Dartford spans two very different kinds of property — Victorian terraces around the old town centre, and a large amount of modern riverside development. The right approach to a floor here depends almost entirely on which of the two you are in.
The floors we find in Dartford
The terraces near the centre and up towards Wilmington have original pine boards, often under laminate laid in the 1990s and 2000s. The riverside developments at Stone and Greenhithe are overwhelmingly engineered board over concrete slab, frequently with underfloor heating.
Can a floor over underfloor heating be sanded?
Yes, if it is engineered and the wear layer is thick enough. What changes is everything around the sanding. The heating must be turned off and the floor allowed to come down to room temperature over several days before we start, and brought back up slowly afterwards — bringing the heat back too quickly after a new finish causes the boards to move and the finish to check. We also cannot nail anything, so any loose board has to be bonded rather than fixed mechanically.
What a job in Dartford 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. Engineered floors over heating should generally not be gap filled — the boards need to move seasonally, and rigid filler will crack or push the joints apart.
- Finish. Hardwax oil, lacquer or oil, two or three coats.
How long it takes and what it costs
A single room in Dartford 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 Dartford
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
Stone, Greenhithe, Wilmington, Joyce Green, Temple Hill, Crayford, Swanley and Bexley. See other areas we cover.
Get a price for your Dartford 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.