What is the best flooring?

kiely27

I want to put some new flooring down in my hallway and kitchen. I currently have shabby laminate in the hall and what looks like vinyl tiles in the kitchen. I would like the same to run throughout the hall and kitchen and it needs to be easily cleanable as we have a muddy bank outside the front door and everyone brings the dirt in!

I would like to know what would be the best cheap option as we are only planning on staying here 5yrs and its not our house. At the same time I dont want it to be so cheap that it will need replacing in 2yrs. I also would need to factor in the cost of having it fitted as we have no clue when it comes to DIY!

I would be grateful for any advice.

Biciitalia

Hi I bought 50sqm of reclaimed maple flooring for 600 pounds from a reclaimers - paid 800 to have it fitted and sanded and varnished. 2 years on looks the same as it did then.

Also bought 20sqm of parquet for 150 hand cleaned 900 blocks over a weekend! cost 600 to fit and clean - again looks the business.

For my kitchen bought slate that is slate all the way through (if you drop anthing on it doesnt look chipped) - again 3 years on and looks good.

Cheers

Dave

slummymummyof3

I bought 100sqm of reclaimed maple parquet for our downstairs - the removal of the old bitumen is not that easy; needs to go in a freezer really and then be scrapped off. OH laid it herringbone and it looks stunning once it was all sanded and varnished. It is a lot of hard work but it looks gorgeous and is hardwearing (was already 100 years old when we bought it). Had we known how much work it was going to be thoughI don't know whether we would have done it.

SnowyOwl_2

I did my last place's hall, kitchen, back hall and bathroom with vinyl - it was very good quality - people used to ask if it was laminate flooring so I know it looked OK (though some people do look down their noses at laminate!). It was of course an absolute doddle to keep clean. It only took a few hours to lay, and that was done by the carpet warehouse I got it from. I can't remember how much I paid, but I know I wouldn't have paid a huge sum as I have never been awash with cash. It might be worth your borrowing some samples and bringing your dimensions to the shops for an estimate.