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What changes the price of wooden flooring?
In Cheshire, a wooden floor price follows the product, the state of the subfloor and how the edges, doors and finish are handled. No price per metre is printed, because no dated public customer price is used.
Last reviewed:Wooden flooring in a Cheshire house
In Cheshire, a wooden floor job is the supply and fitting of a timber or timber-faced floor, plus the work that makes it sit properly: the subfloor, the door heights, the trims and the finish. It is not a price for "wood" in the abstract. Crewe, Nantwich and Sandbach houses range from suspended timber ground floors to concrete slabs, and the same board behaves differently on each.
This guide does not print a rate per square metre. Use the sections below to describe your rooms so each fitter prices the same thing.
Which product you are actually buying
Say the product in words a merchant would recognise.
Solid boards are timber through their thickness. They move more with the heating season. A quote should say the species, the thickness and the width, and whether the fitter is secret-nailing them to timber or laying them as a floating floor. Those are different methods.
Engineered boards have a timber face on a stable core. The quote should name the wear-layer thickness if the seller has published one, the overall thickness, and whether the floor is floated, stuck down or fixed. If the quote only says "engineered", you cannot compare it with another quote that names a product.
Parquet and blocks are small pieces, often stuck to a solid base. Preparation of that base is most of the labour. Ask whether the quote includes grinding or levelling, and what happens to the old adhesive.
Finishes are separate. Some boards arrive pre-finished. Some are sanded and coated after laying. A pre-finished floor that is later sanded on site may void the face you paid for. Ask before you assume the fitter will sand a factory finish.
Reclaimed boards are another product: lengths vary, nails may be hidden, and thickness may not match room to room. Ask who sorts them and who allows for wastage. Do not invent a wastage percentage. Ask the fitter to state the allowance they have used.
The subfloor decides the labour
A fitter cannot price from a room size alone. Walk the floor and write what you feel.
- A solid slab that is dry and level is a different base from a slab that needs a damp-proof layer or a levelling compound.
- A suspended timber floor that bounces, squeaks or has gaps is a repair before it is a new floor. Say so, or the new boards will copy the movement.
- Old tiles, bitumen or carpet gripper left in place will be in somebody's price. Say whether you want them removed.
- Kitchens and bathrooms need a note about water, appliances and the toilet pan. A wood floor butted against a bath is a detailing job.
- Underfloor heating, if you have it, must be named. Not every timber product is sold for use over heating. Ask the fitter to follow the product instructions rather than guess.
The Planning Portal says renovation of more than 25 per cent of a solid or suspended floor, involving replacement of the screed or the timber floor deck, has to meet the standards in the building regulations Approved Documents [S1]. Putting a new wood surface on top of a deck you are keeping is not, by itself, that sentence. Replacing the deck across most of a room is. Insulation added in the floor has to meet the energy-efficiency values in those documents [S1]. If insulation is part of your job, say so. If it is not, say that too, so nobody assumes it.
On a suspended ground floor, do not let the work block under-floor airbricks. The Planning Portal says floorboards rot without adequate ventilation [S2]. A new floor that covers those openings, or a skirt of insulation that seals them, is a defect, not a tidy edge. Mention the airbricks in the enquiry if the rooms are on the ground floor.
Planning permission and listed houses
The Planning Portal says planning permission is not generally required to replace a floor or a ceiling [S3]. Replacing a decorative floor covering is the everyday case that sentence is aimed at. If you live in a listed building, the same page says you should contact the local planning authority [S3]. In a listed house the boards, the nails and even the patina can be part of what is protected. Ask before a sander or a pallet of new boards arrives.
Building regulations approval is a separate system from planning permission. GOV.UK says you might need approval for alteration projects, including some that are not on its example list, and that you should check with a building control body if you cannot decide [S4]. A straight overlay on a sound floor is often outside that worry. A new deck, a change to the structure, or insulation in the floor is the moment to ask. You do not need to arrange approval yourself if the person you hire is registered with a competent person scheme that covers the work [S4]. Flooring is not automatically that scheme. Ask.
Edges, doors and the rooms next door
The price moves at the edges more than in the middle of a clear room.
Doors may need trimming so they clear the new thickness. Ask who takes the doors off, who cuts them, and who refits the ironmongery. A quote that says "customer to ease doors" is a different price from one that includes it.
Skirting may sit on top of the new floor or be undercut so the boards slide beneath. Undercutting is slower and dustier. Say which you want, and whether skirting is being replaced anyway as part of decorating.
Thresholds between wood and carpet, tile or the stairs need a trim. Name each doorway. Stairs themselves are usually a separate rate and a separate skill. If the landing is in the job and the flight is not, draw that line in the enquiry.
Furniture moving, appliance disconnection and the toilet being unseated are either in the price or they are your job. Write it down. A kitchen fitted around a washing machine is an access problem, not a footnote.
Protection of stairs and decoration, and how dust is kept out of bedrooms, belong in the conversation. Sanding an unfinished floor in an occupied house is a different visit from clicking a pre-finished floating floor into an empty room.
