Flooring · All 32 London boroughs
Flooring Fitters in London: Wood, LVT, Laminate, Tiles and Carpet
A new floor is only as good as what is under it: Victorian joists that need their airbricks clear, concrete that is still too damp for wood, old tiles that may hide asbestos adhesive, and flat leases that ban hard floors without consent. Soraiz Builders supplies and fits engineered and solid wood, LVT, laminate, tiles, carpet and vinyl, and handles levelling, board and joist repairs, sanding, underfloor heating and acoustic underlay, with a reply to every enquiry within 2 hours.
Quick answer: 2026 prices
Supplied and fitted, laminate typically costs £22 to £65 per m², LVT £40 to £100, engineered wood £60 to £135 and solid wood £85 to £190, with London at the upper end. Floor tiling in London costs about £55 to £170 per m² all in, and sanding existing boards £30 to £58 per m².
Send the room sizes, a photo of the current floor and your postcode, and we reply within 2 hours during business hours.
- Founded 2019
- 250+ London projects
- MyBuilder 5.0 from 23 verified reviews
- Fixed-price quotes
Which floor?
Which flooring is best for each room?
Pick a room and the box shows the floors that suit it, and the ones to avoid. Water, traffic, heating and the neighbours below decide more than looks do.
What we do
What flooring work do we carry out in London?
Supply and fit of every common floor, plus the preparation and repairs underneath that make it last. Floors for a whole renovation are covered on our House Renovation in London page.
Engineered and solid wood
Engineered oak and solid hardwood, floated, glued or nailed, including herringbone, chevron and parquet patterns.
- Floating, glued or nailed
- Herringbone and chevron
- Thresholds and trims
LVT and laminate
Luxury vinyl tile and plank, click or glue-down, and laminate boards, for hardwearing floors at a lower cost than real wood.
- Click and glue-down LVT
- Water-resistant ranges
- Pattern-laid planks
Floor and wall tiling
Porcelain and ceramic tiles, including large-format, for kitchens, bathrooms and hallways, laid on a properly stiffened and levelled base.
- Large-format porcelain
- Decoupling membranes
- Wall tiling
Carpet and vinyl
Carpet with new gripper and underlay, stair carpets and runners, and vinyl sheet for kitchens, bathrooms and rentals.
- Rooms and stairs
- Underlay matched to use
- Sheet vinyl
Subfloor preparation and repairs
Concrete levelled with compound, timber floors overboarded with ply, squeaks screwed down, and rotten boards or joists replaced, for example after a leak.
- Levelling compound
- Ply overlay
- Board and joist repairs
Sanding, heating and sound
Original floorboards sanded and sealed or oiled, electric underfloor heating laid under new floors, and acoustic underlay for flats.
- Sanding and refinishing
- Electric underfloor heating
- Acoustic systems
Every flooring job includes
- A written price listing area, material, underlay and preparation
- The subfloor checked for level, movement and moisture
- Wood left to acclimatise in the room before fitting
- Doors trimmed to clear the new floor
- Thresholds, trims and skirting or beading finished
- Old flooring and offcuts taken away
2026 costs
How much does new flooring cost in London?
Supplied and fitted, new flooring typically costs £22 to £65 per m² for laminate, £40 to £100 for LVT and £60 to £135 for engineered wood in 2026, with London prices 20 to 30% above the UK average.
The tables below are typical market ranges, not fixed Soraiz Builders prices. Every job is priced in writing before work starts, with the material you choose.
Supply and fit by floor type
| Floor | Supply and fit | Fitting only | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carpet | £20–£76 per m² | £14–£16 | Underlay and gripper usually extra |
| Laminate | £22–£65 per m² | £12–£25 | Herringbone pattern adds £20–£35 per m² |
| LVT | £40–£100 per m² | £20–£40 | Glue-down costs more than click |
| Engineered wood | £60–£135 per m² | £20–£45 | Glued or nailed at the top of the range |
| Solid wood | £85–£190 per m² | £25–£60 | Sanding and finishing may be extra |
| Parquet, London | £85–£195 per m² | Pattern-laid blocks |
Sources: MyJobQuote new flooring costs (updated September 2026, UK ranges; London and the South East charge more), Fantastic Services flooring cost guides (2026, London parquet figure). Typical market ranges, not fixed Soraiz Builders prices.
