Flooring fitters

What to put in your job description

• Which rooms and stairs, and roughly how big each one is.
• What you want laid: carpet, laminate, engineered or solid wood, vinyl or LVT.
• What is down now, and what is under it: floorboards, a concrete floor, or old tiles.
• Whether you have bought the flooring, or want the fitter to supply it.
• Whether doors may need trimming, and if you live in a flat with rules about hard floors.

Don't put your name, phone number or address in the description: every trade who covers your area reads it. Your name, phone, email and address go only to the trades who take the job (3 at most).

Questions to ask before you hire

• Does the price include underlay, levelling the floor, door bars and trims?
• Who moves the furniture, and who takes the old flooring away?
• Does a wood floor need to settle in the room before it is laid, and for how long?
• If the floor underneath needs work, how will you tell me and price it?
• Do you have public liability insurance?

Registers and schemes to check

There is no legal register for flooring fitters. Some belong to a trade body, such as the National Institute of Carpet and Floorlayers or the Contract Flooring Association. If you live in a flat, read your lease: many need sound insulation, or the landlord's consent, for a hard floor. We don't check this for you yet.

What the job usually involves

• Taking up the old floor, and taking it away if agreed.
• Preparing the floor underneath: levelling, a new subfloor or plywood, and fixing loose boards.
• Laying the underlay and the new floor, with door bars and trims.
• Trimming doors so they open over the new floor.

How quotes and visits work

A flooring fitter usually measures before a fixed price. Ask whether the price is for fitting only or includes the flooring, underlay, levelling and trims. The floor underneath can add work, so ask how they'll price it if they find a problem.

Ask for a written quote (a fixed price) rather than an estimate (a guess that can change), and for what it includes. If you agree a job in your home, you usually have 14 days to cancel under the Consumer Contracts Regulations; if you want work to start sooner, you may have to pay for what has been done.

Safety

• Old vinyl or thermoplastic floor tiles, and the black glue under them, may contain asbestos: don't break them up. Ask the fitter how they'll deal with them.
• Keep children and pets away while old floors are lifted: there may be nails and grippers.

Insurance and TrustMark

Ask for public liability insurance before work starts. It covers damage or injury caused by the trade to you, your home or someone else. Ask for the insurer's name and the cover's end date; you can ask to see the certificate.

TrustMark is the government-endorsed quality scheme for work in and around the home. Its registered businesses agree to its code of practice, and you can look them up on trustmark.org.uk.

Guides for homeowners

• How to compare quotes from local trades

We take jobs from anywhere in the UK: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Trades choose the postcode districts they cover.

Flooring fitters by town and city

England

Scotland

Wales

Northern Ireland