The Shape of a Flooring Quote
A flooring quote is five things: the covering itself, what goes under it, the preparation the floor needs, the fitting, and the sundries that finish it off. A quote that only shows the first is not a quote, it is a price per metre, and it is the reason two figures for the same room can be so different.
Every Park Flooring quote covers all five, in writing, so the figure you are given is the figure you pay.
The Covering
The biggest variable. A polypropylene twist costs less than a wool twist; a wool loop costs more again; a deep saxony more still. In hard floors, sheet vinyl is the most affordable, laminate next, then LVT, with herringbone and chevron LVT above a straight plank because they use more material and take longer.
Within any of those the range matters: a thicker wear layer on an LVT, a heavier weight of wool, a wider plank. In the shop we will show you where the money goes and where it does not.
What Goes Under It
Underlay is included in our carpet prices, and it is not the place to save. A better underlay makes a carpet feel more expensive, wear longer and sound quieter, and a stair grade underlay is essential on a staircase. Laminate and floating floors need an underlay with a moisture barrier over concrete. Glue down LVT needs adhesive, and the right one for underfloor heating.
The Preparation
This is where quotes diverge most. A hard floor needs a flat, dry, sound base: plywood over floorboards, a latex levelling compound over concrete, moisture testing and sometimes a damp proof membrane. It is skilled work and it takes time, and a quote that leaves it out will either produce a poor floor or a bill on the day.
Carpet is more forgiving, but even a carpet needs loose boards screwed down, old gripper lifted and a floor swept clean. Ask any quote you receive whether the preparation is in it.
The Fitting
A straight plank floor in a square room is quick. A herringbone hall with three doorways and a radiator pipe is not. Stairs are the most labour intensive floor in the house, winders more so. Seams in a large room, pattern matching, thresholds between different floors, doors that need easing: all of it is fitting time, and it is all in our quote.
Waste, Cuts and Sundries
Carpet comes on a roll of a fixed width, so an awkward room can mean buying more than the room's area to avoid a seam, or accepting a seam to save it. Plank floors are laid with a waste allowance for the cuts at the walls, higher for herringbone. Then the sundries: gripper, door bars, scotia, stair rods, adhesive, the uplift and disposal of the old floor.
None of it is large on its own. All of it is in a proper quote.
How to Compare Two Quotes
Check that both include underlay or adhesive, the preparation, the fitting, the trims and the disposal. Check the range and the grade is the same, not just the colour. Check whether the fitter is the company or a subcontractor. Then compare the totals. If ours is not the best, show us the other and we will beat any genuine written quote.
Questions
No, because every job is different and a price per metre without the preparation and fitting is misleading. We measure free, quote in writing for the whole job, and beat any genuine written quote.
No. Underlay, gripper, trims and fitting are in every carpet quote from us. For hard floors, the adhesive or underlay and the floor preparation are in the quote too.
It uses more material because of the cuts at the walls, and it takes longer to lay because every plank meets another at a precise angle. It is worth it in the right hall.
Uplift and disposal is part of the job and in the quote, not a surprise on the day.
You can buy flooring from us without fitting, but a floor that has been prepared and fitted properly lasts far longer, and most of the savings go on the second attempt.
