Laminate flooring -

rizzle

rizzle

Looking to get laminate flooring installed in my kitchen/living area. It's 37m2 and would imagine it would be a fairly straight forward job.

Having no knowledge whatsoever of flooring and it's associated costs, would I better better off going through a flooring shop to have the job completed end to end (materials+ labour etc.) or try source the flooring myself and find a labourer to get the job done?

It's my PPOR so I wouldn't want bottom of the barrel quality flooring, but something that is somewhat economical while still looking reasonable (I'm looking for some value add so the ROI is a consideration). What kind of $/sqm rate would/should I be looking at?
 
In my sister's IP, we redid the floors in the living room.

20sqm total, 5x4m living room.

We, my dad and I, ripped out all the carpets, underlay and the timber edge thing with nails that the carpets are attached to. That was a day's work.

Then we went to Costco and bought the 14mm thick laminate floating floors for $18/sqm

This was significantly cheaper than Bunnings at the time who were selling 14mm thick for $28/sqm at the time.

In the second day, we managed to lay the flooring pretty easily. Including the foam underlay for the floating floors.

I would suggest you strongly consider DIY installation for the floors. This will allow you to spend a bit more on better-quality floorboards too.
 
I second the DIY option. The cost of install per square metre can be just as much, if not more than the cost of the flooring itself.

Laminate is not really suggested for areas like the kitchen as most don't really do well with water... In saying that, I just laid it in an IP about a month ago, only time will tell how well it holds. I just couldn't stand the look of lino, and tiling was going to be too expensive.
 
Laminate flooring can be called floating floor. It could be timber, bamboo or laminate. Neither is recommended for kitchen or wet areas as the backing is usually MDF or HDF. I think if its timber, it has a plywood backing. They will expand and buckle if exposure to water for a period of time.

The key note is to ensure the floor is level. A number of issues occur if it's not level post install.

Another alternative to a floating floor is vinyl planks which are stuck to the ground. They are not like the old vinyl flooring from decades ago. They have gone a long way and looks like real timber. The good thing is that they don't create as much noise as a floating floor and they can be wet and mopped.

I have a 12 mm 1 strip laminate floating floor in my lounge and hall way. It has 3mm underlay. I got these professional installed backed by a 12 month install warranty.
 
MightyWill said:
Laminate flooring can be called floating floor. It could be timber, bamboo or laminate. Neither is recommended for kitchen or wet areas as the backing is usually MDF or HDF. I think if its timber, it has a plywood backing. They will expand and buckle if exposure to water for a period of time.
Click to expand...

Damn that is not what I wanted to hear. Can you purchase timber laminate that IS appropriate/made for kitchen areas?

MightyWill said:
Another alternative to a floating floor is vinyl planks which are stuck to the ground. They are not like the old vinyl flooring from decades ago. They have gone a long way and looks like real timber. The good thing is that they don't create as much noise as a floating floor and they can be wet and mopped.
Click to expand...


I will look into this, but the idea of doing my living and kitchen in vinyl makes me shudder. Thanks.
 
rizzle said:
Damn that is not what I wanted to hear. Can you purchase timber laminate that IS appropriate/made for kitchen areas?

I've seen timber in kitchen apartments before. If you're going to be living in it, you just need to be extra careful. Probably wise to put a mat in front of the sink. The surface is ok to touch water like I said, it's just when there is a gap between the planks that water can get into that is the issue. I guess if you install the boards VERY tightly fitted with no gaps at all, you should be fine with good maintenance. Plywood as the backing for timber floor should be a lot better than MDF or HDF. Just note that timber isn't as heavy duty as laminate in regards to dings and scratches.


I will look into this, but the idea of doing my living and kitchen in vinyl makes me shudder. Thanks.
Click to expand...

You will be surprised how good it looks and you won't get that hollow thumping sound every time someone with boots or heels walk on it. Harvey Normans should have some on display.
 
I've seen timber in kitchen apartments before. If you're going to be living in it, you just need to be extra careful. Probably wise to put a mat in front of the sink. The surface is ok to touch water like I said, it's just when there is a gap between the planks that water can get into that is the issue. I guess if you install the boards VERY tightly fitted with no gaps at all, you should be fine with good maintenance. Plywood as the backing for timber floor should be a lot better than MDF or HDF. Just note that timber isn't as heavy duty as laminate in regards to dings and scratches.
 
rizzle said:
Can the vinyl planks be stuck on top of my pine floorboards?
Click to expand...

