So, you’ve decided on a wood or stone look design, consulted with your local retailer, placed the order and booked the installation date – exciting! Now, what’s next? What you should do before your new floor is fitted? It’s one of our most common questions, so here are a few of your ponderings answered, as well as tips and advice on how to make your flooring installation go as smoothly as possible.

Pre-installation:

Clear the room – To ensure a quick and easy installation, it’s important to clear your room and free it of as much furniture as possible. The less the fitter has to work around, the quicker your new floor will be laid and ready for you to enjoy!

Allow access – If your existing floor is unsuitable to lay on top of, then the fitter will have to lift it up, remove and dispose of it. To make life less complicated, ensure that they have easy access to and from the room.

Leave your skirting boards on – Many people ask us if they need to prepare their skirting boards in any particular way – answer: nope! The fitter will lay your Karndean to the skirting as tightly as possible, or depending on the subfloor, underneath the skirting. So, there’s no need for you to remove miles of skirting board…phew!

Get the room temperature right – Prior to laying Karndean, it’s good to let the product acclimatise to room temperature for 24 hours*. Also, if your room has underfloor heating, make sure it’s been switched off for at least 48 hours prior to fitting day.

Flooring is the final touch – If the new floor is part of a kitchen or bathroom renovation, it’s best to have your floor installed last. Simply so you don’t lose or hide any of the flooring to a kitchen cupboard or bath – and also to avoid any accidental damage whilst units are being fitted.

Installation day:
When your fitter arrives, go through the plan for the day, their timescales and whether they have any requirements. It’s good to discuss the laying pattern and find out whether they’ll be dry laying the floor first, so you can see how it will look before its secured in place (also known as a cheeky preview!).

If the floor is being installed in your kitchen, depending on its size, be mindful that fitting could take more than a day or two. As such, you may want to set up a temporary “kitchen” area in another room with a small fridge, kettle, microwave and toaster. So neither yourself, nor the fitter, will go without a well-deserved refreshment.

Post-installation
To protect your wonderful new floor, as well as insure its longevity, invest in a pack of felt furniture gliders. These protective pads will allow you to move furniture around with ease and without the fear of causing scuffs or scratch marks.

Obviously you’ll be keen to maintain that clean, new-floor look. Using mats to trap dirt and moisture from outside is a perfect addition to minimise cleaning time. It’s worth checking with your retailer to find out if they supply mats suitable to use on our floors.