Where Non-Stone Flooring Jobs Lose Money: Key Risks for Contractors and builders

Where Non-Stone Flooring Jobs Lose Money: Key Risks for Contractors Across Resilient, Timber, Resin, Terrazzo, Raised Access and Carpet Systems

 

This companion to our stone risk guide covers the families that make up most of the remaining floor area on commercial and residential jobs. The pattern is the same: the margin is lost in the substrate, the waits and the protection, not in the laying rate.

1. The slab is the biggest risk

• Moisture: resilient, timber, carpet and resin floors all fail on wet slabs. Price testing (RF01) as a separate line. Probes need at least 24 hours to settle, and hood readings take at least 72 hours (Polyflor). Concrete can take about a month per 25 mm of thickness to dry. If the programme assumes a dry slab, add a moisture barrier allowance or a programme exclusion.
• Flatness: LVT needs about 3 mm in 2.4 m (Tarkett); raised floors finish within 1/16 in in 10 ft (Tate). Price smoothing by measured depth, not as a lump sum.
• Preparation for resin: shot blasting or grinding, plus anchor grooves at edges and drains of 2× the screed thickness (Sika PurCem). These are often left out of resin tenders.

2. Waits that break the programme

Family	Wait that is easy to under-price
Sheet vinyl / linoleum	Seam welding next day; linoleum welded after 24 h (BS 8203)
Resin	Recoat window 10–24 h per coat (Epoxy.com); broadcast layers swept next day
Granolithic / terrazzo	7–10 days wet curing before grinding (IS 2508); several grinding rounds
Timber	5 days of HVAC running before delivery (NWFA); finish coats on separate days
Carpet tiles	Tackifier must dry before laying (Interface)

 

3. Pricing traps by family

• Resilient: flash coving, welded corners and cap strips are linear-metre items, so don’t bury them in the m² rate. Price a 45 kg roller and welding kit.
• Raised access: the panel class (EN 12825 Class 2 to 6) changes panel thickness from 23 to 40 mm and the weight from 27 to 52 kg/m² (Kingspan). Confirm the class, the void height (clip-on or screw-down stringers), grommets, ramps and earth bonding.
• Timber: sanding passes, gap filling and the number of finish coats drive cost. Floating rafts over 12×8 m need breaks (AST Timbers).
• Resin: get the FeRFA type in writing. A Type 2 coating and a Type 6 screed are different jobs (FeRFA).
• Terrazzo and crazy marble: divider strips, chip grading and grinding rounds (carborundum grit sequence) need to be measured, not assumed.
• Roof terrace tiling: mud phuska, mud plaster with gobri, and the tiling are three separate days (CPWD DSR).

4. Protection and handover

• Thin floors (vinyl, LVT, linoleum, resin) mark under ladders and pallet trucks. Protect them with boards, not sheet alone.
• Resin and terrazzo must be kept dry and free of traffic for the stated hours. Keep a cure log as evidence.
• Agree a sign-off of the substrate (moisture and flatness readings) before you start. It is the single best defence when the floor fails later.