Floor laying is one of those things that seems simple on the surface, but gets more and more complicated the deeper you look into it. If you’ve never laid a floor before, then the process might seem a little bit mysterious or daunting. And if you’ve only watched one being installed, it might even look a bit scary! Today we wanted to give you a little sneak peek into a recent project, the timelines and how it all worked, so that you have a better idea of how your flooring project might work.
A Tricky Chain of Communication
In this particular case, where the job came from is important, as it sets the scene for the process. We were first contacted by a builder we’ve worked with in the past. He was working with a maintenance company, which was in turn contracted by some estate managers. The estate managers were making an insurance claim on behalf of the landlord of an apartment in a high-end block in Windsor.
Still with us? We know, it’s a bit complicated! But what it essentially meant was that there were 4 people in the chain of communication between us at Warson Flooring and the landlord, which is a bit unusual. The landlord’s flooring had been damaged by a leaky washing machine, and he needed someone who would be able to work for 9 months, supply and fit the floor, and start right away. It was a big job and definitely a challenge, but one we were happy to take on.
Unfortunately, after 2 and a half months of sending information up the chain, we realised that most of it wasn’t getting to the right people. In fact, all that had made it through was that we could do the job, and the price! None of the other information, like needing decorators to be scheduled after the flooring had gone down so that they could put the skirting boards on, or that furniture would all need to be removed before we could start, had been received.
Not wanting to do anything permanent that the end client wouldn’t be happy with, we got hold of the landlord’s contact details and spoke with him directly. Which cleared up a lot of the issues and allowed us to move forward.
It’s All About Maple Wood Flooring
Another challenge in this job was that the client had a clause in their insurance policy called ‘matching pairs and sets’. This means that if something belongs to a pair or a set of items, then the replacement either needs to be a complete match for the remaining items, or all of the items need to be replaced with a new set. In the case of flooring, this means that the flooring that was damaged needed to be replaced with exactly the same materials as the remaining, undamaged floor. It’s an insurance clause we definitely recommend you opt for as it makes your life a lot easier, but in this case, it did throw up a small challenge.
You see, this client’s original flooring was solid wood, made of Canadian maple. Not only is this a very expensive, luxury flooring choice, but it’s also tricky to get hold of because not that many people sell it. After a lot of phone calls, we found a single supplier in Canada who could make it for us, and the lead time for it to be made, shipped and delivered to site was 6 weeks. This caused a bit of a delay in the project, but the client was very happy that we were able to find a match.
Installation
Of course, we are careful, clean and tidy in absolutely every job site, and this was no exception. But there were a few extra steps we took to ensure none of the communal areas or undamaged areas of the apartment were left in the same condition as when we started. We laid both Roll’n’Stroll and Corex in all the communal areas and parts of the apartment we needed access to, so that no work boots left marks or dirt, and our work was all done between the hours of 9pm-5pm in compliance with the block rules.
Now, on to the actual work! First, we had to lift the old, damaged floor, which we mainly did using crowbars. There was a lot of adhesive residue left on the floor at this stage, so we used a copper disk to sand it down before we laid the screed and left it to set. The next day we started with laying down thresholds between each room. The landlord had requested this specifically because, if there was another leak in future, the threshold would protect other areas of the apartment and minimise damage. We then laid the rest of the flooring, tongue and groove style, from there. The maple boards were all fully bonded (which a solid wood floor should be anyway) and glued directly to the screed to make sure there was no knocking or movement in the future. In total, we laid 72 square meters of this flooring, and the landlord was incredibly happy. So much so that we’re doing another job for him later this year!
We would love to do more of this kind of work, so if you know anyone with some complicated, complex or just slightly out of the ordinary flooring ideas, please do send them our way! And if you’d like more information on our flooring services, just contact us today.