The part of the floor you never see
Almost every flooring failure people show us is a preparation failure: a ridge telegraphing through the LVT, an edge lifting because moisture came up through the slab, a wood floor that has cupped, a patch that sounds hollow underfoot. Not the product. What it was laid on.
Premium floors are less forgiving, not more. LVT shows every imperfection underneath it, and real wood reacts to every bit of moisture. So we do our own preparation, in-house, before every floor we fit.
What preparation involves
- Latex screeding: a self-smoothing compound poured over the existing subfloor to give a flat, sound surface to bond to.
- Floor levelling: correcting falls and dips so the finished floor sits true across the room and through doorways.
- Surface smoothing: taking out ridges, trowel marks, old adhesive and high spots.
- Priming: so the compound and the adhesive actually bond.
- Board repairs: refixing loose or squeaking timber before anything goes over it.
Damp proof membranes
Concrete holds and passes moisture. A ground-bearing slab sits on damp earth, and a new slab is still giving up its own construction water for months. Left to it, that moisture rises into whatever you bond on top: adhesive that never cures, LVT that lifts, wood that cups.
We test rather than guess. If the readings say a membrane is needed, we prepare and prime the surface and apply a liquid surface DPM to the manufacturer's specification, then let it cure properly before anything goes on top. It is a small part of the cost of a floor and the cheapest insurance there is against laying it twice.
Priced up front
We survey the subfloor at your home visit, not on fitting day, and price the preparation your floor actually needs into the original quotation. It makes our quotes look less cheap than some. It also means there is no conversation halfway through the job about an extra that should have been obvious from the start.
Where we work
We prepare floors across Newark-on-Trent and across the East Midlands: Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Leicestershire, for homeowners, developers and contractors. Call 07969 675553 or email Info@pro-flooring.co.uk to talk about a floor.
