The floor is chosen, the boxes are stacked in the hall, and a van arrives at eight. What happens next is routine for the fitters and a mystery to most customers, which is where fitting-day friction usually comes from.
Before a single board goes down
The room has to be empty. Genuinely empty, not 'we pushed the sofa to one side'. Some fitters move furniture and charge for the time, many won't touch pianos, fish tanks or wardrobes for insurance reasons, and every hour spent shifting your belongings is an hour not spent fitting. Ask when booking whose job it is, then hold up your end.
Then comes uplift of the old floor, and with it the day's first decisions. Old carpet and underlay go in a skip or, more often, get taken away for a disposal charge that should have been in the quote. What is under the old floor is the real unknown: fitters find rot, old adhesive, cracked screed and creaking chipboard weekly, and no honest quote can price what nobody has seen. A good fitter shows you the problem, explains the fix and prices it before carrying on. Budget a margin for this rather than being ambushed by it.
The fit itself is the quick part
Once the subfloor is sound and level, laying the floor is the part that goes fast, and watching a good crew work a room is genuinely satisfying. The time is in the edges: scribing boards around door frames and pipes, undercutting architraves, and fitting thresholds where the new floor meets carpet or tiles. Doors often need trimming once the new floor sits higher than the old one, so ask in advance whether the fitters do it or whether you need a carpenter after.
At the end of the day
Walk the room with the fitter before the van leaves. Check thresholds, listen for movement, ask what to expect as the floor settles, and get care instructions for the specific finish, not generic ones. Keep spare boards, a future repair will thank you.
The flooring companies listed on this site show whether they supply and fit or fit only, and where they work. If you are still comparing, describe the room and get local quotes, and mention what the current floor is, because uplift is half the day.
