Floor Fitters in Martlesham and Martlesham Heath

Three places, three kinds of floor

Martlesham Heath

The heath village was laid out from the mid-1970s on the old RAF airfield, as a planned “new village” of hamlets around a green. Houses here are now around fifty years old. Many are on their second or third set of floor coverings, and we often find old vinyl tiles or adhesive residue under the carpet. That layer has to be dealt with before a smooth floor such as LVT or sheet vinyl goes down. Floor tiles and adhesives from that era can contain asbestos. If we suspect it, we stop and advise testing before anything is disturbed.

The old village

The original village sits lower down towards Martlesham Creek, with older cottages and houses along and off the main road. Expect timber floors, uneven levels and the odd solid floor with no damp-proof membrane. Engineered wood suits these homes well, and moisture checks matter.

Brightwell Lakes

The new development beside Adastral Park is adding a large number of homes south of the heath. New-build floors are flat and clean, which is ideal. The catch is moisture: screeds in new houses can still be drying, so we test before fitting wood or glued floors. Many buyers upgrade from the developer’s standard finish to LVT or laminate soon after moving in.

Popular choices locally

• Wood-effect LVT through hall, kitchen and dining room in heath village houses
• Laminate in lounges and bedrooms
• Engineered oak in older village properties
• Herringbone LVT in the open-plan ground floors of new homes
• New bedroom and stair carpet in houses being updated room by room

Our guide to flooring for homes explains how to choose between them.

Updating a 1970s or 1980s house

Refitting a house of this age is a chance to fix what is underneath. Chipboard from the period may have swollen around old leaks. Concrete may have been patched where walls were moved. We survey the whole area to be floored, so the quote covers the preparation and the new floor finishes flat throughout. We level, repair and damp-proof these floors ourselves. See floor preparation.

Flooring a new-build after you move in

Developers usually offer a short list of floor finishes at a fixed price. Many buyers decline and fit their own afterwards, which gives far more choice. Three things are worth knowing first. New screeds and slabs hold moisture for months, so timber and glued floors wait for a test result, not a calendar date. Houses settle and dry out in the first year, so small gaps at skirtings are normal and not a flooring fault. And it is sensible to tell your developer’s customer care team before fixing anything to the floor during the defects period.

One floor across an open-plan ground floor

Newer homes here are often open-plan from hall to kitchen-diner. One continuous floor makes the space feel larger, and it has to suit the hardest-working part of it, which is the kitchen. That usually means LVT, glued down so it can run through without expansion breaks. We set the plank direction from the longest sight line and plan the cuts around islands, bi-fold door tracks and the foot of the stairs.

Getting to you

Martlesham Heath is about six miles east of our base, beside the A12. It is a regular run for us, along with Kesgrave on the way.

Nearby areas

Kesgrave to the west, Woodbridge to the north, and the villages of Waldringfield, Brightwell and Little Bealings. See all service areas.

Local questions