CONSTRUCTION & RENOVATION
Repair, don’t replace: why the flooring industry is unsustainable
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Floor repair specialists have become significant in the sustainability battle in the construction sector according to Paul Lanzarotti, founder of Floor-Fix Pro, an award-winning brand that champions a shift from replace to repair
n the race to meet carbon reduction targets, the sector is under increasing pressure to cut waste, improve material efficiency and extend the life of building materials. But one area has largely resisted sustainability: flooring.
From hollow sounding screeds to creaky floorboards and stuck-fast adhesives, floors are frequently ripped out and replaced, even when the surface material is still perfectly usable. The result? Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of unnecessary waste and a missed opportunity for sustainability across both domestic and commercial buildings.
Flooring’s hidden waste problem
Flooring waste is an underreported issue in the construction industry’s carbon footprint. In the UK alone, the sector generates more than 400,000 tonnes of flooring waste annually. Much of this comes not from unavoidable failure, but from a default mindset: if it’s not right, rip it up and start again. Too often, we’re throwing away perfectly good floors that could be quickly and easily saved with a simple injection or adhesive reapplication. Starting again is costly, time- consuming, and completely unsustainable. And it’s not just the surface materials at fault. Subfloor issues, adhesive failures, and poor installation methods are common causes of perceived “floor failure.” Yet the response is almost always the same: remove the entire floor covering, dispose of it, and lay new materials, bringing with it more embodied carbon, more labour, and more disruption.
A mission to minimise waste
My journey into this space wasn’t initially driven by sustainability credentials, but by a noisy floor. In 2018, as a sleep-deprived new dad, I was desperate for a fix that wouldn’t wake my newborn daughter. My invention, a spray called Stop Creak, went on to sell tens of thousands of units worldwide and was picked up by The Metro and Forbes.
Then came lockdown, cancelling my planned business pitch on Dragon’s Den, while supply chains collapsed, putting my business on the edge. With time on my hands, I turned my attention to solving a series of niggling flooring issues at home – loose laminate, uneven screeds and wobbly tiles. The result was a suite of precision repair tools, developed not just for DIYers but for commercial use. And from this, Floor-Fix Pro was born, with a mission to repair, not replace.
Changing a throwaway culture
One of the biggest challenges is shifting the mindset within the industry. For decades, replacement has been the
norm. A few cracks or loose tiles, and it’s straight to removal. It’s simpler than investigating the problem, and it also guarantees more revenue. But if you understand what’s happening underneath, the fix is usually far simpler – and far less wasteful.
This mindset shift is especially important in
the retrofit and refurbishment markets, where upgrading existing stock is often the most carbon-efficient option. Yet all too often, flooring is the first to be stripped out and the last to be reused. Then there’s the adhesive market - two million sealant cartridges are thrown into landfills each week, a truly staggering amount. It’s fair to say that many those will be thrown away due to the adhesive drying up and becoming unworkable. Instead, the adhesives are cheap enough to buy again, and the built-in flaw is accepted as part of the industry, forcing the consumer to purchase more products to the manufacturer’s benefit. Floor-Fix Pro’s mission is to change that – to make sustainable repair a first-line response, not a last resort.
Alignment with net zero goals
Making our products as sustainability-focused as possible is the key. As more buildings target BREEAM, LEED, and NABERS ratings and clients demand clarity on Scope 3 emissions, repair-first approaches offer a practical way to lower embodied carbon and improve whole-life performance. Floor-Fix Pro’s tools support sustainability reporting across:
• Material efficiency – Preserving existing floor coverings and substrates
• Waste minimisation – Avoiding demolition and landfill through repair
• Operational downtime – Reducing disruption and maintaining building function
• Circular economy principles – Reuse of components and extension of lifecycle
8 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER JULY 2025 Read the latest at:
www.bsee.co.uk
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