Hi All,
I’d like to get some feedback on the types of materials that people use for floor coverings in IPs. I’ve been browsing the hardware and tile stores today – so many choices!
-
Original floor boards cound be stained and polished
Snap together veneer floor boards
Lino/vinyl
Vinyl adhesive squares
Cork
Parquetry
Tiles
Slate
Carpet
Paint
Others?Anyone have any good or bad experiences with any particular types of floor coverings? I’m leaning towards large tiles for the living/dining areas due to reasonably low cost, hardiness, ease of cleaning and aesthetics. Not sure about bedrooms at this stage – maybe a hard wearing carpet, or continue the tiles. Bathroom and toilet have concrete floors, looking at either tiles or non-slip patio/pool paint.
Do people find carpet to be too much hassle in IPs? Or is the added costs & mantenance made up for by having a better presented property that attracts better, long term tenants paying higher rent?
Thanks,
Mike.Hi Mike
We have just installed floating timber floor in 4 of our investment properties and 1 I bought for my brother. It works out to be quite expensive, but is long lasting, and easier to clean that carpet. I think an added bonus is that things tend to bounce a little more on the wood than they do on tiles [
], so there’s less breakage.In my brother’s unit, this actually attracted the tenant (a guy from the Embassy of Finland who will stay for four years), and got him signed up for one of the highest rents for (2 bed apt) in the development. In another, my tenant never wants to leave – in this one we replaced her carpet and cork in all the house except bathroom and toilet.
Cheers
MelHi Mike,
Anything but carpet.
Hard surfaces wear, look and feel better. Scatter rugs can be used by the tenant if they want.
I live in a complex of 12 townhouses. Had dinner with neighbours a few weeks back. Same house, their’s is the original carpet. Mine has large tiles and a floating timber section excepting the formal lounge and upstairs. Appearance is spaciousness. This does one of two things. It may not improve the value of your prop should you decide to sell, but it will make it more saleable. Also, given the choice, a tenant will opt for ease of maintenance which works for you also.
You will find that tiles are comparable to the m2 cost of carpet anyway.
Regards, Phil
There’s a big difference in the depreciation allowance for different floor coverings, eg tiles are 2.5%. How do cork tiles and floating timber floors go wrt depreciation?
I would like to avoid carpet as much as possible in my next IP, so it would be more pet friendly and disgruntled tenant proof. I had a tenant evicted, but only found out much later that there was a noxious smell coming from the carpet in one of the bedrooms. I had to get the underlay replaced. I’m not sure what the disgruntled tenant did to the carpet, but it wasn’t pleasant.
Cigarette burns and water stains are other problems with carpet, not to mention the life expectancy.
The higher depreciation allowance for carpet is a bit of a boost in the early years though.
Jim.We polished the floors in two of our houses, one has been tenanted for two years & the tenants are happy with their own rugs. The new tenant in the recently renovated/polished floor house loves it. Previous tenants had a small pet unknown to us & agent which left fleas and when we pulled up the carpet, damp patches on the timber floor. We left the cork tiles in the kitchen and family room as we have had cork in a previous PPOR and were really happy with it – it was warm, soft and good wearing and looked fantastic in a large open plan house. Sisal is supposed to be a good hardwearing modern carpet if you have to use carpet. I wouldn’t recommend vinyl only because it tears easily when furniture is pulled over it, or fridges etc. but we put a great vinyl in the kitchen & family area in a house we built 10yrs ago. Put klip-lock laminated flooring here 12 months ago over cement slab, wears well, suited the purpose, and installed timber floating floor in the kitchen area of a unit our daughter had last year, looked great. The unit we’re renovating in a few weeks is in an area where there are a lot of young people so we’re going for either floating floor or large tiles for the modern look for resale.
Annadefinately timber/floating/laminate timber or tiles. Tiles in the bedroom, scatter rugs or not can still be a bit cold looking, not to mention walking on.
In my first investment property – now long gone, we had to replace the carpet constantly, tried vinyl etc and even had a tenant who used the carpet as a permanent ironing board. Also babies and carpets do not mix, the sicky smell can be impossible to remove if the tenant has let it sit, dog stains are also impossible to remove and so is red chalk!!!
Sisal carpets are not long lasting in a tenant situation and do not last as long as regular carpet.so I would go for tiles or the timber flooring which may be more expensive upfront but do not require cleaning costs by yourself or tenant and also do not have to be replaced within the same time fram. You also cant compare the life of your own carpet to an IP as the same due care is nowhere near equal. Good luck![]hi there
I think it majorly depends on your market niche.
However polished floorboards, if you have them underneath, wins for any market niche i reckon, almost impossible to damage long-term – burns etc can just be polished out. Or entire boards can be replaced.hard wearing, looks great. Can be cold though if you don’t have under-floor insulation. depends on climate of area as to whether this is an issue.I’ve bought bottom of the market houses, which had manky carpert which had to go, and underneath there were beautiful heart matai floorboards, so if you find that, go for it.
I think tiles are OK but hard, maybe stick to bathrooms. sisal looks really hip i reckon, and cork tiles are a nice ‘warm’ vibe similar to floorboards, not quite as hard wearing but pretty close. Also have the added benefit of being able to replace the odd tile not the whole thing.
bye for now
mini
Has anyone heard of something new on the market, called designcrete? It’s something similar as the cement stencilling you can have done outside, but the designcrete looks and feels like ceramic tiles, must be some ceramic stuff they spray on. I came across it on
http://www.designcrete.com.au/I was interested in having this done to my own downstairs living area, ands asked for a quote, but unfortunately they’re not in NSW (yet). Not sure which state they’ve started doing this business, perhaps Vic. They claim it is cheaper and quicker than having real tiles laid. WOnder if anyone has had it done and what they think of it?
Thanks everyone for your postings. It’s all been very helpful. Please feel free to continue positing if you have a story to tell.
And if anyone is familiar with the Designcrete product that Cevilia has mentioned, I’d love to hear about it too. Does anyone know where these businesses have started up? I think I saw an ad for these startups a while ago in one of those dodgy home business magazines. [^]
Cheers,
Mike.
], so there’s less breakage.
]
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. If you don't have an account, you can register here.
