Laminate flooring quote

Cyrilg

Hi there

I've been quoted labour costs of £1250 for the cost of putting down a laminate floor for a 2 bed flat in North London consisting of:

Bedroom 1 - 15 square meter
Bedroom 2 -8 square meters
Lounge - 20 square meter
Kitchen - 8 square meters

And the hall way.

In addition they want me to buy the raw materials and pay for a skip to get rid of waste material.

Does this sound like a lot for labour? They think it will take 3 to 4 days work which seems like a lot as I always thought laminate flooring was quite easy to lay. They will need to shift a bit of furniture but not huge amounts.

Any opinions on the quote?

phill99

I think you would be best getting other quotes. It seems like they want top money for minimum of effort ie you get the materials and the skip. Hardly seems like they want to go out of this way to help you.

And it's metres not meters.

mr_vampy

Is there existing flooring like carpets that need to be removed? What is the condition of the existing sub-floor? Are you having skirting boards replaced or having beading fitted.

How big is your hallway? Anyway, I get 51 square metres excluding the hallway, and to fit laminate and beading in empty rooms, I would charge no more than £600, though I am based in Merseyside. Will probably take about 2 days.

As Phil99 says, best get a few more quotes. The quote you have does seem very high to me.

doubledad

Getting additional quotes is the best suggestion, but try to remember that you'll be employing people who are self-employed. You refer to "they" which suggests more than one person, let's call it two to keep it simple. Two people, over 3 to 4 days (call it 3) equates to 6 days labour. Divide the quoted £1250 by 6 and you get £208.33, now divide that by 2 and each man is earning £104.16 before tax for a days work, knock off roughly 25% for tax and NI and you'll be left with the real figure of £78.12 per man, per day - not a lot is it? You say you're in North London, if that's the case and each man earns that much per day, they're only taking home £390 for a five day week, I don't lay flooring, but i am self-employed, and i earn more than that here in the midlands.

Obviously my figures are rough and make a lot of assumptions, but i come across it all the time, people think they're being ripped off but when they stop and work out the figures, they're actually being charged correctly.

Best advice I can offer - take your time, gather 3 or 4 quotes, check if there are any references available and don't always go with the cheapest option. You want to wait for a tradesman, good ones are always busy. Get everything in writing, or via email before you agree to the work and you should be fine.

john.h

Isnt your maths a bit wrong there? you have divided it by two, twice..

John...

leveller2911

A click style laminate floor will be laid quicker than one that needs glueing.
If you provide the skip and materials then they won't add their profit margin which is a good thing.

IMO its not a bad quote,for 2 men 3 days to fit floors and a day to fit the skirting board trims,door trims etc is not over the top.If its a glue one it would take me longer than 3-4 days to do a neat job:D.