Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering 1 May 23, 2012 12:19 pm We've been looking into flooring options for our don't-yet-know-what-we're-going-to-build new house, and a combination of personal taste & my dust allergies has us looking at hard floorings. Our current plans involve: (*) dark tiles with grout-or-whatever-it's-called downstairs, (*) hydronic under-floor heating downstairs-only (so tiles upstairs = cold floor). Anyway, we've seen a hardwood "timber product" yesterday, which I think is considered to be engineered/manufactured, and which we really like. It looks like recycled timber, really, but it appears to have been made to look like that. One of the things we don't like about timber flooring is that once you've dropped a sponge or a piece of cotton-wool on it it's damaged & you can't do anything about that; but when it looks pre-damaged, a bit of extra wear-and-tear looks like it's supposed to be there. Our current house has polished floorboards (can't recall the type of pine it is - it's the one that's supposed to be hardish for pine, and is often a slightly yellow colour), and you can dent it by dropping the TV remote on it. However the particular product in question appears to be quite uncheap! For that reason I was wondering if I can pick the brains of anyone who's gone down the recycled-timber or even distressed-look timber-product avenue-of-research? Any particular product suggestions, experiences, etc? Note that the price doesn't necessarily scare us at this stage - especially not knowing how many square metres we have to lay etc, what it'd cost to get the staircase to match, etc. However, if something's available that looks the same & costs less, or something's available that is better but costs the same, I'm certainly all ears! Re: Recycled or distressed-looking timber flooring 2May 23, 2012 3:52 pm Interested to know what product. You are referring too? The pine timbers are some of the softest woods for flooring i think, which is why you would be noticing the denting so much. I too love the look of a recycled worn in timber floor something with character. That is not going to show every mark or dent made. Which is why I am looking at european oak engineered flooring, lots of different Colours and finishes available and comes in the lovely wide boards, but it again is around $100 plus mark. I have also found the wood look porcelain tiles have a great texture and look to them but you are looking at around $100 m2. Have you looked into these ? some are plain looking but the ones I love have some knots and a weathered look to them. The other place you could try is the timber auctions for reclaimed flooring, not sur on the pricing of these but it may be a cheaper way? 2/2010 8 acres purchased 11/2011 plans submitted 3/2012 plans approved 13/4 slab done 16/5 brickwork and roof finished 4/6 lock up 29/6 kitchen and bathrooms in 30/6 currently painting Re: Recycled or distressed-looking timber flooring 3May 23, 2012 8:12 pm To be honest, from what the home builders said the stuff we were looking at was probably significantly more than $100/sqm. After shopping around I'm pretty sure we've found reasonable-looking wood-look tiles for ~$70/sqm (we didn't really want something that looks identical to wood - that's too fake because of the "trying to look like wood but it isn't" issue - but we did want something that looked a bit like wood but wasn't trying too hard - even though that doesn't make a lot of sense), but this is for an area that won't be under-floor heated and we thought tiles might be a bit cold. And we also figure you can't have wood-look tiles as well as an actual wood finish; that'd be a bit wrong, like wearing a blue t-shirt with your blue jeans & blue shoes and a blue jacket with your blue hat & scarf ... Apparently Big River Timbers supplied the flooring we saw, but I can't see anything on their site which is definitely exactly what we were looking at. Closest seems to be this picture under "Old World hand grafted antique finish" on their site, but it looks like maybe it's a custom process they apply once the flooring is down (ie. you don't buy it then install it): I'll update here when/if we know more ... Re: Recycled or distressed-looking timber flooring 4May 23, 2012 8:40 pm Have a look here they have some nice engineered flooring and finishes http://www.smartertimberflooring.com.au/gallery.html 2/2010 8 acres purchased 11/2011 plans submitted 3/2012 plans approved 13/4 slab done 16/5 brickwork and roof finished 4/6 lock up 29/6 kitchen and bathrooms in 30/6 currently painting Engineering timber is certainly a less fuss option, times cheaper to supply and install and better withstands humidity. 1 15886 Building Standards; Getting It Right! Hi all, My neighbour has built his 15m long garage on our boundary. It was agreed as part of the planning permit that the wall must be in exposed recycled brick. For some… 0 10892 Hi team, Im looking for a second hand sd4b monitor preferably white. 0 8920 |