Browse Forums Building A New House 1 May 23, 2011 10:54 pm Hi Everyone, Well, our new house has started to be built, 20 mins West of Toowoomba. Waiting on the slab to be poured if the rain stops this week! Pics to follow of what's happened so far. The latest decision we've made is choosing a flooring supplier, and making a choice about flooring (at least intially!). Here's my bit about how we've got to the decision point: We have four small kids (5, 4, 2, 4 months) and so any floor needs to be reasonably wear-proof. However, I've come to the basic conclusion after testing samples (ie, having kids abuse them in various ways during the course of toddler playtime outside and see how they fare) and reading a gazillion things on the internet and speaking to enough salesmen to make me not want to enter a flooring shop again , that no flooring is really going to be the absolutely wear-proof, ding-proof lovely-looking floor that most parents like us hope for. We've considered wood (dings easily), laminate (scratches easily, even the good stuff was woeful with a few small rocks or bits stuck in socks or shoes or even toys), bamboo (scratches, dings although a bit less than wood), tiles (cold, forget it plus there's the toddlers head vs tile issue), and pretend wood (dings/scratches, and susceptible to water etc if you happen to get the wrong brand). Add to all that that we're on a v limited budget (single income family etc etc) that gives us approx $11K flooring allowance for circa 170sq m floor space and the choices are limited. After deciding that we'd like to look at bamboo for the halls/living/kitchen/dining area, plus carpet for study/lounge/bedrooms we went and got some quotes, starting with the bigger names in the flooring biz. The quotes (incl laying) for the carpet ranged from 3400 - 6000 and the bamboo from 9400 to 15000!! All for brands that appeared very similar in quality (strand woven solid bamboo). We looked at wood, and the rough quotes we got for that were around $9K upwards. Since then, we've managed to find a smaller non-franchise flooring supplier/installer with local experience of 25+ years who has quoted us (incl laying) circa $3K for the carpet (solution dyed nylon, dark in colour to avoid too many stains hopefully) and circa $8900 for the bamboo, which is Style Bamboo (http://www.stylelimited.com), which comes within $900 (over) of our total $11K allowance. At this stage, it's looking like that's our best bet. We know that no matter what we choose for the living areas, it'll get scratched/dinged along the way, and so we figure that we may as well get what we originally wanted (bamboo) anyway. Please feel free to comment any suggestions or knowledge you may have on the above, particularly if anyone has had experience with Style Limited bamboo flooring. Thanks, and more posting to come with pics, Ben. Contract: Feb 11 Approval: Early April 11 Pad dug/foundations dug/pre-slab work: Early May 11 Re: Ah yes, the flooring 2Jun 08, 2011 12:27 am I have been looking at flooring also, our house will cost a small fortune to carpet/tile or just plain cover with anything. I had been thinking about a polished concrete floor to start with until I can afford something warmer, and now I think that was a waste of time considering it. I am leaning towards bamboo, do you think it is more hard wearing that the wooden floating floor? I have children in primary school and need something to withstand them and their friends hubby, kids and me all waiting for the Amberlea Site Cut 27 September 2011 https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=46637 http://www.dscml.com/ Re: Ah yes, the flooring 3Jun 08, 2011 8:05 am Polished concrete, I think is ~$120/square metre High quality bamboo is apparently $120/square metre laid Although I've seen cheaper versions on ebay that would be closer to $80/square metre laid. Laminate is a lot cheaper, although some people say it scratches. Carpet, if you buy seconds / end of roll I found you could get good quality around $100 / linear metre + $20 linear metre underlay + $20 installation or $140/3.6 nearly $40 / square metre. Brand new high quality would be about double that price. Tiles are approximately $40 / square metre to lay from what I've found out so far. Tiles seem to be around $35/square metre for what I've looked at so far but that vary's as much as Carpet. Vinyl planks are around $19 / square metre and I haven't worked out laying costs. I obviously haven't started building yet, I'm still deciding on which floor I can afford Re: Ah yes, the flooring 4Jun 08, 2011 9:38 am I also have gone for bamboo. I think it's harder than wood & will be nice underfoot. You