Occupied office replacement

Dividing the floor into work zones

Occupied replacement starts with a map, not a material. We walk the floor with your facilities contact and mark it into zones that can be closed one at a time while the rest of the office keeps running. Sightlines to exits, washrooms and meeting rooms stay open, and we plan where new seams land so they fall at doorways and quiet edges rather than across main walkways. A written sequence sets which zone comes first and when each one is expected to reopen.

Scheduling around your working hours

Most occupied projects run outside core hours. Evening, overnight and weekend windows let a zone be cleared, replaced and reset before staff arrive. Where adhesive is used, we account for the time it needs to set before furniture and foot traffic return, so a floor is not walked on too early. Sharing your building's access rules, elevator bookings and security sign-in early keeps each shift on schedule and avoids surprises at the loading dock.

Carpet tile and lift-and-lay methods

Modular carpet tile suits a live office because a zone can be done in sections. Furniture is shifted to one side, the tile beneath is replaced, and the furniture moves back onto the finished area before the next section begins, so a room rarely needs to be emptied all at once. Tiles also make later changes simpler, since a single worn square can be lifted and swapped without disturbing the surrounding floor.

Cabling, floor boxes and access floors

Offices carry a lot underfoot, and each type needs a plan before the old carpet comes up:

• Power and data whips running to workstation clusters
• Floor boxes and grommets that the new covering has to be cut around
• Raised access-floor panels that lift for cabling below

We coordinate with your IT or building team so live connections stay protected, panels go back in their original positions, and cut-outs line up cleanly once the new carpet is down.

Keeping dust, odour and noise manageable

People are still working nearby, so we contain the mess the work makes. Removing old adhesive residue and trimming create dust, which we manage with containment and clean-up at the end of each shift. Where adhesives or seam sealing are used, lower-odour products and ventilation help the space feel normal by morning. Cutting and moving furniture make noise, so heavier work is set for the quieter windows agreed with your team.

Replacing worn tiles instead of the whole floor

Not every tired floor needs a full replacement. When wear or staining is limited to entrances, corridors or a few workstations, those tiles can be lifted and replaced while the rest stays in place. Results depend on the availability of matching stock, since dye lots shift over time and an exact colour match is not always possible. Keeping spare tiles from the original install, where you have them, helps future spot repairs blend in more closely.

Clearing desks and protecting equipment

Before a zone can close, the desks inside it need clearing, and it helps to settle early on who handles what. Staff usually box their own files and unplug personal devices, while we cover and shift the heavier furniture and cabinets. A short handover list keeps things moving:

• Loose paperwork, personal items and desk drawers packed by staff
• Monitors, phones and desk cables unplugged and set aside
• Printers and shared equipment flagged so we work around them

Labelling boxes by desk or workstation means everything returns to its place when the zone reopens the next morning.

Keeping walkways and exits safe

With staff moving through the building during the day, the edge between a finished zone and one still being worked on needs to stay safe. We tape down transitions, keep tools and offcuts out of shared corridors, and post simple signs where a route has changed. Fire exits, stairwells and accessible paths stay clear at all times, and any temporary detour is agreed with your facilities contact first. At each shift change we sweep the walkways so the next morning's traffic finds nothing underfoot.