Our apartment's carpet is getting really stained from our baby's little accidents.
So thinking of floor boarding just the living areas and hallways.
Works out to be about 34sqm.
What's the average labour cost of putting in the timber flooring?
And what would be a middle of the pack, but hard wearing floor board type?
We definitely don't want to tile.
The accidents are mainly tipped over cups of juice and pureed food.
That shouldn't be a problem with floor boards right?
Do vinyl/laminate floorboards look and feel cheap?
Is bamboo is the best value in terms of aesthetics and cost?
Bamboo is great
Nice laminate look great. Check out Quickstep laminate - they cost like $55psqm but are superb quality, look n feel.
We had them for 7yrs - this included raising two new born kids - dropping liquids, food n what not.
We moved out recently n the comment from agent was "are they new?".
https://www.quick-step.com.au/en-au?gclid=CjwKCAiAmvjRBRBlEi…
Quick step have a fully waterproof range as well, we're looking at this as well because we have kids and pets. https://www.quick-step.com.au/en-au/campaigns/laminate-with-… buying adecent one they look good, but definitely go into a show room and have a look first. Some feel plasticy, others feel fine.
Laminates always look and feel cheap. You can chose between actual floorboards and floating floors, which pop on top of the existing floor. Floorboard costs vary. I laid my floorboards myself and it was hard work, but I wouldn’t do it again. The cost of the boards are dependant on age, size and type. I needed old reclaimed boards to match my existing floors, they ended up costing just under $20 a lineal meter. For floorboards that we’re under kitchen cabinets, I chose to use new floorboards which were the same size as the reclaimed floorboard; they weren’t anything like as hard, but after staining and polishing they looked exactly the same. They only cost $4 a lineal meter. My total cost for boards alone was over $3k, and that was only enough to cover just over 20sqm.
I was going to use laminates but instead ended up tiling the entire house. Not a single piece of carpet in it, and I don't regret it. The tiles will look as good in 30 years as they do now (try that with laminates) and you can purchase files with a slightly coarser finish if you're worried about people slipping on them.
You can actually get wood look tiles if you like. IME they tend to have the coarser finish you mentioned.
A floating floor isn’t hard to install.
I’ve done bamboo floating floor which wasn’t hard work, but took some time having to cut the pieces to suit with a drop saw, circular saw and Jigsaw to get the right shapes and sizes. It just clicked together after that. It looked good, seemed to be hard wearing and was a lot more comfortable under foot than the tiles it went over. It also survived a dishwasher leak where some boards cupped a bit but once the leak was gone it flattened back out.
I’ve also installed some vinyl floors, timber look and that was easy. Cut with a sharp knife, click it into place. It was a lot smaller job than the bamboo, but really quick. Removing and replacing the skirting boards was the hardest bit, but that was just to get the best looking job. Good hard wearing surface, impervious to spills.
I find tile too hard to walk on barefoot all the time, but they are very hard wearing and easy to look after.
How old is junior now?
Best wait till at least 4 before changing flooring.
best bang for buck is Golden Select laminate flooring from Costco - it's 15mm with 2mm foam underlay included $28/m2
three laminate examples:
Rustic Pecan @ https://www.goldenselect.ca/en/products/flooring/laminate/ru…
Montana Oak @ https://www.goldenselect.ca/en/products/flooring/laminate/mo…
Autumn Oak @ https://www.goldenselect.ca/en/products/flooring/laminate/au…
they also do a bamboo:
https://www.goldenselect.ca/en/products/flooring/bamboo/isla…
personally I went the Pecan $28/m2 and laid over existing tiles, could have done it myself but couldn't be bothered - was installed for additional $25/m2 (135m2 total). Lifetime warranty, delivered, installed with underlay $52/m2 - for the quality i don't think you'll get better than that.
the biggest issue i think being in an apartment is making sure you meet your body corporate, some won't allow alternative flooring due to the increase acoustics.
Our apartment's carpet…
Don't forget to check your strata by-laws to see if there's anything around modifications, especially the installation of floorboards that could generate complaints from your neighbours downstairs.
Depending on the accidents, floor boards may not be the best option - especially if you want something that was waterproof. Tiles are a better option if you want something waterproof (but tiles aren't always child friendly for slips and falls). Vinyl floorboards, timber, bamboo, laminate etc can offer some water-resistance, but they are not waterproof and labour costs for these can range from $20-$50+ per square metre.