FAQs

All smooth surfaced floor coverings can scratch or mark with use.
Some floorings have better abrasion resistance and better wear ratings than others but all of them can mark with use.

Heavy items of furniture must have good quality castor cups to help spread the load on impact points. Furniture etc should not be dragged but lifted. Any sharp wood or metal edges should be made smooth and a protective felt pad or castor cup used.

Felt pads should be used on chairs and tables or furniture that moves so that the surface of the flooring is protected. These will need changing regularly as they can get clogged with dirt and grit which will mark the vinyl surface.

Use good quality doormats that remove grit of shoes. These doormats should also be cleaned regularly.

Follow the manufacturers instructions on how to maintain the flooring. This information is usually part
of the fitting instruction sheets in the boxes of flooring supplied, on the manufacturers website or ask the
store to get a copy for you.
A regular cleaning and maintenance programme will help to ensure your new flooring keeps
its appearance and good looks for the future.

Regularly sweep your flooring with a soft broom to remove dirt and grit to prevent
scratches etc. Wash using only mild detergent and rinse with clean water.

Steam mops are not recommended for laminate floors.

Heavy items of furniture must have good quality castor cups to help spread the load on impact points.

Felt pads should be used on chairs and tables or furniture that moves so that the surface of the flooring is protected. These will need changing regularly as they can get clogged with dirt and grit which will mark the vinyl surface.

Certain rubbers, which contain anti-oxidants can permanently stain your flooring. Some
common causes of staining can be rubber backed mats and rugs along with certain
types of soles on shoes.

Staining can also result from coming into contact with chemicals, solvents, strong dyes and
certain food colourings.

Do not use abrasive cleaners or strong detergents as this may cause discolouration. Any
staining resulting from contact with these, or any other products is not a
manufacturing defect or product failure.

The use of “beater bar” rotary suction vacuum cleaners is not recommended as surface
damage may result. If using any vacuum cleaner ensure that the brushes on the head are
extended so the hard head of the vacuum does not scratch the floor.

If the sub-floor is uneven whether it is floorboards or concrete it may need to be smoothed out with plywood or a smoothing compound. This will help to stop the sub-floor showing through the carpet or vinyl flooring. When measuring for flooring we cannot always tell if the sub-floor is smooth and even. Particularly if there is a floor covering already there. Even if we look underneath in one area we cannot know what the entire floor is like until the existing flooring is removed. Uneven floorboards are one of the most common that we come across but sometimes it can be old stone fireplaces or large holes in the floor that have been previously covered. Generally on wooden floors we would recommend overlaying the sub-floor with a 6mm plywood. On most floors this will be good enough but in some cases where the sub-floor is very uneven it may mean you will need a joiner or builder to repair or replace the sub-floor. A suitable flexible smoothing compound can be applied to the plywood if there are still some undulations but these will only take out  differences of 3-4mm. The sub-floor needs to be as flat as possible before anything else is applied.

Most concrete floors can have a smoothing compound applied to them to make it a smooth base for floorcoverings. They cannot and do not make a floor flat and level if the existing sub-floor is not flat and level. They can only follow the existing sub-floors levels. If a floor is particularly bad we sometimes have to apply more than one layer of smoothing compound. We generally only quote for one layer as in most domestic areas with a relatively flat sound floor this should be enough. Extra layers of smoothing compound will be chargeable if they are required.

Samples shown in store are a guide only and representative of normal production. The flooring ordered for you is likely to be from a different production batch to the one the sample was taken from.Variations between batches are normal and must therefore be expected. As well as batch variations, differences may also be due to different lighting or the effect of the surrounding decor in your home.
Some manufacturers do show a picture of the design in a larger piece. Either in a brochure or online, but not all of them do this. To give a more natural or aesthetically pleasing look a lot of manufacturers include strong variations in the colours of the tiles or planks. So you will have a mixture of darker and lighter tiles included in your order. We regularly check goods against the samples to ensure that each batch is a satisfactory match and within the legal tolerance.

Your flooring can have markings, knots, fake saw marks or different marks and textures on the surface. This is normal.

Samples shown in store are a guide only and are representative of normal production. However, these tiles or planks generally have 7 or 8 different patterns that we mix up when fitting. Your sample in store may not have had all the markings or colour variations shown on it.
A lot more products are inspired by things seen in the natural world and how products are machined for use in our homes. Variation in colour and details, knots and markings is part of the beauty of nature. Machining marks such as band saw markings, circular saw markings etc are also a feature of some designs. This means that with some of our products you will see natural variation when your floor is laid and markings that reflect its manufacture from a natural product.

These markings are not faults as they will repeat in other tiles throughout your installation and are there to enhance the look of the product and emulate the real thing.

We would always recommend that you try a physical sample of the vinyl in your own home and not choose from the web site. Online images are not a good representation of colour.

Yes it will.

Laminate flooring is UV resistant but it will fade with wear and with exposure to UV light whether it is direct or indirect.

Think of when a rug, a piece of furniture or a bed is moved after a number of years. The flooring underneath has had less wear and exposure to UV light.

Yes we can give you a quote for moving white goods although they will need to be disconnected by and re connected by yourselves.

We may not be physically able to move some larger items. eg Large American style fridges etc