Cheap wood flooring recommendations?

[YorkshireMartin]

Hi all,

Hoping to move house in spring. Due to a recent leak we're going to have to replace some flooring. Been looking around and £28sqm seems to be the going rate for 3mm engineered oak strip stuff.

For this sort of price range or preferably lower, does anyone have a supplier they'd recommend? I havent bought any wood flooring in a long time so I'm out of whack with who's who. Seems to be one of those industries where the same thing on different shops/web sites can have a 300% price difference. If I can get this down to £20sqm I'll be a happy bunny.

Trying to do this cheaply as in all likelihood, the purchaser will tear it up and chuck it in a skip. Can't be laminate though, wouldn't help the sale I dont think. Thought about ebay for overage, but the area to be covered is 24sqm, so unlikely to find much.

Would be grateful for any input, thanks.

Martin

 

[dcmguy]

I can't recommend this as I've never used it .. it's possible that it might serve your purpose though..

https://www.travisperkins.co.uk/Enginee ... 2/p/880508

But it might meet your criteria, especially if you have a trade account with them that gives you a discount on price.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Some half decent prices here -
https://www.directwoodflooring.co.uk/en ... d-flooring

 

[Lons]

Hi Martin

My experience of buying and selling houses including those for my kids, though I haven't moved personally now for a long time, is that laminate v engineered floor will make very little if any difference when you sell. Personally, I'd go for the laminate if cost is the factor.
Buyers take in an overall view in what are short visits to make there mind up either way and as long as the property is well maintained, bright, clean and uncluttered it will sell. Don't overlook the garden and surroundings as lack of kerb appeal will stop potential buyers even coming through the door.

Just a thought, can't you claim for the damage, including an installation cost of your house insurance?

cheers
Bob

 

[Rorschach]

I can give you a buyers perspective since I have been looking for a house for about 2 years now. Flooring makes very little difference in my mind, most houses I see I would be gutting anyway so put down something that looks nice but expect that it will not last.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Yes. We sold four years ago - I believe nothing we spent made the slightest difference, and nothing anything the two subsequent vendors of the ones we bought spent mattered to us, either.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

A very good point was made by my uncle when we first bought. The bathroom had a pink bath, a different pink toilet, a white basin and a green shower. He took one look and said, brilliant! you didn't pay anything for it.
Which of course if you're going to redecorate and change things anyway is sound reasoning.

 

[gregmcateer]

I agree re purchasers.

Put down the cheapest simple 'landlord' carpet you can find, or if it has to be a hard floor, the cheapest laminate, (or even better, cheaper and quicker - vinyl - which you can get looking pretty much like wood if that is really important to you).

Defo not worth spending loads on.

 

[tomatwark]

Most people will want to put their own stamp on it anyway, so as long as it is liveable while they decide what they want to do, do what looks tidy but does not cost an lot of money.

Back in the 70's we had a purple ceiling in the hall of our house, when my parents decided to move Mum said that it should be painted white to make the house easier to sell.

My Dad did what he was told and spent several days painting this ceiling white to hide the purple.

A few months after they sold the house my Dad had to pop past to collect some post that had been sent there.

On being invited in to the house by the new owners he looks up at the hall ceiling and finds that it has been repainted the exact same colour purple as he painted over.

This is still raised 40 odd years later.

 

[YorkshireMartin]

Very interesting posts gents.

Taken on board. Loved the stories too, made me chuckle.

We have laminate in a couple of rooms upstairs but to be honest, it cost more than the wood flooring we had downstairs as its very thick and durable (office and kids room). The super cheap stuff is what I put in my grandmothers house prior to selling and it did sell quick. I just thought that having "wood flooring" in the sales particulars would mean potentially one less thing to do for a purchaser to move in, particularly if its a sort of generic colour/pattern.

