Helping customers pick flooring online — what questions do you wish they asked first?

[WannabeExpert2025@gm]

I’m on the supply side — we’re an online-only flooring store — and I’ve been trying to improve how we guide first-time buyers.


From your perspective as a contractor, what do you wish homeowners understood before choosing a floor?


Things like subfloor prep, transition pieces, or expansion gaps — anything that gets missed? Would love to integrate some of this feedback into how we educate people up front.

 

[johnny2007]

Question: why do you stock those difficult to fit cheap laminates?
The ones you need to lay lengthwise and then bang it from the short side to make it clip.
Just abandoned a job for a woman in need who got conned by a shop a few months ago into buying 30m² of this crap.
3 carpenters looked at the job and walked away, she said they were asking for too much money.
Went there today to fit it at a reasonable price but 15 minutes into the job I told her to send everything back and get proper laminate.
She was in tears and didn't want to say how much she got robbed for.
That system has been obsolete since at least 2000.

 

[WannabeExpert2025@gm]

Really appreciate you sharing this — it's exactly the kind of feedback we need to hear.


You're right, a lot of first-time buyers don’t realise how important things like subfloor prep, expansion gaps, and proper locking systems are until it's too late. We’re trying to get better at explaining all that upfront.


As for those difficult-to-fit laminates — totally fair point. I think the number of internet retailers for cheap laminates has exploded over the last couple of years. It’s a bandwagon and everyone seems to be jumping on. There are solid stores with good reputations and products — but there’s also a lot of junk out there, and it can really burn homeowners who don’t know what to look for.


Stories like the one you shared are exactly why we want to do better with buyer education. Thank you again.

 

[mattylad]

They need to understand the noise issue if they are living above someone else.

 

[WannabeExpert2025@gm]

Oh wow, you're so right! I've definitely been to friends’ or family members’ homes where they were super excited about their new floors—but the room ended up being way louder than before. I never even thought about how much soundproofing matters! Not just for them but for neighbours.


This is honestly super helpful. I’ve never done any DIY and really have no clue when it comes to flooring. I usually just go for whatever looks the nicest—or whatever’s trending at the moment, haha.


It’s so helpful having insights like this so I can actually look into things more and hopefully guide people better. We don’t offer installation—just the product—so it can be tough when lovely older customers come in trying to redo their floors on a tight budget. I often feel awful when I can't steer them in the right direction. So thank you—this kind of info really makes a difference!

 

[dazlight]

That’s why going to a shop and looking at display stands and getting professional advice beats internet showing by miles.