Quote for wooden floor fitting

pk911

I am thinking about replacing the floor in my 20m2 living room. The existing floor is pine (laid on top of original floor), which I'm considering replacing with oak. The sound transmission between my flat and the downstairs flat is quite bad, so I'm also looking into some sound insulation.
I have been quoted £3000 (inc VAT) for:
- lifting and removing existing pine floor (but leaving the original floor intact)
- installing acoustic membrane on top of original floor
- installing 9mm plywood sheet on top of this
- resizing skirting and door as necessary
- installing new oak floor on top of plywood subfloor

The cost does not include the new floor planks, which I need to source myself.
Is it a reasonable quote? I am in London, still it seems rather expensive.

Alternatively they have quoted £1600 to sand, repair and re-stain the existing pine floor. However this would not improve the sound transmission problem. (and also as the floor is pine, will probably look very scratched again in a few years).

thanks for any advice you can give!

phill99

Depends om a number of thngs, particularly the acoustic underlay. Depending on which variety of underlay they have allowed for, this could be up to £600.

Also what do you maan with 'resizing skirting'?

pk911

Hi Phill, thanks for replying
The acoustic underlay quoted for is 2.6mm Tecsound. That section of the quote is £440 + VAT.
The skirting and doors may need to be resized as the final floor height is likely to be a bit higher than at present, due to the underlay + ply making an extra layer.

phill99

But what does 'resizing' mean?

Typically with this kind of installation, the skirtings are removed. Occassionally they can be reused, but typically, new ones need to be installed.

pk911

There is beading that I think they will remove, apart from that I'm not quite sure (I'm sure they explained it on the visit but I've forgotten, sorry). The quote says skirting/door frames etc to be resized in-situ to allow replacement floor to slide underneath. The skirting is original so I would prefer to keep it.
Do you think the quote sounds generally reasonable? [if you are able to deduce this from the info given?]

Marktheshark

If its sand and seal wood, its 3 days work, if its pre-finished its two days work
The membrane is £52 a roll to buy and you need 3 rolls .
9mm ply is £14 a 8x4 sheet at Jewsons
£1500 a day is an awfully good wage for a floor fitter, even in London.

olimain

I recently had a similar job done in SW London a couple of months ago (except carpet removed rather than pine an then oak laid on original floorboards). Your quote does seem pricey.

If you want the details of the firm I used let me know - they work all over town, delighted with the results and quality of finish - architraves were cut away neatly to slot the boards under rather than cutting the boards leaving a gap etc.