affordable flooring advice

BartGirl

I have a small living room which doesnt have any decent flooring on it. I dont want laminate cos i cant afford it. Also, I'd like to find something that I could possibly do myself ? Cos I'd have to move the furniture - which i cant do if i get a professional in to do it. The local ones round here all say 'the room has to be clear of all furniture'. The furniture's simply too heavy for me to shift. Its only 2 leather couches and 1 old heavy telly but even getting them out the living room door would be a mission.

My question is: does anyone know of any affordable flooring that I could do myself in say 1 whole day ?

I've soon some stuff that 'looks like' wood but its actually more like - its laid like lino.But again - Ive no idea of cost. Any ideas anyone ? My living rooms' about 12 metres by 12 metres.

Thanks!

ormus

well assuming your floor area is actually 12 ft x 12 ft and not metres!
you have a number of options all costing approx 100 quid in materials. ie laminate, carpet and lino. assuming you DIYing the work?
ideally the room should be cleared in any event, but you could manage by doing half the room and moving the furniture across the room.
what about a neighbour helping you?

BartGirl

Hi Ormus

Thanks for correcting the measurements.

Yes I'd thought of doing half the room - then the other half after that.

Which would u say is the easiest option - laminate, crpet or lino ?

I'm thinking lino - is it complicated to do ?

ormus

i think carpet and lino is about the same skill level to lay for the DIYer.
a stanley knife is about the only tool required.
do it slowly and think all the time before you cut. most peeps can do a fairly reasonable job.
click type laminate is not that hard to do. but it does require more tools etc...
and you may require some extra underlay which increases the price a bit more.

ormus

yes carpet fitting is a skilled job for getting a really expert finish.
the lady OP is on a tight budget. a piece of carpet for say 100 quid and a stanley knife (with some care) will give a reasonable floor covering.
in a perfect world, you could save up for over a yr to afford a decent carpet fitted by a pro, complete with grippers underlay etc..

hardpressed

What's the floor made of? If it's wood, could you by a square of carpet and leave say a foot of wood all the way round? Then you wouldn't have the problem of fitting it. If it's concrete you could get some wood effect vinyl tilles to go round the edge and then have a square of carpet in the middle.

Nyx_2

My room is 22 feet by about 12 feet and i managed to get B&Q`s own brand of laminate i waited until it was on offer and the whole room including underlay cost approx £180
I fitted it myself which being a girlie i was quite proud of and i left all the furniture in and just moved it to the other half of the room and then back to the other end after to do the other half.
I took my time doing it and i used a jigsaw to cut the planks.
This meant that the edges wern`t all that tidy but the edging covers that up.
i`m just buying the edging and cutting it a bit at a time and putting it down now so i suppose the true cost will be around £200 i`ve lots of tricky corners to cut but im making paper templates by stuffing pieces in corners and drawing round them so that i cut the right angles as all my walls seem to be wonky i`m using an old junior hacksaw for this from the poundshop.
The only thing i`d suggest is getting one of those garden kneelers from wilko for about a pound as my poor knees are bruised.
My dogs are skidding about with their toys on it and it`s looking good, if your scared furniture feet might damage it get some of the stick on felt feet from a diy store of cut up a cork tile and glue the bits to the feet on your furniture. Good luck!