New flooring needed -what happens with the furniture?

[Kittensgalore]

I moved into a new house 6 months ago and should just have had the floor done before we moved but was so stressed with the move generally that I didn't think too. Now it's really bothering me, it's LVT I think, large grey tiles that no matter what I do constantly look grubby, all through the ground floor of the house. Open plan kitchen dining living room, shower room, office and bedroom.

I am thinking of replacing it with engineered wood maybe but it just feels like it will such a big thing to do as all of it would need done. Would I need to move all the furniture out in advance of it being laid or can it be shifted room by room and would the floor layers help with that?

Also given it's LVT that is down anyway if I swop it for engineered wood rather than another LVT would it probably need whatever is underneath it replaced as well?

You need a fitter to come in and have a look at what's underneath. We had laminate replaced but turned out under the laminate, there was parquet. To get this replaced, all our skirtings, door frames and most of our kitchen as well as all the furniture, had to come out. This was because when you remove the old flooring and parquet the level dropped.

If straightforward, yes you will need to move your furniture. Depending on size of space the fitter may do over 2 days so you can shuffle things round. Ours was a total nightmare, replacing skirtings is expensive, but I hated the flooring and the inconvenience of moving everything over a few days is worth it for beautiful floors over the long term.

Thanks @Annexlife that is really helpful. I hadn't even thought about door frames. It would be a massive thing to do. Part of me thinks I just need to come to terms with it as it is.

When it's all done though, total sense of satisfaction! But I hated the laminate (different colours in different rooms...why??!!)

Oh gawd yes that sounds really awful. That would tip me over the edge. The did at least have laid it one (mushroom greige) throughout. I think if it were one or two rooms I'd do it but it covers the entire ground floor. Off to google large rugs...

We recently did our kitchen/diner and hallway, replacing some old engineered floor with a new one, with a fair bit of levelling in the process.

They moved furniture around as they went, but we did ask beforehand if that was OK and they said so long as it was empty and ready to move they could work round it by moving it as they went.

About 1400 sq ft took them a full week, with new skirting all around and we’re really pleased with it. Done during dry weather so they could saw and cut outside and make less dust.

Thanks @jaundicedoutlook really helpful. It's dawned on me that the moving of the furniture is the least of my worries. It's a monumental task regardless. Can I ask you how much approximately it all cost?

Colleagues had this done & moved out for a week, which might be a good idea with a family

Could you stay with family? Flooring fitters are likely to help you move the big items, but it is a big & disruptive job, & likely to take several days / a week or so

Ours was about 12k all in, but it was for a pretty big area.