Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering 1 Jan 28, 2010 12:56 pm Hi everyone, Just wanting some opinions on real Timber floorboards versus laminate timber flooring, we would love to go the real timber but by the time you work out the cost per metre for floorboards and installation we were looking at around $100-$120 per metre. Laminate flooring seems so much cheaper and it doesnt look too bad, my DH does not like the sound of laminate flooring, but I have heard there is a new laminate on the market where they have eliminated the hollow sound in them. If anyone has laminate flooring can you please advise how much you paid to have them laid and what you experiences with this type of flooring is, do you regret it etc. are you happy with them. Any help appreciated. Site Start: 10th September, 2010 PCI : Friday 27th January, 2011. Handover: 3rd February, 2011 Build Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=37677 Re: REAL TIMBER FLOOR BOARDS VS. LAMINATE FLOORING 2Jan 28, 2010 2:13 pm Ring09, My feeling is pay for the real timber if you can afford it but the laminate is perfectly nice. I can't tell you exact prices as mine was packaged with the builder for carpet and laminate. They will be doing PE carpet in 3 bedrooms and 8mm timber laminate in the rest for ~$6k for a 150sq.m living space. I believe laminate is around $50/sqm and timber is over $130/sqm installed but there is such a vast range it is pretty hard to give concrete figures. I've had laminate before and quite like it and can't yet justify spending 3 times as much on real timber floating floor. However, I do admit the real timber looks much better plus you can sand it back at least once when it gets scratched. I've never noticed the sound - it obviously doesn't sound like nice floorboards but doesn't sound too cheap! Hope this helps Tom Almost finished building the Ambrose + study villa with McCracken homes in Park Holme, SA. Only painting, stormwater, paving & flooring left then moving in. Re: REAL TIMBER FLOOR BOARDS VS. LAMINATE FLOORING 3Jan 28, 2010 2:17 pm Hi Ring09, In our current house, we went through the same issues. Real timber is great but in the end, the cost just outweighed getting the area we wanted covered. It was going to be closer to $150 laid, sanded and finished. We went for a different product as well. It is real timber for about 6mm. That means you can sand it. Probably twice. It has a pine base for 10mm. Some companies use MDF as the base. So it is 16mm all up so it has none of that awful hollow clackety-clack sound when you walk on it, which I hate in the laminates. The laminates are usually 7-9mm all up; some go as far as 12mm. This is a tongue and groove so it goes down like a real timber floor and feels and sounds like a real timber floor. It cost $55 psm. I laid it myself with some help from a friend who had done tongue and groove before and it went down in 2 days through a living, dining, rumpus room and hallway adjoining bedrooms. about 110m2. It does go down on an underlay but that's mainly to even out any unevenness in the old floor. I think it's called a timber Veneer floor, 16mm. We've been on it for about 18 months now and it's great. Looks sensational and sounds just like a full timber floor because it is a full timber floor. It's just that we picked the species and only have 6mm of that instead of 19mm of it. One Caveat. They are usually soft to medium species that are available so dogs nails and high heel shoes will make marks. this is the same if you picked solid timber softer species. So if you're after a hardwood species, this may not be available. In the next house, we would be happy to use the same product. Hope this helps. SK Build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34120 Handover 23 Dec 11 Squatting 21 Dec 11 Fixed 12 Oct 11 Plastered 31 Aug 2011 Framed 7 June 2011 Site Start 7 Feb 2011 Land Titled 18 Jan 2010 Land Deposit 25 Jun 2009 Re: REAL TIMBER FLOOR BOARDS VS. LAMINATE FLOORING 4Jan 28, 2010 2:22 pm With laminate it is much harder to achieve a smooth floor. Plus, I would not say that hardwood floor is that expensive, unless you want to stick with engineered floorboards which, in my opinion is worse option comparing to pure hardwood floor that requires sanding and polishing. By putting hardwood and sanding you will achieve absolutely level surface and applying different types of coatings it is possible to achieve whatever effect you want. Expensive? Hah! Do not listen undereducated consultants - do your research, talk to people. I paid $42 per m2 Grey Ironbark and $39 per m2 Tallowwood (both are character grade meaning wood feature is visible. the grade does not control the quality, only how it looks). I'm hiring a professional at $500 a day and he reckons it will take us both 4 days to finish the floor. Therefore, $2000 in his labour. An alternative solution would be $25 per m2 laid but, that option would be much more expensive to me ($9000 in labour) plus, by doing it myself I'm saving double amount of money as there is no tax and GST on my own labour ... built a Promenade with Clarendon. