Trade guides
Flooring guides, written for the trade
Measuring, wastage, roll widths and quoting: the practical stuff, at the depth a fitter or shop owner actually needs. Not a homeowner's guide to choosing a carpet.
Getting set up on PlanIt
New here? Start with theseStep-by-step setup guides for both products, the same ones we attach to your welcome email.
Getting started with PlanIt Estimating
Five minutes of setup (branding, units, rates and payments), then your first job priced with the 7-step guided flow and sent for the customer to accept online.
Getting started with PlanIt EPOS
Set the till up in an afternoon (business details, products in, operators and PINs), then your first sale rung through, from opening the float to the Z report.
What's new in PlanIt
Recent changes, where they live, and what they change on the jobMoisture testing, draw the room, and two carpets on one job
September in the estimator: subfloor readings recorded per room and judged against the guideline, rooms drawn with a finger and sized with two numbers, a second carpet priced in its own right, and a diary the shop's till can see.
Job sheets, multi-day fittings, jobs filed by address, and budget against actual
September on the till: a Home page that reads the day, fittings over two or three days, a printed job sheet, jobs filed by the property, colours under one product, a budget to measure the month against, and Xero or QuickBooks connected.
Owning the business
Value, succession and what happens without youThe questions that decide what the business is worth on the day you're not standing in it.
Measuring & wastage
Getting the quantities right before they cost youWhere flooring estimates leak money: the gap between what a job needs and what you end up ordering.
How to measure stairs and landings for carpet
The tread-plus-riser method, winders measured individually, bullnose steps, pile direction, and the pattern allowance. With the formula and a worked example.
Carpet wastage: typical percentages and how to reduce them
What waste is normal and what isn't, why 4m and 5m roll widths drive it, and how a whole-job cutting plan turns wastage into a pricing advantage.
4m vs 5m carpet rolls: which width to order and when
The roll width is a per-job decision, not a habit. The dimension arithmetic, seams versus waste, why the stairs usually decide it, and where vinyl differs.
Quoting & margin
Pricing the job so the profit survives itMaterials, labour and the margin that actually makes it to the end of the job.
How to price carpet fitting: rates, costs and margin
Build the price up from the cutting plan and your real day rate instead of down from a guess: the five lines of every fitting price, with a worked 3-bed example.
Flooring quote template: what a professional UK quote includes
Every section a professional quote should carry, the six terms that prevent the common disputes, deposits, and why itemised quotes win against a single mystery number.
Choosing software
What to run the business onFlooring software comparison: quote, fit, invoice, get paid
Compare on the whole job instead of the demo. The seven stages a flooring job passes through, what each type of system covers, and the seven things to make a vendor show you.
Best flooring software UK: estimating, takeoff and EPOS compared
An honest comparison of the main options for UK retailers and fitters (PlanIt, MasterPiece, MeasureSquare, Buildxact, Carpet Price and more), organised by the job you're hiring software for.
Running the shop
Stock, tills, deposits and the day's takingsIn the works: Cash up and Z reports explained; Managing cut lengths and roll ends; Taking deposits on flooring orders.
Or let the software do the maths
PlanIt plans every cut across the roll, keeps your margin in view, and turns the quote around before the shop down the road does. From £39 per user a month, with unlimited quotes on every plan.