What to compare
| Line | Ask the fitter to state | A mismatch looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Product | Species or name, thickness, width, pre-finished or not | Two "oak floors" that are not the same board |
| Who buys it | Supply-and-fit, or labour only | A low labour price beside a supply-and-fit price |
| Subfloor | What they will do if it is damp, uneven or loose | An extra that appears on day one |
| Perimeter | Skirting, door trimming, thresholds | Doors that will not close |
| Finish | None, oil, lacquer, or factory finish left alone | A sanding charge you did not expect |
| Waste and storage | Where packs are kept, who removes offcuts | A hall blocked for a week |
| VAT | Included or not | Totals that cannot be lined up [S5] |
| How long the price lasts | A date | Timber bought later at another figure |
Citizens Advice says to try for written quotes from at least three traders, and to be cautious when one price is much lower, because the work may not match [S6]. A quote is a fixed price. An estimate is a rough guess, and you might pay more [S6]. Some traders charge for a quote, so ask before they visit [S6].
If a deposit is requested for timber, Citizens Advice says not to agree more than 25 per cent where a deposit cannot be avoided, and to get a receipt [S6]. Ask for the packs to be in your name or stored so you can identify them.
A business must register for VAT when its taxable turnover for the last 12 months goes over £90,000 [S5]. Ask whether the figure in front of you includes it.
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.
- Supply and fit an engineered oak floor to a level concrete lounge and hall, trim two doors, and leave the stairs carpeted.
- Fix solid boards to an existing timber first floor after loose boards are screwed, with the customer moving furniture.
- Lift a worn parquet floor in one room, prepare the base, and relay blocks, listed-building status unknown so the fitter should pause if consent is needed.
Anyone in the UK can post or register. Put the town on the job. A ground floor with airbricks in the outside wall needs those bricks kept open [S2]. If the deck is concrete, say that too. Describe the plan of the rooms, including any turn in the middle, rather than assuming a fitter knows the street. Crewe, Nantwich and Sandbach are simply the towns to name on the enquiry.
Get wooden flooring quotes
Name the product and the subfloor. 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.
Posting a job is not open yet
Questions about wooden flooring
Why is a single wooden floor price not printed?
Solid boards, engineered boards and a parquet block are different products, and a level concrete subfloor is a different base from a bouncing timber one. A single metre rate would hide that. Ask fitters to price one named product on one described subfloor, including the finish and the door trimming.
Do I need planning permission for a wood floor?
The Planning Portal says planning permission is not generally required to replace a floor or a ceiling. If the house is listed, contact the local planning authority before the existing floor is taken up or covered. A new decorative floor in an ordinary house is not the same case as work to a listed interior.
When do building regulations come into a wood floor?
Renovation of more than 25 per cent of a solid or suspended floor, where the screed or the timber floor deck is replaced, has to meet the standards in the Approved Documents. Laying a new covering on a sound deck is not that renovation. Replacing the deck, or adding insulation as the boards come up, can be. Ask building control if the job crosses that line.
What should the fitter's quote list?
Citizens Advice says a quote should carry a fixed total, a breakdown of work and materials, whether VAT is included, and how long the price stays valid. For wood, add the product name, who supplies it, how the subfloor is prepared, and who trims the doors. An estimate is only a rough guess.
Can the boards go down on the day they are delivered?
Ask the fitter and read the product instructions. No number of days is given for timber to sit in the room, because that depends on the product. Write into the quote who stores the packs and what happens if the subfloor is too damp to lay on.
Does QuoteZila check flooring 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
- Carpenters if doors and skirting are a larger joinery job
- House cleaner cost for a different home service quote
- Restoring wooden floors when the boards stay and are refinished
- Flooring more widely when the covering might not be wood
- All cost guides
Part of Cost guides. All services
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- Carpet Calculator: Working Out What You Need. A step-by-step way to work out how much carpet, underlay and gripper a room needs, and why roll width, joins and pile direction move the quote. No price shown.
- Carpet Fitting Cost: What Changes the Price. What changes the cost of carpet fitting: room size and shape, stairs, underlay, gripper, lifting old flooring, floor preparation, furniture, doors and VAT.
- Garage Door Replacement: What Affects Cost. Up-and-over, roller, sectional or side-hinged: what changes a garage door replacement quote in Cheshire, from size and insulation to motors, wiring and removal.
Sources
- QZ1: QuoteZila product fact. QuoteZila pricing line.
- QZ2: QuoteZila product fact. QuoteZila terms.
- S1: Building regulations: floor insulation, Planning Portal. Accessed 2026-10-27. https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/insulation/building-regulations-floor-insulation
- S2: Floor insulation, Planning Portal. Accessed 2026-10-27. https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/energy-saving/floor-insulation/
- S3: Planning permission: ceilings and floors, Planning Portal. Accessed 2026-10-27. https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/ceilings-and-floors/planning-permission/
- S4: When you need building regulations approval, GOV.UK. Accessed 2026-10-27. https://www.gov.uk/building-regulations-approval
- S5: Register for VAT, GOV.UK. Accessed 2026-10-27. https://www.gov.uk/register-for-vat
- S6: 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/