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Wood Flooring in Norwood
We supply and fit wood floors across Norwood — SE19, SE25 and SE27 — from our showroom in Forest Hill, about ten minutes away. Instead of a list of promises, this page walks through one recent job in the area — a whole ground floor laid in smoked oak herringbone — and what a floor like it involves.
Below that, the part that matters if you are pricing a floor of your own: what is usually under an existing floor in these streets, how that changes the method, and where the money actually goes.
A Norwood house, three rooms, one floor
The house is bay-fronted, like most of the street: leaded windows and timber shutters at the front, a stone fireplace in the living room, and a kitchen running through to the garden doors. The ground floor had been opened up, so anything we laid would be seen from all three rooms at once.
That is the argument for running a single floor through the whole level rather than changing at each doorway. A continuous pattern makes an opened-up ground floor read as one room; a threshold strip every few metres does the opposite, and in a house this width it is the difference you notice first.
What is usually under the old floor
Lift an old covering on a ground floor around Norwood and, more often than not, concrete screed is what you find — painted with the remains of old adhesive, patched where pipes once ran, and cracked. This is the stage that decides how the finished floor looks, and the stage nobody photographs for a brochure.
Herringbone is unforgiving about this. Every block is short and set at an angle, so a dip that a long plank would simply bridge turns into a shadow line running across the pattern. On a herringbone job the screed is filled, primed and brought level with a compound before any flooring arrives on site.
The other check on a concrete ground floor is moisture. Older London screeds were often laid over a damp-proof membrane that has since failed, or over none at all, and concrete will push that moisture into a wood floor for years. A meter reading before ordering is what decides whether the floor can be glued straight down or needs a barrier first — and it is cheaper to know in advance than to find out afterwards.
The floor: smoked oak herringbone
The floor is an oak herringbone in a smoked, white-washed finish — a cool grey-brown rather than a warm honey tone. In rooms that get flat northern light for much of the day, a warmer oak tends to read orange; this one stays neutral. The surface is brushed, so the grain is open and everyday marks sit in it instead of on it.
Block size matters more than people expect. In a room of this size a small parquet block would have looked busy; wider blocks keep the pattern readable from the doorway. It is worth putting a few loose blocks down in the room before committing: the same floor reads differently at home than it does under showroom lighting.
Engineered or solid is the other decision. Over a concrete screed — and over underfloor heating, which most kitchen extensions around here now have — an engineered core stays dimensionally stable where solid wood would move with the seasons. You still get a real oak wear layer that can be sanded and refinished. See the difference between engineered and solid floors, or browse the herringbone range for floors like this one.
What decides the cost in a Norwood house
Two houses on the same street can be quoted very differently, and it is almost never the wood that explains the gap.
What is underneath
Victorian and Edwardian terraces around West Norwood and Gipsy Hill usually have suspended timber ground floors — joists, airbricks and a void underneath. Post-war houses, and almost every rear extension, sit on concrete. Timber takes a floating or secret-nailed floor; concrete is normally glued. That single fact changes both the materials list and the number of days on site.
The state of it
Levelling compound, a ply overlay, re-fixing boards that flex underfoot — preparation is the line on a quote that varies most, and the one worth reading closely when you compare two prices.
The pattern
Herringbone and chevron take noticeably longer to lay than plank flooring and produce more offcuts, so both the fitting and the material allowance go up. A plank floor in the same room is the cheaper way to get a wood floor, and there is nothing wrong with it.
Underfloor heating
Engineered board only, glued down, and brought up to temperature gradually over the first week. If heating is going in at the same time, tell us before you choose the floor rather than after.
Where we work around Norwood
West Norwood, Upper Norwood, South Norwood, Gipsy Hill, Crystal Palace, Tulse Hill, Sydenham and Dulwich are all inside our normal working area. Our showroom in Forest Hill is a short drive from any of them, and the floors there are laid out in full boards rather than sample chips — worth the trip before you commit to a colour.
If you would rather decide at home, we post free samples: put them down in the room they are meant for and look at them in the morning and again under the lights in the evening. Most people change their mind at least once, and it is better to do that on a sample than on twenty square metres. Photographs from other jobs around south London are on our recent work page.
Questions we get asked in Norwood
Do you cover SE19, SE25 and SE27?
Yes — all of Norwood and the surrounding area, with the showroom in Forest Hill about ten minutes away. We measure on site before quoting, so you get a price for your rooms rather than a rate per square metre.
Can I have a wood floor over a concrete floor?
Yes, and most ground floors in this part of London are concrete. The screed needs to be level, clean and dry — we check moisture before ordering, and level the base where it needs it, as on the job above.
How long does a herringbone floor take to fit?
Preparation often takes as long as laying. For a ground floor the size of the one on this page, expect the better part of a week, longer if the base needs levelling or the heating is being replaced at the same time. We give dates after seeing the rooms, not before.
Do you fit floors bought somewhere else?
Yes, though we will look at the boards first and say honestly whether they suit the base. Most customers buy and fit through us, which keeps one company answerable for the result.
My boards are original pine — replace or sand?
Often sanding is the better value, and we do that too. If the boards are sound and you like the look of old pine, restoring them costs less than a new floor and keeps what is original to the house.
Herringbone floors we supply
A few of the herringbone floors in stock now — the one in these photographs is a smoked, white-washed oak of this type.
Planning a floor in Norwood?
Send us your room sizes, or book a visit and we will measure and advise on the base before you choose a floor.
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