Why Cavendish deVere?

We fit all our floors to the very highest standards - which is why we were voting 'Best Bespoke Fitting Company of the Year' in 2018 for the entire London area.

We only use the very best, most experienced wood floor installers who have a very different skill-set to out carpet and hard flooring teams. That is how we can offer our famous 12 month installation warranty on all our installations.

Why have a wooden floor?

Wood is one of the most beautiful materials you can fit to a floor. It has timeless appeal, it's warm under-foot, works well with under-floor heating and a high quality wood floor will last for decades - in some cases it ages better over time.

Buy the most expensive you can afford and get it installed properly. You will almost always get your money back on a quality wooden floor when it comes time to sell, so it is worth the investment over almost any other type of flooring.

Types of wooden floors we fit

• We supply & fit parquet floors and flooring blocks
• Engineered flooring installations
• Wood plank and panels
• We supply and fit laminate floors
• Bespoke and specialist wood flooring designs
• We supply and fit wooden wall cladding

As with any other floor the subfloor preparation is key. This is one of the most common failings when DIY is attempted, general builders are asked to undertake wooden floor installations or inexperienced flooring companies experienced in fitting carpet etc. We take great care to ensure the subfloor is perfect for the wooden flooring project to be successful and to ensure it has a long life.

Full 360 degree wooden flooring service

In addition to the subfloor, wood floor installations have some unique aspects that must be considered before undertaking.

Dust Control

In a working home, shop or office, dust can be a major problem when undertaking a wooden floor installation. Properly cleaned floors free from dust help with better adhesion and adjacent rooms and their contents should be protected and sealed off. We spend a lot of time prepping the areas to minimize cleaning at the end because wood sawing equipment can capture only a percentage of the dust released. We are also one of the only installation companies using air purifiers to extract dust from the air. Nevertheless, you must be prepared for a good builder's clean at the end of the project.

Moisture checking

Incorrect moisture is another reason for wooden floor installation failures. We will ensure that moisture is within acceptable tolerances to minimise the risk of expansion or contraction within the new floor. A wood floor must be allowed to acclimatise to the humidity and temperature in the property during autumn and winter seasons.

Sub-floor preparation for wood floors

The sub-floor must be clean, level, solid and dry, free from dust and debris. We like to undertake the subfloor preparation ourselves to remove unevenness from the floor and improve the bonding of the adhesives. In some installations a liquid damp-proof membrane will be applied to the top of a concrete floor to protect against rising damp.

Wood floor installation methods

There are many methods of installing a wooden floor but unless there are special circumstances which dictate it, we always recommend the 'stick-down' adhesive method for engineered wood floors. This makes the floor a part of the building, reduces the hollow sound that a floating floor makes when walked upon and makes it much less likely the floor will buckle in extreme heat or cold or if the floor gets wet.

Other wood floor installation methods

Floating 'Click' - A glueless method useful for installations of thin engineered wood flooring and laminates. As we don't sell thin engineered wood we don't use it often but each plank locks to the next without the need for glue. As the planks are not fixed to the sub-floor an underlay can be installed for extra sound insulation. Most often this technique is used for fitting quality laminate floors.

Floating 'Tongue & Groove' - Each plank attaches to the other like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and allows the installation of flooring planks with a thickness of 18mm plus.

Nail-Down - Using the invisible nail method, nails are hammered below the surface of the plank at an angle of 45 degrees, pushing the plank down and backwards and into the previous row. A good technique for fitting thick, good quality hardwood.

Our suppliers

We have a small range of cost effective wood floors but we mostly specialize in high end, bespoke, beautiful wood floors that offer something unique. Most of our wooden floors are sourced from Tedd Todd, where we are a preferred supplier and V4 Wooden flooring.