Saturday 31 August 2013

We have boards!!








 


Once they're swept and mopped, they'll look even better ... woohoo!!

Saturday 10 August 2013

Tiles, carpet, vinyl or boards?

After many, many months of trying to make a decision about what floor covering to use in the boys' bedrooms, we (meaning me) finally sat down and made a pros and cons list.

Tiles:
  • pro:  hard wearing
  • pro:  easy to clean
  • pro & con:  very permanent (not easily changed)
  • con:  cold in winter
  • con:  hard on the feet
  • con:  noisy/echoey
  • cost:  approx $60 sqm laid (if we went with the same tiles as the rest of the living area)
Carpet:
  • pro:  comfortable on the feet
  • pro:  not uber permanent/easier to change (than tiles)
  • pro:  reduces/dampens noise
  • pro:  warmer in winter
  • con:  not hard wearing 
  • con:  harder to (get the boys to) clean
  • con:  harbours dust and dust mites causing allergies
  • cost:  from $100 to $400 sqm laid (like we'd pay $400 for kids rooms ... ha!)

Vinyl:
  • pro:  warmer than concrete/tiles
  • pro: easy to clean
  • pro:  not uber permanent/easier to change (than tiles)
  • con:  easily damaged (in our experience, even the expensive ones tear/warp over time)
  • con:  looks 'cheaper' in a bedroom (in my own humble opinion)
  • cost:  from $50 sqm laid
Floorboards:
  • pro:  comfortable on the feet (more so than tiles; less so than carpet)
  • pro:  quite hard wearing
  • pro:  easy to clean 
  • pro:  warmer than tiles/concrete floor
  • pro:  reduces/dampens echoes
  • pro:  easy to spot 'dust bunnies' and areas that haven't been cleaned properly
  • con:  some can get scratched very easily
  • con:  can be noisy if not laid with underlay
  • cost:  from $50 sqm upwards (depending on whether it's laminate, engineered hardwood, etc.)
We checked out several different suppliers, most of whom gave us conflicting information (depending on what they had stock of to sell) so we finally caved and asked the boys for their opinions.  Surprisingly, they all agreed that they wanted floorboards.  

You could have knocked me over with a feather that they were all in agreement and then it started ....
  • "I want jarrah ones" (Alex) 
  • "I don't mind so long as they're not too light" (Andrew) 
  • "I'd like those whitish ones or deep, deep chocolate colour" (Brad) 
  • "Those grey ones look nice" (Peter) 
  • "I want need a nice stiff drink and someone else to make this decision for me" (Me)
After visiting several floorboard suppliers (again), we decided on Trevor's Carpets in Gosnells.  Garry, the salesman, is the guy we went to for our first house's floor coverings over 20 years ago.  He was fantastically patient with me and my indecision and suggested I take some samples home to try them out in all the different bedrooms.  

So to make a long story short, (I know ... waaaaaay too late!) we are getting laminate floorboards in "Spotted Gum" installed in all the bedrooms that don't currently have anything on the floor.  Can't wait ....