Planning to sell, new floor coverings, carpet or Bamboo to help sale

[warek]

Hi there

We have a 25 year old house and are starting to renovate with the goal to sell in 2.5 years. House needs new floor coverings in lounge, family dining, and new floor covering in kitchen.
We currently have carpet and we really like spotted gum solid flooring, but it is very expensive, so considering strand woven bamboo or just replace with new carpet. Bamboo will be about 50% dearer than carpet, happy to pay that if it will make house more attractive when we advertise it for sale. House will sell for about 500000-550000, it is low density residential 1and quarter acre of land and 22.6 square living area about 100 km east of Melbourne in a growth cooridoor

Do you think it is worth the extra cost of bamboo flooring?

Thanks for any input?

Kevin

 

[Hypnotic Cat]

What kind of floor is under the carpet at the moment? Wooden boards, concrete or something else?

I personally think wooden or bamboo floors will look way better and give a higher value for your house. You'd have to do the sums and weigh it up though.

In my last place, prior to selling I put new carpet in the bedrooms and polished wood floors in hallway and living room (my point being that you could do a combination of both).

 

[warek]

Engineered floor boards

House has concrete slab, and after pricing solid flooring it is in excess of 20000, so looking at engineered floorboards as a next option. They can be floating or glued, secret nailed to subfloor.

Went off Bamboo.

What kind of floor is under the carpet at the moment? Wooden boards, concrete or something else?

I personally think wooden or bamboo floors will look way better and give a higher value for your house. You'd have to do the sums and weigh it up though.

In my last place, prior to selling I put new carpet in the bedrooms and polished wood floors in hallway and living room (my point being that you could do a combination of both).

 

[gecho1]

Can i ask why you went off the Bamboo flooring option?
Engineered flooring is a great choice too!

 

[Jamie M]

We just went with bamboo in a kitchen/dining area - it looks fantastic and feels really nice. It doesn't have that cheap look at some of the thin, laminates have. It was 14mm thick - I think it was around $60m2.

Cheers

Jamie

 

[MelbGal]

I should also add that I shopped around and looked at laminates too. Some of these looked pretty bad but a couple did look good however these were more pricey and even more than the bamboo option.

I got the bamboo and carpet installed by a company that does installations for investment properties so they are used to working around tenants if required.

 

[geoffw]

We just went with bamboo in a kitchen/dining area - it looks fantastic and feels really nice. It doesn't have that cheap look at some of the thin, laminates have. It was 14mm thick - I think it was around $60m2.

Does that include installation?

I think that some of the laminates look great. If you're not going to keep the house long term I don't think it's worth while to go for solid wood. I don't think it will give the bang for buck that a good looking quality laminate will give. I'm not so much a fan of the bamboo, but that's just something about the look that I don't like. Many of the cheaper ones aren't great.

 

[Jamie M]

Nope - just supply.

I hated the stuff until my wife convinced me to get ours. It looks great - super impressed.

Cheers

Jamie

 

[geoffw]

OK, thanks Jamie.

The people who supplied our floor quoted $45psm for installation. The builder did it for $25. It's possible to do it yourself- I have done so, and it was OK for a cheap rental but not good enough quality for this property.

Laminates start at about $25psm.

 

[gecho1]

Bamboo- What to watch for

You have to be very careful with the cheaper Bamboo as it is not good quality - the internet is littered with people not happy with bamboo because it was not a stable product.
There are only 3 companies who supply quality Bamboo flooring in Australia, and they are all over the $60 mark in retail stores

Look for the GECA accreditation

http://www.geca.org.au/products/types/bamboo-flooring/

- if they do not have this, then not only will the product be more likely to fail, but it may have very large quantities of VOC in the form of Formaldehyde.
For those who are unaware of this, Formaldehyde Urea is used extensively in the timber industry as a brilliant glue. Especially good for flooring
Unfortunately it is also a known carcinogenic!
The three suppliers who have GECA Accreditation, are all rated at E1 level for VOC's, which is a strict European standard, and considered safe.
(VOC stands for Volatile Organic Compound)
The cheaper boards contain VOC's far in excess of what is considered safe.
This is the reason we will ONLY supply and install Bamboo flooring from one of the 3 certified manufacturers.
I will never knowingly expose my guys or my clients to what i consider to be a dangerous product

Bamboo is one of the cheapest options to get a good quality timber look floor, without the hollow sound associated with the thinner laminates.
If you are looking into a laminate, i would also recommend any of the 3 accredited through GECA.
Look for a commercial grade floor, as it will last longer, and i would only put these into an IP.
If you are looking to flick the property, the hollow sound can really put off potential buyers

Hope this info helps