also don't need to worry about the grout getting dirt for tiles. I think the one thing you should all consider is doing it through your builder. We considered other options as well but the difference is not enough to sway me - the thing is when your builder does their skirting you will need to tell them to leave it up and get the floor put in. Otherwise you'll need the flooring guys to do it. I think you're very likely to wreck the desired finish in the process. Also, the floor guys don't have a vested interest in making the house perfect unless they are with the builder -- hope that makes sense. consider it. You also probably have the guarantees & work finishes at handover no hassles. Re: Ah yes, the flooring 5Jun 08, 2011 9:57 am How does bamboo hold up in wet areas? Kitchen, bathrooms, laundry? How often would you need to sand and refinish it? How does it hold up against weather changes? Casey + Gary + 5 kool kiddos + 1 funky Frenchie + 5 happy hens = barrels of fun in Muswellbrook Re: Ah yes, the flooring 6Jun 08, 2011 10:58 am Quote: Polished concrete, I think is ~$120/square metre High quality bamboo is apparently $120/square metre laid Although I've seen cheaper versions on ebay that would be closer to $80/square metre laid. Laminate is a lot cheaper, although some people say it scratches. Carpet, if you buy seconds / end of roll I found you could get good quality around $100 / linear metre + $20 linear metre underlay + $20 installation or $140/3.6 nearly $40 / square metre. Brand new high quality would be about double that price. Tiles are approximately $40 / square metre to lay from what I've found out so far. Tiles seem to be around $35/square metre for what I've looked at so far but that vary's as much as Carpet. Vinyl planks are around $19 / square metre and I haven't worked out laying costs. I obviously haven't started building yet, I'm still deciding on which floor I can afford I am impressed with your research Quote: How does bamboo hold up in wet areas? Kitchen, bathrooms, laundry? How often would you need to sand and refinish it? How does it hold up against weather changes? the builder we are going through tiles the bathrooms and laundry for us, we just chose standard tiles so it would cost us any extra, so I was happy that those areas will be completed when we finish the house, it is just the rest that I am not looking forward to paying for hubby, kids and me all waiting for the Amberlea Site Cut 27 September 2011 https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=46637 http://www.dscml.com/ Re: Ah yes, the flooring 7Jun 08, 2011 8:32 pm I determined today that vinyl planks cost approx $20/square metre to lay in Sydney, they can also cost $25-30 to lay, but can apparently be laid quite easily yourself...I'm not sure if I can do it myself though Re: Ah yes, the flooring 8Jun 08, 2011 9:16 pm Here is a picture of the type of bamboo we are covering our main floor with. We are laying it ourselves. It is tongue and groove, strand woven bamboo. The colour is called Australiana, and it is a mix of 3 types. Apparently the janka hardness rating is up there with walnut. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Supply costed us around $65, it was on special, and they were laying it for $25 per metre square. Plus $5 per metre for the plush underlay..... Hope to be laying it in 1 -2 weeks. Nice choice with the bamboo guys. Also must say that they do have some amazing vinyl these days.....its a long way from the ugly lino my parents had.... Also our bamboo supplier is also selling us a sealant, which is placed in the tongue and groove between each plank...silicone type product....they suggest to put it in areas such as kitchen.....were gunna put it everywhere. Re: Ah yes, the flooring 9Jun 08, 2011 10:40 pm Ive pretty well come to the same decision as you, would love wood but much pricier, thought maybe I would go for a good vinyl and get something else later, but a good vinyl isnt a hell of a lot cheaper.Im going for the coffee color. Re: Ah yes, the flooring 10Jun 09, 2011 8:06 am I've found 2 on ebay for $19/square metre that claim to be commercial grade / 3mm. I'm going to order some samples of one and test them out 1000000% definitely add insulation. I have in my home and it makes a big difference minimising sound transfer. Insulation is pretty cheap and definitely worth it 2 6191 Engineering timber is certainly a less fuss option, times cheaper to supply and install and better withstands humidity. 1 15909 Hi there, I'm a conplete newbie to this, but I'm looking to put a floor down in my 6x9m shed. It's currently sitting on a 100mm thick concrete perimeter (dirt floor… 0 6467 |