Can a new internal door fit an old frame?
Usually, yes. Doors come in standard sizes and are trimmed to fit the frame, then hung on hinges cut neatly into the edge. In older Leicester terraces and semis, frames are often slightly out of square, so careful trimming matters more than the door itself.
If the frame is split, loose or badly out of line, it may be better to repair or replace it at the same time. We'll tell you from the photos, or on the day before we go further.
If the old door is a fire door, for example between the house and an integral garage, or in a flat or a house with rooms on three floors, the new one should normally be a fire door too. Check with us before you buy.
Laminate or engineered wood: which floor suits my room?
Laminate is hard-wearing and good value, and it suits most living rooms, bedrooms and hallways. Engineered wood has a real wood top layer on a stable core, so it looks and feels like timber but copes with temperature changes better than solid boards.
Standard laminate is usually a poor choice for bathrooms, because water at the joints makes it swell. Some ranges are made for wetter rooms, so check the maker's guidance.
What's underneath matters as much as the floor you choose. A concrete floor needs a damp-proof layer under the underlay, and an uneven subfloor needs levelling first or the joints can open up later. We check this from your photos and say in the quote what preparation is included.
- Laminate
- Tough, good value, quick to lay.
- Engineered wood
- Real wood surface, more stable than solid boards.
- Solid wood
- Can be sanded many times; moves more with heat and damp.
- Underfloor heating
- Check the floor maker says it's suitable before you buy.
What happens to skirting and doors when a new floor goes down?
The neatest finish is to take the skirting off, lay the floor, then refit the skirting over the expansion gap. If the skirting is staying, a slim beading covers the gap instead. We'll agree which in the quote.
A new floor often raises the floor level slightly, so doors may need a little taken off the bottom. Where the floor meets another room, a threshold strip finishes the edge. Both are part of the job, not a surprise at the end.
Old carpet grippers, nails and staples are lifted before the new floor goes down.
Can creaking or damaged floorboards be repaired?
Most creaks come from boards that have worked loose over the years. They can usually be screwed down, and split or rotten sections cut out and replaced.
Under the floor there are often cables and pipes, so we check before any screws go in. Because Norman is also an electrician and plumber, anything found under the boards can be looked at in the same visit. If the problem turns out to be in the joists themselves, that's structural work, and we'll tell you it needs a builder.
If the boards are coming up anyway, it's a good moment to think about extra sockets, a new cable run or moving a radiator pipe. Doing it while the floor is open saves lifting it again later.