Hardwood flooring installation is where a good floor is made or ruined. The same boards can last fifty years or cup within a season, depending on the slab, the moisture, the adhesive and the fitter. In South Africa the work ranges from nailing solid oak to battens in a Cape Town cottage to gluing engineered boards to a new screed on a Gauteng estate. Send one request with your rooms and what is under them, and local wooden floor fitters and hardwood flooring contractors quote you directly. It is free and there is no obligation.
How wooden floors are fitted
There are three common methods, and the right one depends on the boards and the subfloor:
- Glue down: boards bonded to a clean, dry, flat screed with a flexible adhesive. Quiet and solid underfoot, and the usual choice for solid wood and engineered boards on concrete.
- Nail or secret-nail: boards fixed through the tongue to timber battens or a ply deck. Common for pine, kiaat and Rhodesian teak on suspended floors.
- Floating: tongue and groove glued together and laid loose over underlay. Quick, and suited to engineered boards. See engineered wood flooring.
Subfloor preparation and moisture
Preparation takes as long as the laying. A fitter checks the slab with a straightedge, grinds high spots, fills low ones with a levelling compound and vacuums the dust so the adhesive bonds. A new screed holds water for weeks, so contractors take a reading with a moisture meter and will not lay until it is dry enough for the product. Ask what reading they work to and whether a damp-proof membrane is needed over the slab.
Boards should lie in the room for several days to acclimatise before they go down. Then an expansion gap is left at every wall, hidden later by skirting and trims.
What drives the cost
Fitting laminate costs about R80 to R150 per m². Solid wood runs about R1,000 to R2,500 per m² supplied and fitted, and the spread comes from the timber, the board width and the preparation. A perfectly flat slab is cheaper to work on than an uneven one. Stairs, patterns, removing an old floor and sanding and finishing on site all add time. Parquet and herringbone take longer to lay than straight boards. See hardwood flooring for the timbers themselves.
Comparing fitters' quotes
Ask every contractor to list the same things: preparation and levelling, adhesive or fixings, underlay or membrane, expansion gaps, doorway trims, removal of the old floor, finishing, and the days on site. Ask to see a floor they laid a year ago. A fitter who measures the room, tests the slab and asks about furniture and underfloor heating is usually the one who will still answer the phone when a board lifts.
What to include in your request
- Room sizes in square metres
- Slab, screed or timber floor underneath
- The boards you want, or ask for advice
- Whether sanding and finishing is needed
- The suburb and when rooms are empty
Wooden Floor Installation for different clients
- Homeowners: solid or engineered boards laid through living areas and bedrooms by an experienced fitter
- Flats and townhouses: floated floors on acoustic underlay that respect the body corporate's noise rules
- Builders, developers and renovators: glue-down floors laid once the screed has dried and been tested for moisture
- Landlords and letting agents: quick, durable fitting between tenants with minimal days of lost rent
- Offices, practices and showrooms: boards laid in boardrooms and reception areas after hours or over a weekend
- Guesthouses, lodges and restaurants: warm timber floors in guest rooms and lounges, fitted room by room to keep beds available
- Shops, salons and cafés: shop floors laid overnight so the boutique opens on time
- Schools, halls, gyms and studios: hardwood floors for halls and studios, laid and finished during school holidays
Frequently asked questions
How much does wooden floor installation cost in South Africa?
Can wooden floors be laid straight on a concrete slab?
How long should boards acclimatise before fitting?
Do you install the floors yourselves?
Wooden Floor Installation by province and city
- Johannesburg
- Pretoria
- Centurion
- Midrand
- Sandton
- Randburg
- Roodepoort
- Krugersdorp
- Randfontein
- Germiston
- Boksburg
- Benoni
- Kempton Park
- Alberton
- Vanderbijlpark
- Vereeniging
- Durban
- Pinetown
- Pietermaritzburg
- Richards Bay
- Newcastle
- Ladysmith
- Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth)
- East London
- Kariega (Uitenhage)
- Mthatha
- Cape Town
- Bellville
- Paarl
- Stellenbosch
- George
- Worcester
- eMalahleni (Witbank)
- Middelburg
- Secunda
- Mbombela (Nelspruit)
- Rustenburg
- Brits
- Klerksdorp
- Potchefstroom
- Mahikeng
- Polokwane
- Tzaneen
- Kimberley
- Upington
- Bloemfontein
- Welkom
- Sasolburg