We have boards!!

 

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

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 ....

Aaannnd ... they're done!

I thought I had more photos than this but they've disappeared into the ether (either that or I've forgotten to take them off the camera which has grown legs and walked away to hide ...)

^the family room which is echoing like anything at the moment!^

^the games room^

 

It's amazing how big the rooms seem with no furniture but man are they loud!! Can't wait to get everything back in but I have to seal the grout first .. trying to make this grout stay the same colour for at least a couple of months.

Tiles .. more progress!

^ the kitchen^

^Andrew's leg photobombing the boys' hallway^

^the pantry^

^the games room^

Floorcovering ideas

Seeing as nothing much is happening on the building front (due to waiting for everything to dry out before the plasterers can start), I thought I'd start throwing out some ideas for finishing off the house.

Bear in mind these are only ideas at the moment and depending on numerous factors, most important of which is the bank balance, they may not come to fruition for quite some time ... or even at all.

We have decided to tile the majority of the house, as most people seem to do these days. Thankfully the days of having carpet in hallways and other traffic areas are well and truly over at least as far as we're concerned!

Despite our many discussions over the colours of the wet area tiles, we managed to agree fairly quickly on a living area tile called National Banur Latte. Initially I did think it was way too dark but I have warmed to it. In the photo on the retailer's website, it appears very grey but in real life, it is actually a very pleasant mix of creams/beiges and greys so it appeals to both of us. It has a matte finish so it's a lot less slippery than the high gloss versions and has the added bonus of being easier to keep clean.

Speaking of keeping things clean, I had the idea that it would be easier to keep the bottom of the WIR in the master bedroom cleaner if it was tiled. After broaching the subject with husband dearest, he has agreed to tile the floor in there with the same floor tile as the ensuite (Waringa Stone Grey) to tie them together if both the doors happen to be open at the same time. I've not actually seen it done anywhere that I can remember but I figured it would be heaps easier to be able to see the dust that needs vacuuming up instead of having it all just add to the height of the carpet.

And while on the topic of wardrobes in bedrooms, I also think it would make for a lot less dust and dirt accumulation if I were to put tiles or vinyl in the bottom of the boys' built-in-robes as well. The carpet in their rooms will be laid properly to the front of the robes as there is a track for the sliding doors, so having something different in the bottom shouldn't interfere with the carpet or the doors.

To be perfectly honest, I've been thinking about just painting the boys' floors with paving paint when we move in so that whatever carpet we (eventually) get doesn't get wrecked with all the extra sand flying around until we get the backyard finished. They've been rather non-committal about the idea whenever I've raised it in the past, but they are teenage boys so maybe expecting a complete sentence favouring one option over another was dreaming just a little bit.

Anyway enough thinking for now. I'd better get back to work and earn some money to pay for all this thinking I've been doing. Never realised how expensive thinking was ... and dangerous too! One thing keeps leading to another ... and another ... and another ... and another!

What do you think of the ideas I've come up with so far? Tiles in the wardrobes sound stupid to you? Can you think of any other options? I need help people ... and not just the kind you're thinking of! :P