A customer has new flooring fitted throughout the ground floor. It looks excellent. Four internal doors now catch on it, the door to the downstairs toilet will not close at all, and the dishwasher cannot be pulled out for servicing.
Every one of those was foreseeable from a measurement nobody took.
1. Establish the existing floor build up
What is down now, including underlay, and what is underneath it. The new height is only knowable in relation to the old one.
2. Calculate the new height honestly
The flooring plus any underlay, levelling compound or damp membrane. Customers compare product thicknesses and forget everything underneath them.
3. Measure the door clearance before quoting
The gap under each door, now. Somebody with a tape measure spends five minutes and removes the entire category of surprise.
4. Agree who trims the doors
Whether the fitter does it, whether a joiner is needed, and whether it is in the price. This is the single most common extra on a flooring job.
5. Warn about fire doors
Trimming a fire door affects its certification and there are limits on how much can be removed. This is not a job for an improvised adjustment on the day.
6. Check external and sliding doors
Patio doors, bi folds and back doors frequently have very little clearance, and these cannot simply be trimmed the way an internal door can.
7. Plan the thresholds between rooms
Where rooms have different floor types or heights, a transition is needed. The type depends on the difference, and the choice affects appearance as much as function.
8. Cover the appliance clearance
Integrated dishwashers, washing machines and ovens sit under worktops with specific gaps. A raised floor can trap them permanently.
9. Check the stairs and the bottom step
A raised hall floor shortens the bottom step, which matters both for appearance and for whether the staircase still feels right underfoot.
10. Look at the skirting relationship
Whether skirting is removed and refitted, or whether beading is used. This is a visible finish decision and customers have strong opinions once they understand it.
11. Consider radiator pipes and vents
Pipes emerging from the floor need collars and floor vents need to remain usable, both of which are easier to plan than to correct.
12. Check the toilet and bathroom fittings
Raising a bathroom floor around an existing toilet or shower tray is where the awkward jobs live, and it should be identified before anything is ordered.
13. Ask about wheelchair and mobility needs
Thresholds and level changes matter enormously in some households, and raising a floor can create an obstacle where there was none.
14. Connect it to the product choice
Thickness varies considerably between formats, which belongs in the comparison in laminate, vinyl or wood questions flooring shops answer.
15. Raise it at the sample stage
Customers choosing from samples should be told the thickness implication then, which fits with sample and showroom visit questions from homeowners.
16. Collect the measurements at enquiry
An assistant that asks what flooring is down now, the gap under the doors, whether any are fire doors, whether appliances are integrated and whether anyone in the household has mobility needs produces a quotation with the trimming already in it. Handling questions about a household's circumstances needs the care described in how to handle sensitive questions in your chatbot, in the same way as entry policy and dress code questions.
17. What measuring first prevents
Four doors that catch and a dishwasher that cannot come out. See features, start at try, and the sector view sits under contractors.