 

[YorkshireMartin]

Hi Martin

My experience of buying and selling houses including those for my kids, though I haven't moved personally now for a long time, is that laminate v engineered floor will make very little if any difference when you sell. Personally, I'd go for the laminate if cost is the factor.
Buyers take in an overall view in what are short visits to make there mind up either way and as long as the property is well maintained, bright, clean and uncluttered it will sell. Don't overlook the garden and surroundings as lack of kerb appeal will stop potential buyers even coming through the door.

Just a thought, can't you claim for the damage, including an installation cost of your house insurance?

cheers
Bob

We could have claimed on the insurance but to lay this floor ourselves will hopefully cost about £500 or so. That vs. a circa £2k insurance claim. I just didnt fancy paying a grossly inflated premium next year for the sake of £500.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

We bought our bungalow a couple of years ago and the main appeal wasn't that there was nothing to change, but that there was little that needed changing right away - we could happily live with it as it was (nearly) and change things as and when it suited. That's the position I would aim for if I were selling again.

 

[Rorschach]

We bought our bungalow a couple of years ago and the main appeal wasn't that there was nothing to change, but that there was little that needed changing right away - we could happily live with it as it was (nearly) and change things as and when it suited. That's the position I would aim for if I were selling again.

Personally that would be the ideal, it's the inbetween houses that are the worst, in my mind it's best to either take it steady and do a bit at a time or do the whole lot in one go.

 

[Lons]

We could have claimed on the insurance but to lay this floor ourselves will hopefully cost about £500 or so. That vs. a circa £2k insurance claim. I just didnt fancy paying a grossly inflated premium next year for the sake of £500.

You don't always have to do that Martin as despite contrary opinions, most insurance companies are happy enough to pay genuine claims but have every right to be suspicious because of the huge number of inflated and fraudulent claims they have to deal with.

So - when presented with a reasonable proposition they tend to listen. We had a broken WC years ago in the downstairs bog, accidental damage and covered. It was coloured which to match and have fitted would have cost at least £1000. I ran my own small building company and suggested that I could buy at trade a white WC and matching replacement handbasin for £250 so if they paid for those and waived the £50 excess, I would fit them myself. They were perfectly happy with that as it's a no brainer as long as they know you aren't trying to cheat. My missus was much happier with white anyway.

Bob

 

[Doug71]

Don't know where you are in Yorkshire but this company is worth a try. Did most of my house in engineered oak from here. Genuine guy who is really a wood turner and I think started the flooring thing as a sideline. He often has leftovers or ends of line.

http://www.justwoodflooring.com/

Doug

 

[YorkshireMartin]

We could have claimed on the insurance but to lay this floor ourselves will hopefully cost about £500 or so. That vs. a circa £2k insurance claim. I just didnt fancy paying a grossly inflated premium next year for the sake of £500.

You don't always have to do that Martin as despite contrary opinions, most insurance companies are happy enough to pay genuine claims but have every right to be suspicious because of the huge number of inflated and fraudulent claims they have to deal with.

So - when presented with a reasonable proposition they tend to listen. We had a broken WC years ago in the downstairs bog, accidental damage and covered. It was coloured which to match and have fitted would have cost at least £1000. I ran my own small building company and suggested that I could buy at trade a white WC and matching replacement handbasin for £250 so if they paid for those and waived the £50 excess, I would fit them myself. They were perfectly happy with that as it's a no brainer as long as they know you aren't trying to cheat. My missus was much happier with white anyway.

Bob

Fair one. I feel like giving them a call just to see what their position is. Not going to claim this time but it would be interesting to know if in principle, they would be prepared for us to DIY a repair if we simply provide the invoice for the flooring. My gut tells me no, because its in their interest to use one of their "approved" firms to inflate the bill to skim off the top and then inflate your premium aswell. Kick back city. Still, theres no harm in asking.

