Floor Preparation & Levelling
Subfloor preparation, concrete grinding, self-levelling and full-floor flattening across Metro Vancouver — the work that happens before hardwood, vinyl, laminate, tile or microcement goes down.
The Step Most Quotes Leave Out
A finished floor can only follow the shape of what is beneath it. Lay a rigid plank over a dished slab and you get hollow spots and creaking; lay microcement over a moving substrate and you get cracks. Neither is a failure of the material.
Preparation is also the line item most often omitted from a cheap quote, which is why two prices for the same floor can differ so widely. We measure the substrate first and price the preparation honestly, including when none is needed.
What Preparation Involves
Substrate Assessment
Checking flatness across the room, testing for moisture in concrete, and identifying movement, cracking or loose sections before anything is specified.
Concrete Grinding
Mechanically removing high spots, old adhesive, paint and laitance to expose a sound surface that a levelling compound or membrane can bond to.
High and Low Spots
Targeted correction where a floor is broadly acceptable but has localised dips or humps — often the most economical route.
Self-Levelling Compounds
A flowable pour that finds its own level across a whole area, used where a floor is out of tolerance too broadly for spot correction.
Full-Floor Flattening
Bringing an entire floor plate within tolerance, typically required for wide-plank timber, large-format tile and seamless microcement.
Priming & Membranes
Primers for bond, moisture mitigation on slabs, and decoupling or waterproofing membranes where the finish requires them.
Preparation Before Each Finish
Different finishes demand different tolerances. Vinyl plank telegraphs every imperfection beneath it. Wide-plank hardwood needs flatness to avoid hollow spots. Large-format tile cracks over movement. Microcement, being bonded and seamless, is the least forgiving of all — it will mirror whatever it is applied to. We set the preparation standard to the finish, not the other way round.
How We Approach It
Measure, Do Not Guess
Flatness is checked across the floor rather than eyeballed, so the scope of correction is known before work or materials are committed.
Moisture Testing
Concrete slabs are tested before adhesives or timber go down. Trapped moisture is a common cause of failure months after a floor is finished.
Correct the Substrate
Grinding, patching or a levelling pour, chosen by what the floor actually needs rather than a default method applied to every job.
Verify Before Finishing
The prepared floor is re-checked and cured before the finish trade starts, whether that is our own crew or another contractor.
Floor Preparation Questions
How do I know if my floor needs levelling?
Visible dips, rocking furniture, or an existing floor that creaks or feels hollow are strong signs. The reliable answer comes from measuring flatness across the room, which we do as part of assessment.
Is levelling and flattening the same thing?
Not quite. Levelling makes a floor horizontal; flattening removes humps and dips. A floor can slope slightly and still be perfectly flat — and for most finishes, flatness is what matters.
How long before we can install over it?
It depends on the product, the depth of the pour and site conditions. We give you the cure time for the specific system used rather than a generic figure.
Do you prepare floors for other contractors?
Yes. Preparation is often booked on its own by builders and flooring installers who want the substrate handled by a specialist before their crew arrives.
Get Your Subfloor Assessed
Tell us the area, the substrate and the finish going down. We will assess what is required and quote the preparation separately and clearly.