor, in the actual light, is the only reliable way to choose one.
Where flooring fits in the order of work.
Floor sanding generates fine dust and the finish needs clean air while it cures, so it normally comes after the bulk of decorating and before the final coat on skirting and trim. Done in the wrong order, a beautifully finished floor collects dust from the painting that follows it.
Curing is not the same as touch-dry. A floor can usually be walked on long before it has hardened enough for furniture and rugs, and putting them back early is the most common way a new finish gets damaged.
If the room is being decorated at the same time, see interior painting.
A job like this, photographed
Questions we are asked about this work.
Oil or lacquer?
Hardwax oil penetrates the timber and leaves a natural low-sheen surface that can be spot-repaired in a worn area, but wants re-oiling periodically. Lacquer is a harder surface film that resists spills and traffic better, which suits kitchens and hallways, but when it wears through the repair is a full re-sand.
How many times can a floor be sanded?
Solid timber can take many sandings over its life, which is its main advantage over engineered board. Engineered board has a thinner wear layer but moves far less with humidity, which is why it suits underfloor heating and basements.
How much dust does sanding make?
Machines are run with dust extraction. It will never be dust-free, but the difference between extracted and unextracted sanding in an occupied home is substantial.
When can we walk on it and put furniture back?
Curing is not the same as touch-dry. A floor can usually be walked on long before it has hardened enough for furniture and rugs, and putting them back early is the most common way a new finish gets damaged.
Is an old floor worth saving?
Very often, yes. An original floor will outlast anything laid over it, and on a period property it suits the building in a way a new product does not.
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Phone / WhatsApp
07968 994 595Location
London & Hertfordshire
Working Hours
Monday - Friday: 7:00am - 6:00pm
Saturday: 8:00am - 2:00pm
Sunday: Closed
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