floor boards or tiles

On a new investment property build, I recommend to my clients to install 300/300 (mm) ceramic tiles to the Kitchen, Dinning and Hall. Then Solution Dyed Nylon carpet to the Media, Lounge and Bedrooms. The upside of this layout method is the carpeted rooms are not connected to one another. This lets you change the carpet in one room with out having to change it all or have a mismatch area that looks obvious.

I believe best carpet (and I own over 100 carpeted rental bedrooms) is "Solution Dyed Nylon". It stays cleaner, It stands straight up for years longer then Poly-prop and other fibers. Wool is the best for your own home, but only if you look after it, but SDN is the by far the best for rentals.

A good foam underlay in important too. You wont need to change a foam underlay for 15 years and a SDN Twist Pile carpet will steam clean better then anything else and look like new every time. Rubber underlays flatten, fall apart and can cause your carpet to age much quicker.

Most, if not all stains will come out of SDN Twist pile with a steam clean. I have carefully trimmed burn marks out of SND Twist Pile carpet with a pair of scissors and left the carpet in for another 5 years.

Don't install Loop Pile, Pattens or light colours. I have found loop piles damage far more easily and it's hard repair loop piles, aim for a Twist Pile and darker then a coffee stain is a good idea too. I make the carpet the darkest colour in the room with the walls a colour lighter and the ceilings always white.

Tenants LOVE carpet in bedrooms and it makes the house feel more live-able for them. After all they are your customer when you are a property investor.

Vinyl planks and ceramic vinyl tiles are great too in kitchens and hallways if you are retro fitting flooring. You will need to have the plank flooring stripped and re-coated every 3-5 years between tenants, this is no big deal. Try not to lay vinyl planks in the sun if you can help it, they can fade, but not badly. Vinyl planks and ceramic vinyl tiles are really, really durable. Even when they are old they look better then sheet vinyl flooring. Vinyl ceramic tiles are the  best, but can be a bit pricey. You keep a couple of spares and if one get badly damaged by a removalist or the tenant, it's just a case of warming it up with a heat gun and lifting the old one out and replacing it.

I laid timber laminated in 10 units 7 years ago and I now know (the hard way that this product is rubbish in a rental situation. Bamboo is very hard wearing, but it hates water, warning! Timber floating, Bamboo and solid timber goes in the same category as quality wool pile carpet, all great but not in a rental. Just too hard to look after. They all last longer, look better and work out cheaper over the life of the product, but only if you look after them.

Great points Mark. Especially with all the rooms not being connected.

Personally I think tiles throughout an entire house can feel cold and impersonal.

In warm climates I like polished floors but in colder places I like carpet in the lounge. I always have carpet in the bedrooms.

Spoil yourself, get carpet throughout and tiles in wet areas like bathrooms n kitchen.

cheers

thecrest