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NEW HOUSE - FLOORING COSTS (CARPET v LAMINATE)

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I am going to put a reservation fee down on Fri for a new house which is completed. There are 2 houses next to each other, exactly the same style (4 bedroomed detatched over 3 storeys).

One is carpeted throughout, One has laminated floors everywhere (nice real wood laminate) apart from the bathroom, downstairs loo and kitchen which has marble tiles.

The difference in price between the two houses is £5000.

Is it worth it??? The house with carpet also has a slightly smaller garden too!

Any advice welcome, I have no idea of the costs involved!
Good wine needs to breathe, if it stops breathing try mouth to mouth.
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Comments

  • Cissi
    Cissi Posts: 1,131 Forumite
    Personally I hate carpets, so I'd go for the wooden flooring - as long as you make sure to get a good amount off the asking price of course (and that goes for either of the two houses). Newbuilds are hugely overvalued in today's market and losing value fast, so be careful you don't end up in negative equity before you've even moved in...
  • PasturesNew
    PasturesNew Posts: 70,698 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    I'd go for the wooden... much easier to keep clean. And it sounds like good stuff. You can always chuck down rugs for warmth and colour.
  • QTPie
    QTPie Posts: 1,373 Forumite
    Laminate in bedrooms???

    Ok, I am officially getting old (at 35)... :eek:

    I like the idea of real wood flooring (or very very good laminate) in areas of high traffic (hallways/dining room), but not convinced in bedrooms.

    I am not conviced that laminates are easier to keep clean (since you really need to get down on your hands and knees and wash them regularly) - much prefer to roll the dyson over a carpet... BUT if you have carpet, needs to be a good quality, long lasting one...

    Ok, personal taste aside...

    ...Would go for the better located/bigger plot (assuming the houses are otherwise identical). You can always change the flooring, but you can't change the plot... £5k should more than pay for someone to come in and replace some of the carpet with laminate flooring.

    QT
  • I would personally always go for the wood flooring, it has much less maintenance and is great for spillages if you have kids. However, I agree with qt pie. If the house with the carpets is cheaper then buy that one and change the flooring. As for cleaning - get a dyson all floor or bissell lift off - that will do all your hard floors and is easy for the stairs (i should know as i have one and they are great) When I lived in Newcastle i had all hardwood flooring in my house and got a great deal and service from a company called Big Tree in Blaydon, they are very helpful and really know their stuff. Hope this helps and good luck with your move
    Smile though your bank is breaking:)
  • PasturesNew
    PasturesNew Posts: 70,698 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    I am on my first lot of laminate and I am truly disgusted at the amount of fluff/dirty bits that exist... with a carpet they'd all sink in and you'd never notice. At least with laminate you can whip a wet cloth around quickly enough and see where the dirt is. With carpet it just LOOKS clean.
  • what is your own personal taste? that is the main thing, imho.
  • QTPie
    QTPie Posts: 1,373 Forumite
    I am on my first lot of laminate and I am truly disgusted at the amount of fluff/dirty bits that exist... with a carpet they'd all sink in and you'd never notice. At least with laminate you can whip a wet cloth around quickly enough and see where the dirt is. With carpet it just LOOKS clean.

    Dyson gets most of it out...

    QT
  • hethmar
    hethmar Posts: 10,678 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker Car Insurance Carver!
    I trust you have negotiated the price down as much as you can first? Are these houses already built?
  • Cissi
    Cissi Posts: 1,131 Forumite
    I am on my first lot of laminate and I am truly disgusted at the amount of fluff/dirty bits that exist... with a carpet they'd all sink in and you'd never notice. At least with laminate you can whip a wet cloth around quickly enough and see where the dirt is. With carpet it just LOOKS clean.

    That's exactly it - with carpet it may LOOK clean, but it definitely isn't! Seeing how dirty the water gets when washing our wooden floors throughout the house every week, despite regular hoovering, makes me realise how much dirt hides in carpets.

    Our first house (a newbuild 4 years earlier) had carpet everywhere, including in the bathrooms (yuck) and the kitchen (!!! double yuck - admittedly not the fluffy kind, but still!!!) The previous owner told us it was great, she never had to wash the floor... I'm just glad we didn't have children while we lived there!
  • hethmar wrote: »
    I trust you have negotiated the price down as much as you can first? Are these houses already built?

    Yes, they are built and ready to go. It's with Bellway Homes in Newcastle upon Tyne. The list price is £275,000 and they've come down to £225,000 for the laminated one, and £220,000 for the carpeted one. She did say the site manager 'might' go to £215,000 for the carpeted one which to me is sales speak that there's room for movement (I'm in sales too!!) and my immediate thought is that if they'd go to £215,000 for the carpeted one then they'd go down to £220,000 for the other as they are not telling me it costs £10k for laminate and marble!!!

    Re our position - we have nothing to sell,can move in straight away, have £32k in the bank so I'm thinking of maybe going in and offering £205,000?

    I'm used to laminate flooring now and I agree about the bits of fluff! Plus with a 6 yr old who likes to spill stuff it's much more practical (the carpets are cream!!)
    Good wine needs to breathe, if it stops breathing try mouth to mouth.
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