The Flooring Warehouse in Reservoir

Unit 48, 2 Cobham St, Reservoir. The stock, the display and the people who answer the phone are all at the same address.

That is worth saying plainly, because a lot of flooring websites that rank for a suburb name have no presence in it. What they have is a delivery radius and a page.

The practical difference is that you can come and look. Stand on the boards, see them in daylight rather than under showroom spots, compare two ranges side by side, and take samples home the same day.

Four ranges, held in stock across their core colours: SILVA 7mm hybrid, AXEN 9mm hybrid, TITAN 12mm laminate and EVSPC 12mm composite.

Stock availability varies with demand and incoming shipments, and for quantities beyond what is in the warehouse we order from the manufacturer — allow roughly 6 to 8 weeks for a factory order.

Free samples are available to everyone. Take two or three home, put them on the floor in the actual room, and look at them at different times of day. It is the only reliable way to choose a colour.

In-stock product can be collected from the day of purchase, at no delivery charge. A forklift is available for loading larger orders.

Book your collection in advance so the stock is picked and ready. Small orders fit a suitable car; larger ones need a ute, van or commercial vehicle — tell us the quantity when you book and we will tell you what to bring.

There is no minimum order. A single box is a perfectly normal thing to buy.

Reservoir is largely post-war brick veneer on a timber subfloor, with a growing amount of townhouse development on subdivided blocks.

The older housing stock is the reason we talk about subfloors more than most suppliers do. A timber subfloor that has been in place for sixty years has usually moved, and a rigid floating floor over an uneven substrate flexes at every step until the joints work loose. It needs checking with a straightedge before anything is ordered, against the tolerance for the range being laid, and it sometimes needs levelling first.

Newer townhouses are almost always on slab, which brings the opposite question: moisture. A slab needs to be dry as well as flat, and on a recent build that is worth testing rather than assuming.

Either way, the advice is the same and it is free: measure the flatness before you choose the floor, not after.

We install across Victoria, and Reservoir is two kilometres from the warehouse.

Our installation service covers flooring supplied by us. Installations carry a workmanship warranty, separate from the manufacturer's product warranty on the flooring itself.

Subfloor preparation, old-floor removal, waste disposal, stairs, door trimming and scotia are quoted as their own lines, so you can see what each part costs and decide what to take on yourself.

Unit 48, 2 Cobham St, Reservoir VIC 3073. Open Monday to Friday, and Saturday by appointment.

If you are coming to collect rather than browse, call ahead so the stock is ready when you arrive.