Timber flooring......tell me all you know, please!!!!!!!!

[NaeNae]

We have pine boards right through the back of our house but only two rooms that are uncarpeted.

A few things I would seriously look into or consider:

1) they can be very cold in the winter. We have the master bedroom and a formal lounge in the boards and under feet in the winter its freezing.

2) make sure if you go with the original floor that you get a reputable person to stain and finish the floors. We use a different guy to MIL who did the lounge originally and there is a massive difference in the finish and quality. So much so that I will need to get the guy back to fix the other floor.

3) We have put cork or carpet things underneath the furnishings to help prevent dinting etc and it works really well.

4) I personally think a floating floor will add a little insulation to those rooms which you may want.

I love the look of timber floors, they are easy to clean but they do have some disadvantages unless you love rugs (which I don't).

hth

Nae x x

[Bathsheba]

We rent but the owner removed most of the lino/carpet from the kitchen/living areas and did just what you described: stripped back to the pine boards and polished. We still have carpet in the bedrooms. Even though we are quite hard on our floors I'm glad they are boards. They hide so much wear and tear and dirt! Compared to the white tiles we had in our last town hosue they are MUCH better! Not as cold and not as noisey. It's nice to have a few large room size carpets over them too but the good thing with them is they don't get traffic wear marks because you can rotate them. These boards have gotten a bit dinted... but our owner is very casual about wear and tear. It really doesn'ty bother me. If we buy this house we'll put up with what is here until all 3 kids are in school and then renovate with nicer boards. When you have little kids I personally don't get too precious about things. I'd go the pine boards initially then maybe in a few years cover with the more expensive floating boards.

[Janie]

Thanks Nae, that's all helpful. The cold factor is one of the reasons I have resisted doing it. But I am desperate now, a toddler and carpet don't mix!!!! And I know it's only going to get worse around here . I had thought of the extra insulation that a floating floor would offer. And we will still be having carpet in the bedrooms, that is the one thing I will not budge on. I refuse to get out of bed and put my feet on a cold floor LOL!!!!! So it's the living area and the hallways, which is still a reasonable sized area to do. I am very reluctant to do the kitchen, and am still inclined to re-tile that area, and the laundry while we're at it.

Fortunately I love rugs, so that will help a bit if we go with the boards . And yes, I am already looking around for someone really fantastic, as I already said, I want this floor to look awesome. So it needs to be someone who really knows what they're doing, I'm happy to pay extra for this.

Thanks so much guys, it all helps!!!!!

[Bathsheba]

I wear slippers around the house pretty much all year round... the good thing about slippers is that you can wash them... constantly washing kid destroyed carpet is not as simple. We only have tiles in the bathrooms and laundry... I really dislike them in living areas... they make my legs ache (too hard)... and make everything so much noiser as sound isn't absorbed by them (tiles).

[Janie]

Thanks Bath! I wear slippers year round too, even with carpet (do you all think I'm a nana now??? LOL). I do get what you're saying about doing what works with little kids and then changing it later, but the reality is that if we spend a few thousand plus (?????just a ballpark figure) now, it will need to last us for probably 10 years. Unless we suddenly get rich LOL! So while I want what's practical, I'm trying to think medium term, and what will look really good. This will be a big feature, right from the minute you look in our front door, and I'm determined that it not look second rate. I really want it to improve the overall look of our (30 year old) house.

It is very hard making decisions like this!

[Bathsheba]

I think either way, floating or just polished... you will probably have to have them resealed every 5 years anyhow. We have been here for 6 years and these boards should have already been redone. So there is that to consider. There are also lots of cute slippers on the market... Jiffies ballet flats are a non-nana option LOL

[spooky]

Why don't you have a look at bamboo boards? I don't know much about them but a friend recently chose them for her renovation. They are very hard, so would be great for kids dropping things all the time. They just look like any other floating boards.

[melbel]

we have solid hardwood timber which is great and my brother has solid pine. Both have worn well....his floors are about ten years old and yes the floor does have some small dents because of rough kids but all timber can do that even ours has marks where furniture has scratched it a little bit. they key is in the finish....it HAS to be a two pack gloss finish if you want any sort of long term wearability.....stuff you do yourself is just not as hard if you get what I mean...a two pack finish cures to a rock hard seal on the floor unlike other readily available 'bunnings' style products....so definitely get a professional to seal it....it is well worth the extra money.

I also wouldnt give floating floors house room..even though the boards are sealed, the cracks in between are not and that is where you run into issues long term with floating floors..with a well sealed timber floor there are no unselaed bits for water to get in and damage your floor.

[helle]

Why don't you have a look at bamboo boards? I don't know much about them but a friend recently chose them for her renovation. They are very hard, so would be great for kids dropping things all the time. They just look like any other floating boards.

just stumbled across this thread and thought i'd subscribe. i LOVE wooden floors...

We looked into getting bamboo when we first did our reno's and our house is small - 165m2 worth of bamboo floor boards was going to cost us around the $5,000 mark - not including instalation. We ended up tiling (ourselves - never again! - for $1,100