Tiling
| Job | Typical London cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Floor tiling, labour | £30–£52 per m² | Standard tiles on a sound, level base |
| Floor tiling, all in | £55–£170 per m² | The tile you choose drives the range |
| Kitchen floor | £55–£145 per m² | Supply and fit |
| Hallway or utility floor | £55–£130 per m² | Supply and fit |
| Large-format porcelain, labour | £50–£75 per m² | UK figure; London adds 20–30% |
| Minimum charge | £180–£260 | Small areas |
Sources: Fantastic Services tiling cost guide (2026, London column), Trade2Base tiling pricing guide (2026). Typical market ranges, not fixed Soraiz Builders prices.
Preparation, repairs and extras
| Job | Typical cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Levelling compound | £10–£25 per m² | Labour; screeding £18–£25 per m² |
| Remove old flooring | £5–£10 per m² | Plus disposal |
| Screw down loose boards | £3–£8 per m² | Cures most squeaks |
| Damp-proof membrane | £5–£10 per m² | On concrete that tests damp |
| Repair boards and a joist | £300–£450 | Several broken boards and one joist |
| Replace floorboards | £45–£120 per m² | More where rot or damp is found |
| Sand and seal boards, London | £30–£58 per m² | Stairs about £220–£500 |
| Electric underfloor heating | £40–£90 per m² | Installed, before the floor finish |
| Stair carpet, straight flight | £450–£1,200 | Carpet, underlay and fitting |
| Acoustic underlay | £4–£8 per m² | Supply only |
Sources: Trade2Base flooring installation pricing guide (June 2026), MyJobQuote new flooring and floorboard repair costs (2026), Book A Builder UK floorboard replacement, stair carpet and electric underfloor heating costs (2026), Fantastic Services floor sanding (2026, London). Typical market ranges, not fixed Soraiz Builders prices.
Floors in a kitchen or bathroom project are priced as part of it. See the Bathroom Renovation Cost in London (2026) guide for how tiling and flooring fit into a full bathroom budget.
Under the floor
Why does the subfloor matter so much?
Most floor failures, from gaps and cupping in wood to cracked tiles and peeling vinyl, start with a subfloor that was damp, uneven or moving. Checking and fixing it is the part of the job you never see, and the part that decides how long the floor lasts.
Concrete and screed
Concrete and new screeds hold moisture for months. Flooring guidance treats a reading above 75% relative humidity as too wet for most floor coverings without a damp-proof membrane, and wood needs it drier still, around 65%. Uneven concrete is levelled with compound so click floors do not flex and tiles sit flat.
Timber floors
Loose boards are screwed down, damaged boards and joists replaced, and boards overlaid with plywood where tiles or glue-down floors need a stiff, flat base. On ground-floor suspended timber floors, the airbricks in the outside walls must stay clear: they ventilate the void and keep the joists dry, and blocking them is a common cause of rot.
Wood and underfloor heating
Wood should acclimatise in the room for at least 48 to 72 hours before fitting, per most manufacturers. Over underfloor heating, wood floor makers set a maximum surface temperature of about 27°C, and carpet plus underlay should total no more than 2.5 tog so the heat gets through.
Rules
What should you check before replacing a floor?
For flats, check the lease before choosing a hard floor; for older homes, check what the old floor is made of before it is lifted.
- Leasehold flats: many London leases require carpet and underlay in living rooms and bedrooms to limit noise to the flat below, or allow wood, laminate or tiles only with the freeholder’s written consent and an acoustic underlay or system. Some carpet clauses are absolute, and tribunals have enforced them even where a good acoustic system was used. Get consent in writing before ordering a hard floor.
