Flooring Contractors near you

Approved Document C, which applies in England, covers site preparation and resistance to contaminants and moisture and includes the resistance to moisture of floors, walls and roofs; floors next to the ground are expected to resist the passage of ground moisture to their upper surface. Scotland has an equivalent mandatory standard in its own technical handbook: every building must be designed and constructed so that there will not be a threat to the building or the health of the occupants as a result of moisture penetration from the ground, with specific guidance for ground-supported concrete, suspended concrete and suspended timber floors.

Those requirements are why modern floors have a damp-proof membrane, and why older solid floors are the problem. A Victorian house with a concrete floor poured decades ago may have no membrane, or one that has failed. Lay an impermeable covering such as vinyl or a glued wood floor over it and the moisture that used to evaporate slowly through a breathable finish now collects under the new floor instead, lifting adhesive and cupping boards.

A new or recently repaired screed has the same issue for a different reason: the water used to lay it has to leave before an impermeable covering seals it in. A competent fitter tests the subfloor rather than guessing, records the result and either waits or specifies a surface damp-proof membrane before laying. If a quote for a kitchen or a ground-floor room contains no mention of checking the subfloor for moisture, that is the question to ask before you sign anything.

HSE lists floor finishes among the places asbestos was used: asbestos was added to PVC and thermoplastic floor tiles, stair nosings, sheet materials and screed materials, and old tiles can be hidden under carpet. Vinyl tiles can also be backed with asbestos paper and stuck down with bitumen adhesive. Since asbestos may be present in any building built or refurbished before the year 2000, and it was only banned in 1999, any old tiled or bitumen-bedded floor in an older property should be treated as suspect until it is identified.

The law does not leave this to judgement on the day. HSE's instruction is to stop work immediately, confirm what the material is or assume it is asbestos, and carry out a risk assessment that determines whether the work requires a licensed contractor. Removing asbestos-containing thermoplastic and vinyl floor tiles, and work on bitumen products such as damp-proofing coatings, generally falls within non-licensed work, but that is not a free pass: non-licensed work still requires a risk assessment, appropriate controls and workers with the correct level of information, instruction and training. What it never permits is dry sanding, grinding or smashing up old tiles to get them off, or a homeowner doing it at the weekend to save the fitter a day.

Most of the money in a good flooring job that you will never see goes into the base. On a solid floor, a levelling compound corrects small undulations so a vinyl or tile finish does not read every hollow; where ground moisture is a risk and the original membrane cannot be relied on, a surface damp-proof membrane or a moisture-suppressant system is applied first. On timber floors, loose boards are screwed down and a plywood or hardboard overlay creates a flat, stable surface for thin coverings.

Underlay is not an afterthought either. Carpet underlay affects comfort and how long the carpet keeps its appearance; underlay for floating wood and laminate floors affects sound transfer and can incorporate a moisture barrier. In flats, the sound performance of the whole floor build-up is often the deciding factor, and lease terms may specify what is required, so check before choosing a hard floor over a neighbour.

Match the covering to the room's moisture and traffic rather than to a showroom sample. Kitchens, utility rooms, bathrooms and porches suit waterproof surfaces with sealed perimeters. Living rooms and bedrooms can take wood or carpet. Conservatories and garden rooms swing furthest in temperature and humidity, so stable engineered products behave better than solid wood. Over underfloor heating, check that the specific product is approved for it and that the fitter follows the commissioning sequence for bringing the heating up before and after laying.

If you want to compare fitters, LokalMatch takes the details of your flooring job once, including room sizes, whether the floor is solid or timber and anything you know about an old tiled floor underneath, and matched flooring contractors in your postcode area get in touch. Pros pay for the requests they receive. LokalMatch does not fit floors, does not set prices and does not vet, rank or recommend any contractor, so compare how each one proposes to prepare and test the subfloor, not just the price of the covering.