Why do away with beautiful genuine floorboards? Why not restain if its the colour you're not a fan of.

rizzle said:
Had thought about it. What about power tools to cut pieces to size etc? It's a smallish unit (100sqm total area) so I don't have a shed full of tools/power tools.
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You can get away with just having a pry bar, mallet, hand saw, and jig saw. A circulaw saw in lieu of the hand saw would make the job much faster though.
 
DIY laminate for sure...plenty of installation videos online.

Get an installation kit (Bunnings @$20), circular saw/new blade, saw, saw horses and a multi-tool for cutting in around the corners.
There are a few things to look for with laminate floors.
Look at the MDF composition...you can get "green coloured" water resistant MDF backing for the laminate board itself.
Look at the quality of the "click" joint...it is a firm fit? Does it join seamlessly even when trying to pull apart? (joint slip in tension)
The laminate itself is fairly robust if you look after it.....

Another tip for prolonging laminate life is to use PVA glue on the joints around wet areas. Spread the glue on the joint as you assemble.
Stops a lot of water penetration issues...cheap as well.

You do need to look closely at the quality of the product and compare...couple of $$ p/sqm can make a big difference!

I did this on a few rentals and they are still OK after 3 years, even in the kitchen.

Hope this helps - good luck
 
Laminate floors are terrible horrible looking things.

I can spot them a mile away. Feels like you're walking on plastic, it's not natural I tells ya!

Thing is you can get Australian mixed hardwood for $23 m2 character grade and just use a bit of putty for any imperfections.

Don't know why people don't just go with the real thing. Will last 200 years+ compared with 5 years.
 
WattleIdo said:
Where d'ya get it?
Click to expand...

A place in qld so not much good to you I'm afraid. But get onto the timber yards directly that do the flooring and see what they can supply. Massive price reduction for character grade flooring because of the imperfections, but it's the imperfections that make it look like real wood. Some suppliers advertise on Gumtree directly too.
 
Tim86 said:
Laminate floors are terrible horrible looking things.

I can spot them a mile away. Feels like you're walking on plastic, it's not natural I tells ya!

Thing is you can get Australian mixed hardwood for $23 m2 character grade and just use a bit of putty for any imperfections.

Don't know why people don't just go with the real thing. Will last 200 years+ compared with 5 years.
Click to expand...

The reason why people do not go for the real thing which is timber is because a) it costs triple the costs or even more depending on quality and b) it's not as scratch and dent resistant. A person with a rock stuck in their shoe would ruin the wooden floor immediately even if its top notch hard wood. If you have kids, say good bye to it. You don't have this problem with laminate or bamboo. In fact, you don't need to worry about it after its installed when it comes to someone dragging furniture across it weighing 100kgs. You would defiantly not put a wooden floating floor in an investment property. It beats the purpose of even putting such a thing in. For a house where you will live in and look after, I can see why you would put it in but many still prefer laminate due to its commercial grade level of resistance to getting damaged.
 
Tim86 said:
Laminate floors are terrible horrible looking things.

I can spot them a mile away. Feels like you're walking on plastic, it's not natural I tells ya!

Thing is you can get Australian mixed hardwood for $23 m2 character grade and just use a bit of putty for any imperfections.

Don't know why people don't just go with the real thing. Will last 200 years+ compared with 5 years.
Click to expand...

to an extent, I agree, I much prefer the real thing, my house had hardwood flooring thruout, tear up lino, / carpet, fill imperfections, bucket loads of sanding and apply a few hundred $$ of 2 pack and it looks fantastic, floating floor on the other hand, very cheap, less labour intensive and lasts just as long :)
 
Montoya said:
Why do away with beautiful genuine floorboards? Why not restain if its the colour you're not a fan of.
Click to expand...

Because pine is a soft wood. It dings and scratches very easily and would look ratty again within 1 to 2 years?

Montoya said:
You can get away with just having a pry bar, mallet, hand saw, and jig saw. A circulaw saw in lieu of the hand saw would make the job much faster though.
Click to expand...

Thanks.

The areas in question: http://i.imgur.com/WN678nf.jpg & http://imgur.com/6UG8Nny
 
Crankshaw, are you fairly 'handy' when it comes to DIY? My hubby is not at all handy. If he watched an installation video and then tried to do it himself would he be ok? He's fairly practical but I wouldn't leave him in a corner with floorboards and tools and paper instructions! I have to assemble IKEA items as he ends up with the sh*ts!
 
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