Wooden flooring in Deptford,including herringbone oak

Solid wood is timber all the way through and can be sanded many times, but it moves more with humidity. Engineered wood has a real timber top layer over a stable core, which makes it less prone to movement and better suited to underfloor heating.

Straight planks suit most rooms and are quicker to lay. Herringbone and chevron add a classic, high-end look but require more cutting, careful setting-out and more time.

One of our reviewers specifically mentioned the beautiful herringbone oak floor Tilermate installed alongside their bathroom renovation.

Wood can be glued down, nailed, or floated over underlay depending on the product and subfloor. Concrete subfloors must be dry; timber subfloors must be solid and flat.

We install wooden floors across London and Surrey, including Notting Hill, Chiswick, Hampstead, Fulham, Parsons Green, Dulwich Village and Oxshott.

No two projects are priced the same, which is why we don't publish fixed prices. The main factors are solid or engineered timber, the board width and grade, the pattern (herringbone takes considerably more labour than straight planks), the condition of the subfloor, and the number of doorways, thresholds and edges to finish. The condition of what's already there matters too: a sound, flat surface is quicker to work on than one that needs repairing or rebuilding first.

The free quote visit is where these factors become clear. Emanuele will explain what's driving the price, flag anything that could change it once work starts, and give you a written quote so you can compare like for like. Payments are then staged at 30% to book, 35% at halfway and 35% on completion, so your money follows the progress you can see.

Wood responds to its environment. Keeping humidity reasonably steady, especially in the first heating season, helps limit seasonal gaps. Felt pads under furniture, mats at external doors and prompt wiping of spills all extend the life of the finish.

Clean with a well-wrung mop and a cleaner made for your floor's finish rather than soaking it. Oiled floors benefit from periodic maintenance oil; lacquered floors need less attention. Solid and thicker engineered floors can be sanded and refinished years later, which is one reason timber is such a long-term investment.

In many London homes, the goal is a continuous floor running through hallway, living and dining rooms. That means checking floor heights between rooms, planning where the pattern starts so it reads correctly from the main entrance, and deciding how to handle transitions to tiled kitchens and bathrooms. Getting this right at the planning stage avoids awkward steps and mismatched joins later.