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What should a flooring quote list?
In Cheshire, a flooring price depends on which covering you name, how the existing floor is prepared, and whether doors, stairs and furniture are in the job. No price is printed for carpet, vinyl, tile or wood.
Last reviewed:Flooring is several jobs wearing one name
In Cheshire, "flooring" on a job form can mean carpet, sheet vinyl, luxury vinyl tile, ceramic tile, laminate or wood. Each one asks something different of the floor underneath, and each one fails in a different way if that floor is damp, uneven or loose. This guide is about telling a fitter what to price. It is not a catalogue and it does not print a price.
Crewe, Nantwich and Sandbach are the towns to put on the enquiry so someone local can see the rooms. The town does not choose the covering. You do, by writing down what you want in each room.
Name the covering room by room
A whole-house sentence such as "new floors" produces quotes that cannot be lined up. Split it.
- Carpet needs the quality named in words the fitter uses, plus underlay and gripper. Stairs are slower than a rectangle. Say if the flight is included.
- Sheet vinyl needs a smooth base. Lumps telegraph through. Say whether the fitter levels the floor or you do.
- Vinyl tile and click floors need a flatness the product instructions describe. Ask the fitter to follow those instructions and to say what levelling is included. No millimetre tolerance is invented.
- Ceramic or porcelain tile is a different trade skill, with adhesive, grout, trims and often a decoupler if the base is timber. Say if the room is a wet room or a kitchen.
- Wood and laminate move with humidity and need expansion space at the edges. Say if you want the skirting off or undercut. If the product is wood specifically, describe it. Do not write "wood effect" if you mean timber, or the reverse.
If you have not chosen, ask for two options written as two prices, not one blended guess. Citizens Advice says a quote should break down the work and the materials [S1]. Two options on one page still need two totals.
Preparation is where quotes diverge
The existing floor is part of the specification.
A sound, dry, level base might only need a clean. A timber floor with loose boards, a concrete floor with old adhesive, or a kitchen with several coverings stacked on each other, is preparation. Ask the fitter to say what they will remove and what they will leave.
Damp is a stop, not a footnote. If you know a room has been wet, say so. A covering stuck down on a damp slab fails, and the argument afterwards is about whose job the damp was. Ask what test they do. No metre reading is invented.
Ground floors with airbricks need those bricks left open. The Planning Portal says floorboards rot without adequate ventilation, and it warns against blocking under-floor airbricks [S2]. A new covering or a new skirt of insulation that seals the void is a defect. Mention the bricks if the rooms are on the ground floor.
If the job replaces the deck itself, not just the covering, building regulations can apply. Renovation of more than 25 per cent of a solid or suspended floor, involving replacement of screed or the timber deck, has to meet Approved Document standards [S3]. Insulation in the floor has to meet the energy values in those documents [S3]. Say whether insulation is in or out. GOV.UK says to check with a building control body if you cannot decide whether approval is needed, and that you need not arrange approval yourself if a competent person scheme covers the work [S4].
Planning permission is not generally required to replace a floor or a ceiling, but a listed building should be raised with the local planning authority [S5]. A new carpet in a listed house is not automatically consent-free if the floor beneath is historic. Ask if you are unsure.
The edges and the life of the house
Doors, toilets, kitchen plinths and stairs decide whether the price you liked still fits.
Ask who trims doors and who refits ironmongery. Ask whether the washing machine, the cooker and the toilet are moved, and by whom. A fitter who is not a plumber should not be altering the water supply. If appliances must be slid out, say who moves them back.
Furniture is either emptied by you before the day, or priced as labour. Be explicit. A quote that says "rooms to be clear" is not a quote that includes moving a wardrobe.
Threshold bars, stair nosings and the joint between two coverings should be a line, with a material. "To be confirmed" means the price is not finished.
Waste removal of old carpet, gripper and tiles should say where it goes. Old floor coverings are bulky. If you want them left for you to take to the tip, the price should drop for that reason and the quote should say so.
Dust and adhesive smells matter if someone sleeps in the house that night. Ask about ventilation of the room and how long before furniture goes back. Do not take a drying time from a general note. Take it from the product the fitter names.
Sequence the house if you will live in it during the work. A sensible order is the rooms you can empty first, then the hall, with a path left so you are not trapped behind wet adhesive. Say which room must stay usable overnight. If the only toilet is in a room being floored, the fitter needs to know the pan has to be usable again before they leave, or you need another plan. Write that constraint into the enquiry so it is priced, not discovered at 4pm.
If you are a tenant, do not order a new floor that the agreement does not allow. Ask the landlord in writing what covering they will accept, and whether they want the old one kept. A written quote cannot read your tenancy. A fitter's quote is not permission from the landlord. If you own the house and a buyer will see the floor later, keep the product name and the fitter's invoice with the other house papers.
A comparison table
| Topic | Write this in the enquiry | What a weak quote does |
|---|---|---|
| Rooms | Name each room and the covering | Says "downstairs" |
| Product | Name or a clear description, and who supplies it | Says "good quality" |
| Preparation | Remove old covering, level, or leave | Assumes a perfect base |
| Edges | Doors, skirting, trims, stairs | Leaves them for later |
| Furniture and appliances | Who moves them | Assumes an empty house |
| Waste | Taken away or left | Silent, then a pile in the garden |
| Time on site | Rooms you need that night | No sequence |
| Money | Fixed total, VAT, how long the price lasts | A verbal day rate [S1] |
Citizens Advice says to try for at least three written quotes, and to be wary of a trader who will not write the price down [S1]. A quote is a fixed price. An estimate is a rough guess and can rise [S1]. A price much lower than the others may be a different specification [S1].
