Dealing with Problem Floors in London

We have nearly 20 years of experience – if we haven’t tackled a problem with wooden flooring before, and solved it, no one has! The two classic problems we come across are woodworm infected boards and joists and the laying of Deal (young pine) by inexperienced or unscruplous installers.

Woodworm

Woodworm-affected joists – if penetration is not critical, they can be ‘treated & cleated’ that is treated with a low-odour, water-based woodworm treatment/prevention, repaired and structurally ‘beefed up’ using cleats made from lengths of new joist timber (also treated).

Affected joists tend to crumble on their edges (right angles) – as long as the woodworm has not fully penetrated the joist, they are usually treatable and may only need basic cleating.

‘Cleats’ installed alongside weakened original joist timber and resting correctly on the ‘plate’ – the structural wood that runs below and perpendicular to the joists and supports them.

Another classic problem: ‘Deal’- young pine

It shrinks like mad for up to 6 months after being purchased/laid. Ideally, it should be avoided like the plague as it’s too unstable. It’s worth paying the extra for seasoned reclaimed timber.

The floor below was a tongue & groove ‘deal’ that another contractor had laid, sanded, and stained rosewood. They finished it all correctly with several coats of good quality lacquer & when the job was finished, it looked good. Fast Forward six months and a whole winter central heating cycle, and you can see that the boards shrunk substantially. Significant gaps opened up, showing the ‘blond’ un-stained tongues of the boards.

We had to fill all the gaps with specially mixed two-component filler, re-sand, and stain everything from scratch. The client paid twice for the same job.

The moral of the story is don’t scrimp and buy new pine, however cheap it seems at the time – buy reclaim or live to regret it!

Get in touch for professional advice or request a quote online

What our customers say

    
 
 
       Posted on Google  
   
   Ayla Joseph 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Dave and Diego have been absolutely wonderful for us! Once we got the keys to our new place, my partner and I got to work tearing out the sad old carpet and revealing some incredibly tired floorboards. We had just a week from when we finishing tearing out the carpets to when we needed to move in, but any stress we had about not getting the floors done before then was unfounded as Dave and Diego worked miracles. I’d been in contact with Dave a couple weeks earlier while shopping around for quotes, and when I got back to him they managed to not only schedule us in at incredibly late notice, but they also managed to finish all our floors in just three days, accompanied with advice for floor care while we moved in as they were still curing, and instructions for long term care. As you can see, their work completely transformed the space. They were lovely and easy to communicate with and did excellent work, and all was very well priced and affordable compared to other quotes we received, and I’d be more than happy to recommend them.
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Grace BC 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Excellent experience with David and Diego. They were flexible and able to come on short notice. Very happy with the finish- the job included a lot of tricky old boards which I was very hapoy with the attention to detail on the gap filling, the reclaimed boards sourced, custom staining of new board to match.
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Daniel Hewitt 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Dave and Diego did an amazing job with the floors. Really friendly and professional team, and gave great advice. The team went above and beyond, I would definitely recommend them. Gaps between boards were filled well, screws well hidden, short boards replaced, and they were very helpful with picking final finish.
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Emma R 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Diego and team did a terrific job on my floors, both with insulation, sanding and finishing. The quote and payment process with Dave was very easy and more to the point accurate. They were also a really nice team of people. I would highly recommend them for work with wooden floors. They did what they said they would, for the agreed price and in the agreed timescale. Thank you.
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Thomas Bird 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Dave, Diego  & the team did a great job on our floors; they were diligent and detail-oriented. We're so happy with the results!
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Sally Graham 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. The whole team are wondering
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Jose C 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Superb
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Molly McCormick 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. David and Diego were so fantastic; really friendly, efficient and our stairs look great. Would recommend their services to anyone, especially as a trustworthy local company.
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Alex W 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. This is the second set of floors I have done with Diego and David. The work is extremely high quality, reasonably priced, and they are a pleasure to work with. Glad they exist!