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=25104 20-10-09 - excavation and piering completed ... 12-04-10 - Basins fixed. Connecting to the electrical grid 23-04-10 - PCI 07-05-10 - HANDOVER! Re: REAL TIMBER FLOOR BOARDS VS. LAMINATE FLOORING 6Jan 28, 2010 2:53 pm We have both real timber floorboards and laminate floorboards at the moment, and personally, I wouldn't consider real timber again... that said, we have two large dog's (husky & ridgeback) and three kids, and we are not kind to our floors, but the timber which was only re stained and sealed about August last year is already scratched, the laminate stuff that has been down for 4 years has a few minor surface scratches but aside from that, looks great. My only suggestion if you do get laminate though is get the good stuff. The $20 per sqm ones just don't last. We have Quikstep, which is not the most expensive out there, but it isn't rubbish either. We have just been out to price to price the Quikstep boards for our new place and were quoted $45 per sqm to supply, plus $18 per sqm to lay it. There is a new range of Quikstep out now (I think it's called Largo) and it's around $90-$95 per sqm laid, but it is thicker, the planks are longer and it looks a bit more like timber. We are just sticking with the classic Quikstep though, as we know that it can handle the way we treat it! This is the one we are getting: It's got a 25 year guarantee, and if you do manage to damage one of the planks, there is a kit you can buy that lifts out the one plank (even if it's in the middle of the room) so you can replace just that one, not the whole room. We are going to buy a couple of boxes of spare planks when we order it for the new house so we will have the same colour on hand in case we need it down the track. Hope that helps! Nic Built the Coral Homes Hamilton 252 - moved in 20/10/2010 and loving it!! https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=27215 Re: REAL TIMBER FLOOR BOARDS VS. LAMINATE FLOORING 7Jan 28, 2010 3:11 pm ~Nic~ May I ask which kind of timber did you use as well as what sort of coating (and how many layers) did you apply? ... built a Promenade with Clarendon. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=25104 20-10-09 - excavation and piering completed ... 12-04-10 - Basins fixed. Connecting to the electrical grid 23-04-10 - PCI 07-05-10 - HANDOVER! Re: REAL TIMBER FLOOR BOARDS VS. LAMINATE FLOORING 9Jan 29, 2010 10:11 am mb@147a Quote: I paid $42 per m2 Grey Ironbark and $39 per m2 Tallowwood ebyelyakov - May I ask where you sourced your timber? Thats a great price for Grey Ironbark. From North River Timbers. I had analysed different types of timber some time ago and there are a few discussions in this forum. Check a few topics below. ... built a Promenade with Clarendon. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=25104 20-10-09 - excavation and piering completed ... 12-04-10 - Basins fixed. Connecting to the electrical grid 23-04-10 - PCI 07-05-10 - HANDOVER! Re: REAL TIMBER FLOOR BOARDS VS. LAMINATE FLOORING 11Jan 29, 2010 4:39 pm I personally don't like laminate flooring, it's even worse with sponge underlay. You can get solid Tassie Oak boards(which is misleading, it's really a type of gum) the lowest I have seen is $34.00m. Re: REAL TIMBER FLOOR BOARDS VS. LAMINATE FLOORING 12Jan 30, 2010 4:29 pm There is a type of laminate flooring which is with V groove at the 4 sides of lamiante flooring board. Its size is about 805*127*12mm. so its shape is like solid wood flooring. There is much less sound for 12mm thick laminate flooring. Also there will be much less sound if the back of the flooring is attached with underlay. You can check this type of flooring particulary when you choose laminate flooring.
Re: REAL TIMBER FLOOR BOARDS VS. LAMINATE FLOORING 13Jan 30, 2010 5:47 pm Have you considered bamboo as a viable alternative? It's different in that it's a renewable resource (they harvest it and it just grows back as it's a grass) I've been looking into it as we wanted boards and am completely sold on the idea. Just my 2c Re: REAL TIMBER FLOOR BOARDS VS. LAMINATE FLOORING 14Jan 30, 2010 5:52 pm How much is Bamboo roughly Rowena? This is the dilemna i'm facing at the moment... timber -v- click laminate -v- tiles!!! I like them all really, i guess it'll just come down to cost. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=22766 - my build thread! Time waits for no man. Unless that man is Chuck Norris. Re: REAL TIMBER FLOOR BOARDS VS. LAMINATE FLOORING 15Jan 30, 2010 6:53 pm Jodie, the prices vary. We have had one quote for $83 per sqm fully installed - includes underlay. We are waiting on a quote for another company and I'm expecting it to be between $100-110 per sqm. Re: REAL TIMBER FLOOR BOARDS VS. LAMINATE FLOORING 16Jan 31, 2010 2:17 pm Yeah, I was thinking about bamboo flooring as well but, after some extensive Googling on the subject and seeing way too much different opinions and information I decided do go with a safer option being hardwood. an example: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/pros-and ... oring.html ... built a Promenade with Clarendon. