Commercial Flooring Without Closing: Planning a Refit Around Trading Hours

For a shop, office, restaurant or care home, a new floor is rarely difficult to choose. The hard part is fitting it into a building that has to keep working while the job is done. Planning a commercial floor around trading hours comes down to four things: the base, the specification, the programme and the paperwork.

1. Start with the slab

A commercial floor is only as good as what sits underneath it. Older concrete slabs are rarely flat, frequently cracked and sometimes damp, particularly where a damp-proof membrane is missing or failing. A proper survey includes moisture testing, followed by floor levelling and screeding where needed, before any covering goes down. Skipping that step is one of the most common reasons commercial floors fail early.

2. Specify the floor for each area

• Offices: carpet tiles, which can be lifted individually for cabling and replaced one at a time
• Commercial kitchens: slip-rated safety vinyl, welded at the seams and coved up the wall so it can be cleaned properly
• Retail and hospitality: heavy-duty contract LVT for a wood or stone look that stands up to footfall
• Healthcare and care homes: welded safety vinyl with cap coving for infection control
• Gyms: impact-absorbing flooring that protects the structure and reduces noise

Slip resistance is measured in the UK with the pendulum test, and a wet Pendulum Test Value of 36 or above is generally regarded as low slip risk. Front-of-house and back-of-house areas usually need different specifications and are best priced separately.

3. Plan the programme

Good commercial flooring contractors in Nottingham work evenings, weekends, overnight and in phased sections so a shop keeps trading, an office keeps working and a kitchen keeps serving. Adhesive curing times and screed drying times should be built into the programme from the start, and schools and colleges usually need the work finished within a half term or the summer holidays.

4. Sort the paperwork early

• Ask for method statements, risk assessments and insurance details before work starts
• Agree who moves furniture and lifts floor boxes, and when
• Check your lease for dilapidations clauses, which often require flooring to be reinstated at lease end
• Get a fixed handover date confirmed in writing

With the base, specification and programme agreed up front, a commercial floor can usually be fitted with very little disruption to the business. For more on choosing flooring contractors, see our flooring services category.