We always start the process by asking our customers to try and find images of rooms they like. This can be on our website, or anywhere from Pinterest or Instagram.
With each floor, we then think along three lines –
Colour – Is it light, mid-tone or dark? Is the colour consistent or are there variations? Does the floor have knots or no knots at all?
Shape – Is the floor straight board, or patterned (think Herringbone or Chevron)? Are the planks wide or thin?
Texture – Is the floor smooth, textured (like a reclaimed floor), or something in the middle.
Thinking along these three features helps whittle down the 1,000s of options and prevents customers from going down a rabbit hole of choice!
Flooring can be confusing, so when you have a vision, you need somebody to help you turn it into reality. This is where our consultations come in. You can book online – Book Online.
Our consultations will start by asking you some background on your project, and then go into your Floor Design, Technical Requirements and After Care.
Don’t worry if you simply don’t know where to start, we can help here as well.
After the consultation we will prepare you an indicative quote, so you will know exactly whether our strategy meets your budget.
If you are broadly happy with your quotation, the next stage will be to confirm your floor choice. We can do this by either –
- Posting out large samples – we do this for our Mid-Range floors, such as our Newington or Kent Range or our Hardened Wood Floors.
- Visiting our showroom – Ideal if you want to look at our complete range of floors and finishes, such as our Clissold or Epping Range. We also have many other floors that are not on our website. We’re at 5 Hackney Road, just next to Shoreditch High Street, but again, please book ahead.
- Book a site visit – We do this if feel you need to see the floors in the actual light of the property. Sometimes we do this at the same time as our Technical visit (see stage 4).
After we have actioned one of these, you will be able to confirm your floor choice, and if you’re still happy, we can book a Technical visit.
If you’re happy with your floor choice, and the quotation, the next step is a Technical visit. This will be carried out by one of our Master Fitters. They will use lasers to check the subfloor levels, moisture readers, and generally pick up everything we may have missed on the phone call. Our Master Fitters also carry with them large samples of our best selling floors, enabling you to check the final finish one more time before ordering.
This visit enables us to prepare a fitting survey, and finalise the quotation.
If you’re happy with the quotation, we will send across the initial invoice. We take payment for the product and accessories upfront, along with 60% of the fitting. The balance is due on completion.
This payment allows us to 1) confirm a fitting date, and 2) book the floor into production or reserve from our stock holding.
For some of our floors, such as the Newington Lewis or the Newington Daniel, we try and keep them in stock. If these floors are available, we will deliver them as soon as you need them.
For most of our other floors, we make them to order. Floors can take anywhere from 3 weeks to 6 weeks to make, but throughout that process, we will keep you updated. Once the floor is in our warehouse, you just need to let us know when you need it.
It’s pretty common for us to store floors for clients. This is a free service we offer (up to a maximum of one year)
If we are fitting the floor we have to undertake a full assessment of the property prior to our fitters arriving on site.
This assessment includes moisture testing any screed, checking levels, looking out for problems with the subfloor, and flagging any site developments that may have happened since our initial visit.
Sites will either pass or fail, so please prepare in advance for a visit. Here are two great blogs designed to help the process run smoothly.
As soon as we’re happy the site is ready, we can then confirm our fitters arrival.
How to reach flooring nirvana; six essential Terms and Conditions you cannot ignore
Want your project to be on time and on budget?
Unlike many other flooring companies, we don’t believe in kerbside delivery. For the majority of deliveries, we do them ourselves, which means we pay a little bit more to carry them out, but it also means our team will call you in advance of arrival and assist you with unloading. This is especially helpful for our customers who live in flats!
If we’re just supplying you a floor, remember, we’re on hand provide any technical advice to your contractor when they fit the floor. We can also provide them any accessories they might need, such as door bars, underlay and wood glues, but please contact us in advance of your contractor needing these. Please remember the Installers Responsibility –
“It is the installer’s responsibility to carry out a final inspection of the floor prior to installation to ensure the colour, grade, quality, manufacture and finish are acceptable. On average, 1% to 2% of our boards may have a defect on them. This can vary from a crack, to a slightly raised knot. Please, please, make sure the product is checked with the end user, before it is fitted.”
If we’re fitting the floor, the delivery of the flooring and accessories will take place in advance of the fitting date. This ensures everything is ready to go, in advance of works starting. It also ensures the flooring acclimatises to its new surroundings.
We also strongly advise that you are onsite on the first day to inspect the flooring, and reconfirm any special fitting instructions. After we have started fitting the flooring, it can’t be changed, so please, please check you are happy with it when it arrives.
We will always give you an estimate of how long the project is likely to take. Of course, with any trade, sometimes works happen quicker or slower than expected. Throughout the process, our customer liaison team will keep you fully informed.
Once works have been completed, you will be able to review the final finish. Once you are happy, we will then issue an invoice for the final amount.