- Asbestos in old floors: vinyl and thermoplastic floor tiles laid before 2000, and the black bitumen adhesive often found under them, may contain asbestos. They should not be sanded, ground or scraped up until a sample has been tested. If they do contain it, removal is specialist work we do not carry out; covering sound tiles with a new floor is sometimes an option.
- Wet rooms: laminate and most wood floors are not suitable for bathrooms. Tiles, LVT rated for wet areas and sheet vinyl are, and tiles over a timber floor need a stiff base and often a decoupling membrane.
- Building Regulations: replacing a floor covering does not normally need Building Regulations approval. Sound insulation standards under Part E apply to new homes and conversions, though leases and tribunals often refer to them.
- Fire doors: in flats, the front door and any fire doors must not be cut down so far that they stop closing or sealing properly; thresholds are adjusted instead.
London homes
What should you know about floors in London homes?
The age of the building decides what is under your floor, and which new floor will work on top.
Victorian and Edwardian houses
Pine boards on suspended joists, often worth sanding back. Ground floors need clear airbricks, and old boards may need a ply overlay before tiles or glue-down floors.
1930s semis
Suspended timber floors at ground level, sometimes partly replaced with concrete. Older vinyl or thermoplastic tiles on black adhesive are common under carpets.
Purpose-built flats
Concrete slabs that may be uneven, lease rules on hard floors, and lifts, parking and communal areas to plan around on fitting day.
New builds and extensions
New screeds that must dry before wood or vinyl goes down, and underfloor heating that limits which floors and underlays suit.
Recent Flooring projects
Real jobs that included this work, documented from the dated photos taken on site.
22 photosBlendon, Sidcup (Bexley)
Whole-home renovation in Blendon, Sidcup
A Sidcup home taken back to bare walls and finished as new over about 13 weeks: re-plastered throughout, a new kitchen and boiler, a new tiled bathroom, new flooring, decoration and a cleared garden.
Read the case study
13 photosWalpole, West Ealing (Ealing)
Full refurbishment with three shower rooms in West Ealing
A finished West Ealing refurbishment with herringbone flooring throughout, three new shower rooms and two new kitchens, photographed finished in February 2023.
Read the case study
8 photosHarrow Weald (Harrow)
Bathroom refit and flat refresh in Harrow Weald
A Harrow Weald flat turned around in a week in January 2026: a new bath and electric shower, new wood-effect flooring in the living room and hall, and a full repaint.
Read the case studyHow it works
What happens when you book a floor fitter with us?
Send sizes and photos
Room measurements, a photo of the current floor and, for flats, what your lease says about floor coverings.
Survey the subfloor
We check level, movement and moisture, look for old tiles that need testing, and confirm doors and thresholds.
Written quote
You get a price listing the area, the material, underlay, preparation and any repairs, before anything is ordered.
Prepare and fit
Old flooring comes up, the subfloor is fixed and levelled, the material acclimatises where needed, then the floor goes down.
Finish and clear
Doors trimmed, thresholds and beading fitted, waste removed, and care advice for the first weeks.
Timings
How long does it take to fit a new floor?
A single room of click laminate, LVT or carpet usually takes a day, a tiled kitchen or bathroom floor two to three days with drying time, and pattern-laid wood such as herringbone or chevron noticeably longer. Preparation can add days: levelling compound needs to cure, wood needs 48 to 72 hours to acclimatise, and a new screed can need weeks before it is dry enough for wood or vinyl.
How to choose a floor fitter in London
- A written quote including preparation, not just fitting
- Moisture testing on concrete and screeds
- Advice on your lease if you live in a flat
- Asbestos testing raised for old tiles
- Public liability insurance
- Recent photos of floors they have laid
Questions
Flooring in London: frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to fit a floor in London?
