Catford is close-packed Victorian and Edwardian terraces, much of it in flats or shared houses. The original pine boards are very often still there, and in converted flats they are frequently in better condition than in a family house simply because they have seen less traffic.
The floors we find in Catford
Softwood and pitch pine boards, narrow and consistent, laid over joists. Around Bellingham there is significant 1920s and 1930s cottage-estate housing built by the council, also with softwood boards. Later conversions have introduced patched sections and, in some flats, chipboard over the originals.
Is it worth sanding a floor in a rental property?
Often yes, and for practical reasons rather than aesthetic ones. A sealed wood floor survives tenancies far better than carpet, which typically needs replacing every few years. A lacquered floor in a Catford flat will take ten years of tenants and can be re-coated rather than replaced when it dulls — re-coating is a fraction of the cost of a full sand. The counter-argument is acoustics: if the lease requires carpet, that decides it.
What a job in Catford usually involves
- Survey and moisture check. We measure board thickness and check whether the floor has been sanded before. On a board already sanded two or three times there may not be enough timber left, and we will say so.
- Repairs first. Loose, split or missing boards are fixed before any sanding. Sanding a loose board just produces a smooth loose board.
- Dust-free sanding. Coarse grit to remove the old finish and damage, then progressively finer grits until the surface is closed.
- Gap filling, if wanted. Resin and sanding dust for hairline gaps, timber slivers for wider ones. A hard-wearing lacquer plus filled gaps is the practical specification for anything rented out.
- Finish. Hardwax oil, lacquer or oil, two or three coats.
How long it takes and what it costs
A single room in Catford is usually one to two days; a whole ground floor three to five. Guide rates are £25–£32 per m² for standard boards and £32–£42 per m² for parquet, with a £550 minimum project cost. We are not VAT registered, so there is nothing to add on top. Full detail on the prices page.
Services available in Catford
Floor sanding and restoration, parquet restoration, wood floor fitting, herringbone and chevron fitting, engineered floor fitting, floorboard repairs, staining and colour changes, and re-oiling or re-coating.
Nearby areas we also cover
Bellingham, Hither Green, Rushey Green, Southend, Forest Hill, Lewisham, Beckenham and Bromley. See other areas we cover.
Get a price for your Catford floor
Send a photo to info@epic-floors.com or call 07344 467352. We can usually tell from a picture whether a floor needs sanding, repair or replacing, and give you a ballpark before visiting. Open Monday to Saturday, 8am to 6pm.
Recent floors
Get a free quote
Tell us about your floor and we will come back to you with a price. A photo gets you a far more accurate answer.