Do wooden floors add value?

[namtrak]

thanks - will probbaly do this then. so is it a case of it shoul dbe done to maintain it? or can you let it go and just do it in a few years time?

It actually depends on the state of the floor.

If the floor finish has dulled, has light scratches in it - just needs some life in it. Then that is the job of a maintenance coat. If the finish is scratched through to the floor, or there are dents in the floor then it is likely it needs a resand.

If you know the finish that was put on the floor, then you could also google the company and in most cases they have rejuvenating products which just mop onto the floor. However I would only use those recommended by the manufacturer of the existing finish.

 

[jcwc888]

Yeh floating flaws have improved in quality, however I would only use them in IP's, never in my PPOR. As an aside I only install hardwood floors and pass on to others the work for floating floors and other prefinished products.

To make the maths of flooring relevant you need to take it over a longer period.

Lets look at flooring over say 20 years.

a) Hardwood flooring installed and finished $140 per sqm
Maintenance coats every 5 years ($10 per sqm) $40 per sqm.

Total cost over 20 years $180 per sqm.

b) Floating floors installed around $100 per sqm (less for DYI)
Replaced every 7 years - more or less

Total cost over 20 years $300 per sqm.

And if you keep the maintenance coats up then the life of the hardwood floor is almost indefinite.

Having said that though, I can hardly be considered to be objective

Wow that's pretty expensive. As in hardwood floors - it's harder to clean and if you're churning properties over 4-5 year period, i think it wouldn't add that much value if you're looking to make a decent profit

I laid 6 apartments using quality laminate and only once with hardwood. www.utf.com.au (20 years warranty) - get them for 19.95 per sqm at Hoppers Crossing in melbourne (They're made in belgium), or if you want to go cheap - you could get the china ones, they do the job for 3-4 years. at 9.99 per sqm.

Underlay i always use 6mm acoustic for apartments at 10.50 lion king flooring.

The average cost in melbourne to lay floorboard would be around 18-22 per sqm excluding floorboards. So for $100 that is really expensive.

Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[Sailesh Channan]

Timber floor boards look magic in almost any home. However, they do add to the overall construction cost.

I decided to add hardwood floor to my IP in inner city Brisbane properties. I did a vacate inspection last week and the four year old property is in excellent condition however, I did notice slight indentations on the floor boards most likely caused by high heeled shoes. I guess I will just have to live with it and If I eventually sell I can simply sand these imperfections out.

 

[namtrak]

Wow that's pretty expensive. As in hardwood floors - it's harder to clean and if you're churning properties over 4-5 year period, i think it wouldn't add that much value if you're looking to make a decent profit

I laid 6 apartments using quality laminate and only once with hardwood. www.utf.com.au (20 years warranty) - get them for 19.95 per sqm at Hoppers Crossing in melbourne (They're made in belgium), or if you want to go cheap - you could get the china ones, they do the job for 3-4 years. at 9.99 per sqm.

Underlay i always use 6mm acoustic for apartments at 10.50 lion king flooring.

The average cost in melbourne to lay floorboard would be around 18-22 per sqm excluding floorboards. So for $100 that is really expensive.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Just wanted to check my maths on some of the other timber flooring products, and yes my only point of reference is Harvey Norman Fyshwick flooring store. However, the 3 types of products they have are:

Laminate, which is a picture painted on plastic. Ranged from $25sqm to $69sqm

Engineered flooring which is the prefinished hardwood (kempas or bamboo) was $90 to $110 per sqm

Floating floor, which is the prefinished timber veneer over ply wood (comes in a large range of timbers) and ranged in price from $70 sqm to $140 sqm.

On top of this cost, the installation cost was $55 per sqm which included underlay and quad. I think this is closer to the industry standard for installation, around $40 to $60 per sqm.

These costs, I think, make a solid hardwood floor a very viable option. At the moment I am supplying, installing and finishing 19mm Vic Ash, Tassie Oak for around $140 per sqm. Not trying to beat my own drum, but I dont think there is any comparison. Not for a PPOR anyway, as I mentioned before, I am not sure what I would do with an IP.

Cheers

 

[namtrak]

As a follow-up to this thread I contacted the Australian Timber Flooring Association who undertook to conduct some sort of research to ascertain the real value of a timber floor. Their results, whilst admittedly not produced by a completely empirical research methodology, still bare some food for thought.

Basically they are saying that a solid timber floor adds around 3% in value to the resale price of a home.

