Laminate floor fitting in Smethwick, Bearwood and Cape Hill. Subfloors levelled first, expansion gaps done properly, doors trimmed, old floor taken away.
Laminate is easy to buy and easy to fit badly. In the Smethwick terraces the floorboards underneath are rarely flat, and a laminate laid straight onto them will creak and lift at the joints inside a year. The levelling is the job; the clicking together is the quick part.
The subfloor is where the money goes. In the Smethwick terraces the boards have usually cupped over a century of use, so they are screwed down and levelled before anything is laid. Then a proper underlay, the right expansion gap at every wall, and beading or scotia to finish. Doors are taken off and trimmed rather than forced over the new height.
Usually yes, once they are screwed down and any high spots dealt with. In the older Smethwick terraces the boards have often cupped, and laying over that without preparation is what makes a laminate creak.
Almost always, by a few millimetres. It is part of the job, not an extra, and we take them off and cut them properly rather than forcing them.
A bedroom is a day including preparation. A through-lounge is usually a day and a half. If the subfloor needs levelling compound we tell you before we start, because it has to dry.
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