I work in flooring - do you have a flooring question?

Opinion on vinyl planks?

Hi Michelle

Comments below.

I am seeking ideas to improve flooring in this apartment to make it suitable and comfortable for young children and also bring it up to date.

1. I used SmartStrand with deluxe underlay in my house build and will definitely go for that with carpet if I have carpet. It was worth every cent and stain resistant.

2. Kitchen area as marked on plan along with bathrooms have quite a plain 400 brown ceramic tile which I don’t really like.

3. Carpet needs replacing throughout. The open area and bedrooms are carpet.

4. Wondering if there is any suitable option to go over the tiles in the kitchen or I need to start again? Considering if to re carpet the kitchen dining or do the whole open area and kitchen in another floating option? If that’s an option? Or I could do something in the kitchen that will suit bathrooms but I’m not doing bathrooms for now.

You can go over existing tiles with Karrndean looslay or Karndean Corlok then take it through to the other areas. You will however have a bit of a step. If your only doing the kitchen either of those floorings will do. If your doing all of the areas I would recommend taking up the tiles to get the floor surface the same height.

5. I am concerned if I don’t carpet the main area it won’t look as nice with floor transitions in such a small space. Any ideas? The house build was a hardwood floor and I know little about other options.

Vinyl planks are great, make sure sure you look at good quality though.

Sadly I've been advised I need to go to the body corporate for vinyl planks as its considered a hard floor, and the next meeting is not until April 2019. For that reason I will need to replace carpet with carpet.

Does anyone getting really wild pricing differences when getting quotes? I got 3 quotes, one for $19k, $22k, and $27k for the same house.

But are you getting quotes on the same products?
If not, yes your quotes will be way out.

Yes, it is a quote on a specific Karndean product with the same floor plan given to 3 different shops.

So now you need to ask them all....what are they quoting for prep.

I’m getting conflicting advice from different suppliers in regards to the Karndean Looselay planks.
We are researching flooring for a new house build which has concrete slab on the lower floor, and chip board on the upper floor.
One supplier has said we just need to ensure the chip board has been sanded and the Karndean Looselay will go straight down on top.
Another supplier will only quote with the inclusion of Masonite going down first.... which of course adds to the cost.
I had thought that one of the reasons for Karndean’s higher cost is because they don’t require as much floor prep as the cheaper brands?
Any advise is greatly appreciated.

My Karndean Mountain Spotted Gum