Sevenoaks has some of the best period housing anywhere in our area, and correspondingly some of the best floors. Wide oak and elm boards, original parquet, and a lot of properties where restoration is unquestionably the right choice over replacement.
The floors we find in Sevenoaks
Georgian and Victorian houses with wide, slow-grown boards — often 7 to 9 inches, sometimes wider — in oak, elm or pitch pine. A significant number of properties have original parquet in reception rooms and halls. There are also listed and conservation-area properties where what you can do to a floor is constrained.
Should a very old floor be sanded at all?
Sometimes not. On a genuinely old floor — Georgian or early Victorian — aggressive sanding destroys the patina, the slight cupping and the surface history that give it its value. In those cases the right treatment is often a light abrasion and re-oil rather than a full sand back to bare timber. In a listed building it may also be restricted. We look first and tell you honestly when doing less is the better answer; that is not a job we try to talk you into.
What a job in Sevenoaks 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. Wide old boards move a great deal seasonally. Slivers, cut from matching reclaimed stock, are usually the only filling that survives more than a couple of years.
- Finish. Hardwax oil, lacquer or oil, two or three coats.
How long it takes and what it costs
A single room in Sevenoaks 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 Sevenoaks
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
Riverhead, Dunton Green, Otford, Kemsing, Seal, Chipstead, Weald and Swanley. See other areas we cover.
Get a price for your Sevenoaks 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.