TUESDAY AUGUST 4 2009 ISSUE 32
I
Another Marketing Edge for Timber Flooring

Following a member’s suggestion (our thanks to Refined
Flooring in the ACT), ATFA recently conducted a survey of real estate
agents to determine the value a timber floor added to a domestic home.
The results are significant. A similar survey in the United States (by the
NWFA) determined that a timber floor added an additional 2% of value to a
home for resale purposes.

Thanks to the assistance of the national Re/Max Real Estate network,
ATFA surveyed approximately 1000 agents across the country to establish
the following results:

91% of respondents believed that a home with a timber floor was
easier to sell than homes with other floor surfaces;

73% of respondents believed that a home with a timber floor sold
faster than homes with other floor surfaces;

100% of respondents agreed that timber floors add value to the
saleable price of a home.

While some went as far as suggesting the value of a timber floor added 8%
to the value of a home, the average across respondents was a healthy 3%
of added value to a home.

When considering a home valued at $500 000.00, and subsequently
adding a timber floor of approximately $20 000.00 in value, the home could
potentially be worth $535 600.00, significantly increasing the investment.
This potential added value, together with the potential of selling a home
easier and faster, should aid in promoting a timber floor to prospective
clients.

5

 

[evee1]

It depends whether you are a person that likes timber flooring or prefers a plushy carpet .
I love timber and we put the floating floors in our PPOR about 11 year ago. Ours are NOT panels (people often think that panels are the only floating floors). They are 2.2cm thick, have three layers, glued together under pressure, with top layer being about 1 cm of hard wood (victorian ash) originally (they have been sanded since) and look great. Of course any wood will show marks when abused, but that it's nature.
But they are not the cheapest option so I would not put them in IP, unless it is a very high standard IP.
Personally, I would go for wood, if you already have it in IP (that's what we did in our IP), otherwise I would put carpet and tiles, rather than cheap panels. Either way you go you will not satisfy all potential renters, as they might have different preferences. That's my 2c.

 

[Perp]

Hardwood flooring laid over a ply or direct stick to concrete and finished in situ - around 12mm or 14mm thick - called overlay. Laid with nails/staples/glue

About how much do you think this usually costs per square metre? And is it available in a wide range of timbers?

As a follow-up to this thread I contacted the Australian Timber Flooring Association who undertook to conduct some sort of research to ascertain the real value of a timber floor. Their results, whilst admittedly not produced by a completely empirical research methodology, still bare some food for thought.

Yes, not very objective, but still interesting and of some value. Great work, namtrak! I bet the ATFA were rapt that you suggested it, too.

 

[geoffw]

I priced some of this not too long ago at Hardly Normal. $70 psm but sometimes available at $60 on sale. Underlay required $10 psm or $5 for a well cured concrete floor. Laying perhaps $40 psm or you can do it yourself.

 

[Perp]

I priced some of this not too long ago at Hardly Normal. $70 psm but sometimes available at $60 on sale. Underlay required $10 psm or $5 for a well cured concrete floor. Laying perhaps $40 psm or you can do it yourself.

I think you're talking about a floating floor; I'm referring to a solid timber floor overlay, usually nailed or glued to the concrete or to timber battens, then finished. It usually has 12mm thick solid timber, and looks identical to a solid timber floor. It's actually slightly more expensive than solid timber floors , but is your best alternative if, like us, you already have a concrete slab.

 

[namtrak]

Yep,

The overlay is essentially just thinner floor boards.

Overlay is cheaper than normal boards by a few dollars per sqm, but you have to factor in the cost of the sub floor for overlay (battens, ply etc).

If you were looking at putting something over the top of an existing floor - then you would use overlay at 12/14mm rather than normal boards at 19mm.

I can get hardwood flooring delivered to Sydney for anywhere between $40 and $70 per sqm. Depends on the type, size and quality of the boards. Costs an extra $200 for delivery from Sydney to Canberra.

 

[Perp]

I can get hardwood flooring delivered to Sydney for anywhere between $40 and $70 per sqm.

I'm wondering if you can give me a m2 estimate that I should be expecting for overlay, installed and finished, please. Based on what you've said much earlier in the thread, I'm gathering around $150 per sqm?

Thanks for contributing your expertise to this thread, namtrak.

 

[namtrak]

Yep, $150 per sqm delivered, installed and finished.

That would include a select grade hardwood floor. Something like a blackbutt, grey box or spotted gum.

The proviso is the difference in prices between cities and the state of the existing area to be floored.

Just get a few quotes when you start looking at this stuff

Cheers

 

[Perp]

Thanks a million, namtrak.