Supplied and fitted, laminate typically costs £22 to £65 per square metre, LVT £40 to £100, engineered wood £60 to £135 and solid wood £85 to £190, with London prices 20 to 30% above the UK average. Fitting alone runs from about £12 per square metre for laminate to £60 for solid wood. Subfloor preparation, underlay and removing the old floor are usually extra.
Is LVT better than laminate?
For kitchens, bathrooms and hallways, usually yes. LVT is vinyl, so it copes with water and spills, and it is quieter and warmer underfoot. Laminate has a wood-fibre core that swells if water gets into the joints, but it costs less and suits bedrooms and living rooms well. Both come in click versions that can float over a sound, level subfloor.
Can I put wood or laminate floors in my leasehold flat?
Check your lease first. Many London leases require carpet and underlay outside kitchens and bathrooms, or allow hard floors only with the freeholder’s written consent and a specified acoustic underlay or system. Some carpet clauses are absolute and have been enforced at tribunal. Ask your managing agent for consent in writing before ordering, and keep the acoustic product details.
Can you lay a new floor over old tiles?
Often, if the old tiles are firmly stuck, flat and dry. A floating floor or a levelled overlay can go straight over them. Vinyl or thermoplastic tiles laid before 2000, and black bitumen adhesive, may contain asbestos, so they should be tested before anyone lifts, sands or grinds them, and leaving sound tiles covered is often the safer route.
How much does floor sanding cost in London?
Sanding and sealing a wood floor in London typically costs £30 to £58 per square metre in 2026, and a staircase about £220 to £500. Gap filling, board repairs and extra coats of lacquer or oil add to the price. Original Victorian pine boards usually sand well, while engineered boards can only be sanded if the wear layer is thick enough.
Can you have wood flooring with underfloor heating?
Yes, engineered wood is generally the better choice over underfloor heating because it is more stable than solid wood. Manufacturers typically limit the floor surface to about 27°C and ask for the heating to be raised gradually. Carpet works too if the carpet and underlay together are no more than 2.5 tog. Always check the specific floor’s guarantee.
How long does it take to fit a floor?
One room of click laminate, LVT or carpet usually takes about a day. A tiled floor takes two to three days, allowing for adhesive and grout to set, and herringbone or chevron wood takes longer because every piece is cut and set to the pattern. Wood also needs 48 to 72 hours to acclimatise in the room, and new screeds need drying time.
Why do my floorboards squeak?
Usually because boards have shrunk or worked loose and rub against each other or the nails. Screwing them down to the joists cures most squeaks, typically costing £3 to £8 per square metre in labour. Persistent bounce or soft spots can mean a damaged or rotten joist, often from a past leak or poor ventilation, which should be opened up and repaired.
Verified reviews
What London clients say about Soraiz Builders
★★★★★
“Was very professional and polite, communicated clearly throughout the process, including a clear quote and what was included in the work. The work was completed as agreed and looks great! Left the house clean and tidy.”
Victoria, Watford · Plaster wall repair · May 2025
★★★★★
“Very good reliable builders, excellent service. Quality and reliable competitive prices. Had a re visit after 1 month of finishing work and rectified slight issues free of charge.”
Azhar, Islington · Rooms and staircase painted · December 2024
★★★★★
“Soraiz builders was great at communicating, professional and polite. His quote was reasonable and we are really pleased with the standard of his work.”
Philip · Plaster and skimming, 3 bedrooms · April 2024
Rated 5.0 from 23 verified reviews on MyBuilder. These reviews reflect Soraiz Builders’ wider portfolio of work across London, not flooring jobs specifically.
Get started
Get a free flooring quote in London
Send the room sizes, a photo of the existing floor and your postcode. We reply within 2 hours during business hours and give you a written price including preparation before anything is ordered.
- Founded 2019
- 250+ London projects
- MyBuilder 5.0 from 23 verified reviews
- All 32 boroughs