Some traders charge for quotes. Ask before they travel [S1]. If an advert says there is no call-out charge, the Advertising Standards Authority says that is fair only when there is no charge for the journey, the first look, or any other fee before you agree the work [S7].
Where a deposit pays for materials, Citizens Advice says to keep it to no more than 25 per cent if you cannot avoid one, and to get a receipt [S1]. VAT is due in the quote if the business is registered. Registration is required when taxable turnover for the last 12 months goes over £90,000 [S6].
Honest status: QuoteZila is new. We're starting in Cheshire, beginning with Crewe, Nantwich and Sandbach, and growing area by area. Anyone in the UK can still post a job or register a business. How fast you get quotes depends on how many local businesses have joined near you. Businesses can register and receive jobs straight away. We don't check insurance, qualifications or registrations, so please check these yourself before you hire.
Jobs you might post
These are examples, not taken from real job posts.
- Fit carpet and underlay to three bedrooms and the landing, customer moves furniture, stairs included, waste taken away.
- Supply and fit sheet vinyl in a bathroom and a kitchen after the old sheet is lifted, doors eased, no tiling.
- Quote two options for a lounge, carpet or click vinyl, on a concrete floor, with the fireplace hearth left as it is.
Anyone in the UK can post a job or register. Add the town. A lounge in Crewe, a cottage room in Nantwich and a house in Sandbach need the same kind of description: rooms, covering, and what is on the floor today.
Get flooring quotes
List the rooms and the covering. Up to five matched local businesses can reply [QZ2]. QuoteZila is free for customers and local businesses [QZ1].
This page is general information, not professional or legal advice. QuoteZila does not check Gas Safe, WaterSafe, NFRC, NICEIC or other registrations against the register on your behalf: look them up yourself.
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Questions about flooring quotes
Why is a single flooring price not printed?
Carpet in one bedroom, vinyl in a bathroom and tile in a kitchen are three jobs. A blended 'per room' figure would pretend they are the same. Ask a fitter to price named rooms with a named covering, including preparation and trims, and compare those papers.
Does a new covering need planning permission?
The Planning Portal says planning permission is not generally required to replace a floor or a ceiling. Contact the local planning authority if the house is listed. Changing the surface in an ordinary room is a different question from replacing the structural deck underneath.
When does preparation become building work?
If more than 25 per cent of a solid or suspended floor is renovated by replacing the screed or the timber deck, the Planning Portal says the work has to meet Approved Document standards. A new carpet on a sound floor is not that. A new deck across most of a room can be. Ask building control if you are unsure.
What makes two flooring quotes impossible to compare?
One includes underlay, gripper, door bars and moving the bed. The other is labour only on materials you supply, in an empty room. Citizens Advice says a much lower price can mean the work is not the same. Put the same list in front of each fitter.
Should I accept a day rate?
Citizens Advice says a daily rate instead of a fixed price can lead to work being stretched, and suggests writing down how many days the job will take and how many hours count as a day. A fixed quote for named rooms is easier to compare.
Does QuoteZila check fitters?
No. We don't check insurance, qualifications or registrations, so please check these yourself before you hire. You can report a quote or a business from your job page.
Related reading
- Flooring fitters
- Tilers when the covering is ceramic or porcelain
- Carpet cleaners if you want the carpet you have cleaned rather than replaced
- Locksmith cost as another guide to a written quote
- Wooden flooring when the covering is timber
- Carpet washing when the carpet stays
- All cost guides
Part of Cost guides. All services
Related trades
Cost guides
Related pages
- Laminate Flooring Quotes: What Changes the Price. What moves a laminate flooring quote: the floor underneath, old coverings, trims, doors and who buys the boards. This guide prints no price per square metre.
- LVT Flooring Cost: What Changes the Price. What moves an LVT flooring quote: glue-down or click, subfloor preparation, laying patterns, wet rooms, heating and trims. No price per square metre shown.
Sources
- QZ1: QuoteZila product fact. QuoteZila pricing line.
- QZ2: QuoteZila product fact. QuoteZila terms.
- S1: Before you get building work done, Citizens Advice. Accessed 2026-10-27. https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/getting-home-improvements-done/before-you-get-building-work-done/
- S2: Floor insulation, Planning Portal. Accessed 2026-10-27. https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/energy-saving/floor-insulation/
- S3: Building regulations: floor insulation, Planning Portal. Accessed 2026-10-27. https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/insulation/building-regulations-floor-insulation
- S4: When you need building regulations approval, GOV.UK. Accessed 2026-10-27. https://www.gov.uk/building-regulations-approval
- S5: Planning permission: ceilings and floors, Planning Portal. Accessed 2026-10-27. https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/ceilings-and-floors/planning-permission/
- S6: Register for VAT, GOV.UK. Accessed 2026-10-27. https://www.gov.uk/register-for-vat
- S7: Call-out charges, Advertising Standards Authority. Accessed 2026-10-27. https://www.asa.org.uk/advice-online/call-out-charges.html