And now ouch and double ouch.
I've been to the property, and had my first attempt at the carpet and tiles.
The cork tiles can be removed with a spade, but it is a high energy operation, and I'm not quite that fit. I figure I can remove about 2 per square metre per hour that way- including rest breaks. At that rate, I'll pay the quoted $10 psm- it will be worth it. I'll be trying a couple of other manual methods tomorrow to see if they work better.
The bad bit is the glued carpet. It was rubber backed, and pulling it off leaves all the rubber backing on the floor. Another flat spade operation, and one which takes time and energy. 60 sq m at 2 sqm per hour (it looks to be the same sort of rate as the cork tiles so far) will be a bigger job than I'm capable of.
Though I might consider the services of the unemployed tenant in the cottage next door- my cottage too
If I can't find a more efficient manual alternative, I'll be looking at either hire equipment (the Kennards catalogue has a few promising leads)
But the bummer is that both the carpet and cork tiles were only installed to the skirting boards- and there is no room under the skirting boards for floating floor gaps (thanks for the hint Glenn).
So I'm going to either have skirting boards lifted (probably before the painter comes on Sunday) or go for the vinyl wood look strips- there does not appear to be a self install options, and the cost for 32 sqm is $2400 vs $1400 for self installed floating floor.
Any thouights or suggestions please?