We have getting to the stage in our project to finish off the flooring downstairs.
We have about 53sqm to cover and the sub floor varies as follows.
Porch- chipboard panels upon timber joists
Conservatory - chipboard panels upon timber joists
Living room- half quarry tiles with concerte below, other half soley concrete
Hall- quarry tiles with concrete below
Dining room- concrete
We know its not going to be cheap to install so we want to put something down that will last the test of time. We have been saving for a few months as we knew it would take a large chunk of cash to get the floor down. I have been quoted as £12 per m sq for fitting- am i hitting ball park figures or being taken for a ride. I dont have the time to fit myself- i`m currently working all hours to finish off the upstairs.
We have seen some laminates with 20 year guarentees that we like, we only seem to like the more top end engineered wood floor- and well real wood seems to look the bees knees- but at £40 per sqm its not exactly cheap. I`d ideally like to get the material cost and fitting to £40 per msq- is that possible?
What concerns us with having real wood is that we were told by our chippy that it would require fitting onto wooden battens- suspended from the concrete, again raising the cost further.
We are looking for advice on what to do- ideally we dont want something light in colour like pine, but we also dont want a dark oak. This will be a family home, so i`m expecting spillage and very worried about real wood becoming damaged. Any products to reccomend to us, to to stay away from?
When looking for fitters or suppliers, are there any associations etc to look out for?
Also i guess we need to lay a damp proof membrane over the concrete floors, can i get a combined underlay and DPM? do i need to do teh same on the wooden floors.
Final question- i have a manhole under the wooden suspended floor in the conservatory- its got an access panel made within the floor. Is it possible to get some sort of thin recessed cover and surround to make a nice neat finish of whatever floor we use over the manhole hatch? Or should i just get the flooring cut to the access panel size and shape- then glue it to the access panel? (in this case i would have to leave access through the flooring to the screws holding the access panel down- might look messy)
anyway, enough babbling any advice welcome.
We have about 53sqm to cover and the sub floor varies as follows.
Porch- chipboard panels upon timber joists
Conservatory - chipboard panels upon timber joists
Living room- half quarry tiles with concerte below, other half soley concrete
Hall- quarry tiles with concrete below
Dining room- concrete
We know its not going to be cheap to install so we want to put something down that will last the test of time. We have been saving for a few months as we knew it would take a large chunk of cash to get the floor down. I have been quoted as £12 per m sq for fitting- am i hitting ball park figures or being taken for a ride. I dont have the time to fit myself- i`m currently working all hours to finish off the upstairs.
We have seen some laminates with 20 year guarentees that we like, we only seem to like the more top end engineered wood floor- and well real wood seems to look the bees knees- but at £40 per sqm its not exactly cheap. I`d ideally like to get the material cost and fitting to £40 per msq- is that possible?
What concerns us with having real wood is that we were told by our chippy that it would require fitting onto wooden battens- suspended from the concrete, again raising the cost further.
We are looking for advice on what to do- ideally we dont want something light in colour like pine, but we also dont want a dark oak. This will be a family home, so i`m expecting spillage and very worried about real wood becoming damaged. Any products to reccomend to us, to to stay away from?
When looking for fitters or suppliers, are there any associations etc to look out for?
Also i guess we need to lay a damp proof membrane over the concrete floors, can i get a combined underlay and DPM? do i need to do teh same on the wooden floors.
Final question- i have a manhole under the wooden suspended floor in the conservatory- its got an access panel made within the floor. Is it possible to get some sort of thin recessed cover and surround to make a nice neat finish of whatever floor we use over the manhole hatch? Or should i just get the flooring cut to the access panel size and shape- then glue it to the access panel? (in this case i would have to leave access through the flooring to the screws holding the access panel down- might look messy)
anyway, enough babbling any advice welcome.
