Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering 1 Aug 13, 2010 12:45 pm Hi all, First time post after lurking as a guest for 12 months. We've just got planning approval for a new build in coastal Perth. Double story, double brick, cement slab top and bottom - all very conventional for Perth sand soils and termite issues (no stumped brick veneer on this side of OZ). We love the look of timber flooring, so we'll put in as much solid timber as we can sensibly afford, and carpet the rest, but the $64 question is the total cost for supplied, installed and finished. Shopping around is hard because we haven't got anyone to break down the costs between timber, fixing and sanding/finshing. The display shops tend to want to do a one-stop service, whereas we're quite open to buying from one source and getting installed by someone else. It's also very hard to get a sensible discussion on board thicknesses/widths/grades/fixing method. Here's what we've found out so far: Timber costs in WA - if you are going for Oz hardwoods in a 12mm thick board, the cheapest by far is "Tassie Oak" (can be found under $20/sqm). The next cost-effective is jarrah (40-ish/sqm), then karri (50-ish/sqm). WA blackbutt is one of the most expensive timbers, up to $80-90/sqm. Eastern states timbers generally in the $60 - 90/sqm range. Most display shops are basically re-sellers, but there are some smaller mills where you can buy the WA hardwoords direct and get a starting point for purchase costs. The Forest Products Commission website is a good starting point - http://www.fpc.wa.gov.au/BuyTimber. You can get a very good price on the WA timbers from mill direct (eg select grade jarrah/karri 105 x 12mm under $55/sqm), but as in all things caveat emptor. The recycled timber guys are also worth chatting to. Direct stick to concrete is the overwhelming norm in Perth - nobody really wants to do marine ply underlay (probably because it adds $30/sqm to the cost and loses the job to the guy that does direct stick at a cheaper price). It looks like fixing and finshing is around $85+/sqm for waterproofing/direct stick/water-based finish. This is actually more than the cost of the timber in many cases. What we can't get our heads around is the minimum board thickness to get. One bloke firmly steered us towards 19mm thick boards for direct stick, and another said 12mm is fine. There is also the argument that wider board merits thicker width. We'll probably go for something in the 80/85mm or 105mm range. So, there we are, more confused than ever as to what it really costs to get a quality long lasting job done, but realistically expecting $140 -$190 per sqm all up. However, that's still a big cost variation, and we'd like to narrow that down more if we could pin down a starting point and work from there. Any WA people out there? Dave Re: Solid timber on concrete slab (WA) - baffled by the choi 2Oct 28, 2010 10:00 pm I am in exactly the same position as you. The amount of information is overwhelming, but I still seem to be going round in circles. You hear so many different things. The thing I find most difficult is that you really don't know what the timber will look like until it is finished. when I look at samples in the shops I'm told they are old samples, or its got a different varnish than recommended so won't look like that. And as you say, what size timber to get. Can I ask if you managed to get any answers to your questions? Have you ordered your timber. I would love to know what you decided to do. Thanks Re: Solid timber on concrete slab (WA) - baffled by the choi 3Oct 28, 2010 10:29 pm word of advice, don't go with tas oak, its way too weak and dints very easily... speaking from experience here in the current place I've just finished building, I'm about to have sydney blue gum laid.. 80mm x 13mm select grade... I'm having it glued to the slab directly and i'll be putting the 2 part bostik moisture barrier down myself to save a few pennies.. 12mm/13mm is fine, they can be sanded a number of times. my good mate is a sander/polisher and he's been doing it for years, he recommended the 13mm which he runs at his own home too. Re: Solid timber on concrete slab (WA) - baffled by the choi 4Oct 28, 2010 11:01 pm Consumer Confusion, It is riffe in every area of marketing, merchandising and retail. The future catch phrase Re: Solid timber on concrete slab (WA) - baffled by the choi 5Oct 28, 2010 11:16 pm I like this thread. I was thinking about getting timber flooring from a auction house... I liked blackbut for it's look and then I found out it was the more expensive... hmmm seems to be a common problem with me. But we are so far off flooring I have put it to the back of my mind. Ross's auctions always seem to be selling it. If you find someone to lay it, let me know price! Building with Life$tyle Homes in Perth SOR Key Dates on First Page of my Thread viewtopic.php?f=31&t=38761 Re: Solid timber on concrete slab (WA) - baffled by the choi 6Oct 28, 2010 11:53 pm We are going 12mm blackbutt direct stick. My partner is a carpenter and has done quite a few floors that are 12mm direct stick. We didn't go plywood underneath due to the extra cost and extra floor height (didn't want to have different floor levels). Building with Ventura homes (WA) Building thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=20516 Slab: 17/04/10, Bricking started: 12/05/10, Bricking finished: 2/06/10, Roof frame done: 11/06/10, Colorbond on: 14/07/10, Lock Up: 19/08/10, Cabinets: 25/08/10, Tiling done: 28/09/10, Electrical: 2/10/10, PCI: 29/10/10, Keys: 4/11/10 Re: Solid timber on concrete slab (WA) - baffled by the choi 7Oct 29, 2010 5:50 pm karakarakara We are going 12mm blackbutt direct stick. My partner is a carpenter and has done quite a few floors that are 12mm direct stick. We didn't go plywood underneath due to the extra cost and extra floor height (didn't want to have different floor levels). Smae as karakarakara, I've built houses to sell and did them all in 12mm direct stick so there was very little difference in height between the timber flooring and tiles. You go up to 19mm and there is a noticable stepdown to the bathroom/laundry etc. Plus the 12mm is cheaper! Re: Solid timber on concrete slab (WA) - baffled by the choi 8Oct 29, 2010 6:04 pm Wider boards require thicker boards. If you are going for the 80-100mm range 12 or 13mm is fine for direct stick. If you go wider, the boards are more prone to cupping so you need to go to a thicker board. Some timbers are more stable than others as well so can handle being wider without the added thickness. I'm a carpenter and have installed a number of direct stick floors, I cant see any real reason to go plank on ply. Accessible Carpentry & Cabinets accessiblecarpentry@gmail.com accessiblecarpentry.com.au https://www.facebook.com/pages/Accessible-Carpentry-Cabinets/583314911709039 Engineering timber is certainly a less fuss option, times cheaper to supply and install and better withstands humidity. 1 16003 If this is a custom build then I would expect the builder to set out the door frame closer to the wall to avoid the gap between architrave and the wall and or specify… 9 8356 The concreter will take and reuse. In my case I bought structural LVLs and scraped them back and used them as joists. 1 5209 |