How to quote for flooring (LVT, laminate and tiling)

Flooring looks like the simplest job to price: measure the room, multiply by a rate, lay the floor. Then you lift the old covering and find an uneven screed, a damp slab, or a subfloor that needs levelling before anything can go down. The money in flooring, and the reason jobs go wrong, lives in the subfloor prep, not the lovely finish on top. Here is how to survey the job, what really drives the price, and how to structure the quote so the customer understands what they're paying for.

Survey the subfloor, not just the room

You can't price flooring off a room size over the phone. Go and see it, and where you can, get a look at what's under the existing covering, because that's what decides the labour. A flat, dry, sound subfloor is a quick lay. An uneven floor, a damp slab, old adhesive to remove, or a mix of levels between rooms are all far slower, and the customer rarely realises that until you lift the carpet.

• Measure the rooms and check how level the floor is across the whole area, not just one spot.
• Find out what the subfloor is: timber boards, chipboard, a concrete slab or screed, each behaves differently.
• Check for moisture, especially on ground-floor solid floors, because laying over a damp subfloor will fail.
• Note what's coming up first: lifting old flooring, removing adhesive or gripper, and disposing of it is real work.
• Look at the transitions: doorways, thresholds and where different floor types meet all need finishing.

Subfloor prep is where it goes wrong

The laying is the quick, satisfying part. The cost, and the risk, is in getting the subfloor right first. Make the prep visible on the quote, because a floor laid over a bad subfloor telegraphs every lump and either lifts, cracks or fails, and then you're back fixing it for free.

• Lifting and disposing of the old floor covering, gripper, adhesive or screed.
• Levelling: a self-levelling compound or ply overlay so the finish has a flat, sound base.
• Moisture: checking the slab and, where needed, a damp-proof membrane or the right primer for the conditions.
• Priming and the right preparation for the specific subfloor and the floor type going down.

Moisture and levelling are the two big risks

Two things sink a flooring job if you ignore them. Moisture, because LVT, laminate and tiles all fail in their own way over a damp subfloor, and a ground-floor solid slab is exactly where this catches people out. Levelling, because the finish only ever looks as good as the surface under it, and an uneven subfloor shows through and causes movement. Price the checks and the prep these need rather than assuming the floor is sound, and explain to the customer why they're there. Skipping them to look cheaper is how a quote turns into a callback.

Transitions, thresholds and the fiddly bits

The edges are where flooring gets fiddly and where time disappears. Doorway thresholds, the joins between different floor types, trims around units and around the perimeter, and tricky cuts around pipes and awkward corners all add labour that a flat per-metre rate ignores. With tiling, factor in the setting out, the cutting and the grouting; with LVT and laminate, the expansion gaps, the trims and the thresholds. State what's included so a customer doesn't expect every threshold and trim thrown in if it wasn't priced.

Supply-only or supply-and-fit?

Be clear, on the quote, whether you're supplying the flooring or just fitting what the customer provides. The two are very different. If you're supply-and-fit, price the material from your suppliers, allow for wastage and cuts, and you're responsible for the lot. If it's fit-only, state that the quote excludes the flooring, that you're not responsible for a material the customer chose or for shortfalls if they under-ordered, and that you'll need it on site and acclimatised before you start. Spelling this out up front avoids the classic argument over who pays when there isn't enough material to finish.

Price your own labour and materials

Work your labour from the realistic time the prep, the levelling, the laying and the edges actually take, not just the open-floor square metres. Price your materials from your suppliers: the flooring if you're supplying it, plus levelling compound, primer, adhesive, trims, thresholds, beading and consumables. Price your own materials and labour for the rooms in front of you, because a flat, dry, sound subfloor and a damp, uneven one are completely different jobs for the same floor area.

For the standard sections every quote should carry, see what every professional quote should include. And because you often can't tell how bad the subfloor is until you lift the old covering, our guide on quote vs estimate explains when to give a fixed price and when to estimate.