Frequently asked questions

What is a floating floor?

This when the floor is fixed together but not down, it sits on a 2-3mm underlay, which acts as a moisture barrier, insulation and also gives you a slight cushioning effect under foot.

What holds it in place?

The sheer weight of the product itself, also the skirting, and any furniture.

It sounds 'dodgy, I’ve never heard of it before.

It is a relatively new concept in NZ not a lot of people have heard of it. It has been used here for more than 10 years. The concept was originally designed in Europe, they have been using it for decades with great success.

What are the advantages?

It is more cost effective, quicker to install, and a lot of people enjoy the fact that it is slightly soft to walk on as opposed to tiles or concrete. It is also easier to replace damaged planks.

What are the disadvantages?

Some people don’t like the floor moving beneath them. We need to be a lot more careful with our expansion gaps (under your skirting, kitchen toe kicks etc). We would also need to use expansion bars under doors.

What’s an expansion bar?

It is a bar that is used to compartmentalize each room in your home. Which allows each room to expand and contract independently. Some rooms in your home do not receive much sunlight and some do, these areas will expand differently.

Can I have it in my bathroom?

I would advise against it, wood is a product that is vulnerable to shrinkage and expansion, which is due to moisture. Your bathroom is the one area in the house that is constantly subjected to steam and water being splashed onto the floor.

I've seen laminate floors at DIY stores, they are cheaper than yours and they tell me that I can lay them myself. Why should I bother with yours?

You are right you can get them cheaper, we do not say that we will be the cheapest, but you will get the best. You won’t find our laminates in ‘Bunnings’ or ‘Mega 10’. I have installed thousands of square metres of laminate floors. There are many different brands, but few that we would recommend. As for installation, these types of products are good sellers because they appeal to the great ‘Kiwi can do’ attitude. They look easy to install, and in theory they make it sound very simple, but... the reality is often very different. As with any trade the real work is in the finishing.

If we supply the product will you install it?

In most cases we will, but we reserve the right to look at it first.

How do we clean it?

Several products have their own specific cleaners which will extend the warranty to 25 years. For any installation over 50m2 we will supply these for no charge, otherwise you can purchase one for $69-95.

What is the difference between laminates, pre-finished timbers, and overlay floors?

Laminate floors; are generally between 7-8mm thick bbut can be up to 12mm. They are usually 1.2 - 1.4m in length. They have an extremely durable surface, which in most cases is scratch, cigarette, chemical, paint and fade resistant. A fantastic choice if you have a young family that is hard on your floor! Water is its only real weakness. If you have a spillage and you mop it up immediatly you will not have a problem, but if you are leaving puddles of water for prolonged periods of time then you will have issues. This is a pre-finished type of flooring that should only be floated.

Pre-Finished or Engineered Timbers; are generally between 14-15mm thick, but there are products up to 19mm. usually around 1.8m in length. There is a veneer of your selected species (oak, merbau, jarrah etc) on the surface with a plywood base. These are a very stable form of flooring where expansion is minimized because of the plywood base. It is a product that can be ‘floated’ or glued down. It can also be re-sanded and polyurethaned.

Solid Overlay Floor Overlay; there are basically 2 types, a 12-13mm thickness which is specifically designed to be installed over a solid sub-floor (concrete, timber, not floor joists) and also a 19mm product which is the ‘old school’ type of wood flooring which can be laid over floor joists, it can also be stuck to a solid sub-floor (usually for commercial purposes) these will come in varying lengths, anything from 600mm to 5m. This product can only be glued/nailed down.

There is also a ‘solid pre-finished’ timber range that is becoming more popular, anywhere from 14mm to 19mm thick by approx 1.8m long. This product can be floated or glued down.

Can we use under floor heating?

Under floor heating is only recommended for ‘floating’ floors, using ‘engineered’ or ‘laminate’ flooring.

We want a floating wood floor in our kitchen there is lino there now, will you remove it?

As long as it is glued firmly in place we can lay straight over the top.

We have tiles to lift and carpet to be taken up. Who do we get to do that?

No one, we can take care of all that for you.

Can you do stairs or stair cases?

Yes, not a problem.

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