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=25104 20-10-09 - excavation and piering completed ... 12-04-10 - Basins fixed. Connecting to the electrical grid 23-04-10 - PCI 07-05-10 - HANDOVER! Re: REAL TIMBER FLOOR BOARDS VS. LAMINATE FLOORING 17Jan 31, 2010 2:40 pm We are going thru the same process and this is what I found 152m2 - Total flooring required, we lay it ourselves onto new Concrete slab. 1) Laminate - Pegulan 8mm Blackbutt + Underlay $4200 2) Engineered - Readyflor Tas Oak 2 strip + Underlay $10,000 3) Combo Laminate in bedrooms and study (55m2) , Engineered for the rest (97m2), $7,800 (actually found two that matched) The Laminate for us is a no brainer for the following reasons 1) Cost. Adding $4-$6k to the mortgage will in effect cost double/triple over mortgage lifetime 2) Look - Looks absolutely superb 3) Feel - Bedrooms and other areas will have rugs etc anyway. Great way to add colour to a house and we can change it easily. We don ;t wear shoes in the house and I stopped wearing high heels years ago 4) We plan to be here for at least 10 years whilst girls at School 5) Have no issues with regards to feeling less than or worse off in life because we selected Laminate (no offence to the real wooders but it can sound evangelical at times though I can see why, some floors look stunning). 6) If we want to and when we can afford it we can always change- Gives us options whilst we settle in 7) It's hard wearing We'll have it done and dusted easily between getting the keys and actually moving in. Means more time to get the garden established before moving in. Sure, I would love real wood but hey, not that fussed. Our floor budget is actually $8k but we will take the opportunity to bring the mortgage down on day 1 by going laminate (unless someone comes up with a fully installed real wood option for $6500 which still saves us money) So and in my humble opinion, ultimately it comes down to cost. AT the end of the day you have a nice new house and a floor and that is a lot to be thankful for. Wombat (Dan) Re: REAL TIMBER FLOOR BOARDS VS. LAMINATE FLOORING 18Jan 31, 2010 3:11 pm Hi Dan, I believe that my research allowed me to find if not the cheapest option but something very close to. For your area, if use not the best type of timber you will need to spend (area + 10% wastage at $35) $5,845 + $150 delivery = $6,000. Underlay (plywood, battens will be cheaper) will cost about $2,000.. Labour - unless you do it yourself (hiring tools will be about $400-600) you will be looking at $25 per m2, therefore. additional $3,800... All up $12,400 not including materials such as nails, coating etc.... So, $10,000 for Tassie Oak sounds as a good deal... Dunno much about about this type of timber... ... built a Promenade with Clarendon. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=25104 20-10-09 - excavation and piering completed ... 12-04-10 - Basins fixed. Connecting to the electrical grid 23-04-10 - PCI 07-05-10 - HANDOVER! Re: REAL TIMBER FLOOR BOARDS VS. LAMINATE FLOORING 19Jan 31, 2010 3:19 pm ebyelyakov Hi Dan, I believe that my research allowed me to find if not the cheapest option but something very close to. For your area, if use not the best type of timber you will need to spend (area + 10% wastage at $35) $5,845 + $150 delivery = $6,000. Underlay (plywood, battens will be cheaper) will cost about $2,000.. Labour - unless you do it yourself (hiring tools will be about $400-600) you will be looking at $25 per m2, therefore. additional $3,800... All up $12,400 not including materials such as nails, coating etc.... So, $10,000 for Tassie Oak sounds as a good deal... Dunno much about about this type of timber... Thanks for the detail, appreciated Absolutely, $10k is a cracking price, no doubt of that and it did give us a wee pause for reflection. The 152m includes around 5% wastage anyway. One thing to consider, we want to lay direct onto concrete rather than lose ceiling height. An 8mm laminate gives us that option. We won't be ordering until April ish so have time to keep the door open and explore options. Migt oush supplier on 12mm laminate as a compromise. Re: REAL TIMBER FLOOR BOARDS VS. LAMINATE FLOORING 20Feb 03, 2010 9:06 am I dont mind the look of either laminate or timber but the difference is in the feel and durability. In display homes I have been in the laminate is creeky and feels soft and not even. If you have a larger area to cover you will get a better deal but still for good quality timber floorboards for an area of around 250sqm....its over $40k so a big decision to make if its on a larger scale. DA approved Waiting on a few more Builder's quotes. Building Standards; Getting It Right! Is this acceptable in a new house build. Floors where installed by builder. Already chips in board and skirting is not flush 0 195 Engineering timber is certainly a less fuss option, times cheaper to supply and install and better withstands humidity. 1 15993 |