I'm not jaded when it comes to insurance, honest.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Be wary of even asking insurance companies. There was an article in The Times not long ago about a woman who got an online quote of something like £450 for house insurance and decided to be a bit smart and go directly to the company to see if she could do better. The y gave her a quote of £1200. All she had done was to ring them up and ask if her leaking tap was covered, they said no and she said fine, I just needed to know. All insurance companies are now using a central database for household and car insurance and will include travel by the end of the year. If you claim on anything, the others are likely to go up, and a mere enquiry profiles you as a likely claimant and will increase your premiums.
I did post about it here at the time, but I can't remember the heading.

 

[YorkshireMartin]

Be wary of even asking insurance companies. There was an article in The Times not long ago about a woman who got an online quote of something like £450 for house insurance and decided to be a bit smart and go directly to the company to see if she could do better. The y gave her a quote of £1200. All she had done was to ring them up and ask if her leaking tap was covered, they said no and she said fine, I just needed to know. All insurance companies are now using a central database for household and car insurance and will include travel by the end of the year. If you claim on anything, the others are likely to go up, and a mere enquiry profiles you as a likely claimant and will increase your premiums.
I did post about it here at the time, but I can't remember the heading.

Be wary of even asking insurance companies. There was an article in The Times not long ago about a woman who got an online quote of something like £450 for house insurance and decided to be a bit smart and go directly to the company to see if she could do better. The y gave her a quote of £1200. All she had done was to ring them up and ask if her leaking tap was covered, they said no and she said fine, I just needed to know. All insurance companies are now using a central database for household and car insurance and will include travel by the end of the year. If you claim on anything, the others are likely to go up, and a mere enquiry profiles you as a likely claimant and will increase your premiums.
I did post about it here at the time, but I can't remember the heading.

I can believe it.

Further strengthens the case for self insuring. There really needs to be a proper legal framework for insurance charges, but there never will be, not in this country.

 

[Lons]

Having been misquoted once by that particular newspaper I'd be a bit sceptical of accepting a story as absolute fact and the conception of insurance approved trades inflating and skimming is also a bit confusing. These approved companies supply their goods and services at a reduced rate not an inflated one which is why for example with your car insurance you will normally pay additional excess if you use a non approved repairer. It's much more likely that a non approved repairer will inflate his estimate!

The fact that your insurance premium is likely to increase after a claim is obvious. Insurance companies are businesses which have to make a profit, just like any other and as such their revenue has to exceed their costs and claims payouts. Premiums are based on risk which takes into account all the data available from the questions answered ( hopefully truthfully ), by the policy holder and other information regarding where they live, type of property, car, mileage, lifestyle and history of claims in those areas. They don't just stick a finger in the air and pluck out a amount.

The fact we all pay exorbitant amounts in insurance is also heavily affected by fraudulent claims, uninsured drivers or those who bash your car in a carpark and drive off, increased burglaries and thefts and the sheer value of items we own these days, most of us carry a phone in our pocket worth several hundred pounds, so the cost of repairs and replacements is now huge.

I have no involvement in the insurance or associated industries apart from my now deceased FIL being a branch manager for one of the big boys 40 years ago. I hate paying for cover almost as much as I hate paying taxes but see it as a necessary evil and ALWAYS shop around though never with the compare sites as I've always done better direct so my comments are just my personal opinion and will no doubt be ridiculed and disagreed with by those who have had different experiences and so be it,

What I really hate however are the dishonest people out there who force the rest of us to pay for their fraudulent actions.

cheers
Bob

 

[woodenstx]

Very interesting posts gents.
I just thought that having "wood flooring" in the sales particulars would mean potentially one less thing to do for a purchaser to move in, particularly if its a sort of generic colour/pattern.

But Laminate is "wood".....
Engineered wood flooring simply ises bigger lumps, and might have a thicker top to it.


Hell, you could even do what I was planning, and lay ply sheet down and polyX it... should come in at bog all/sqM :lol:
Not the mrs wants ceramic tiles downstairs so cant do my traveller ply idea