Floor coverings for rental development

Just finalising plans for a duplex development, one townhouse will rented, one for us to live in. We're going with tiles for the ground floor, but can't figure out the best solution for upstairs. Carpet - gets manky easily. Laminate? Bamboo?

I'm thinking about strand-woven bamboo, seems pretty durable and spills, etc should be less upstairs compared with downstairs. Any thoughts?

 

Avoid tiles - no depreciation
Avoid carpet in living areas but I like them in bedrooms as gives warmth. In living areas likely to have spills , foot traffic etc.

Bamboo / timber / laminate are all good options depending on spec / type of property and budget constraints.

 

Do not get Bamboo, i have done exstensive research into flooring and spoke to many sellers in sydney nearly everyone said bamboo is being phased out. Some didnt even stock it anymore. Reasons being bad with water can cup doesnt handle water well, hardness of bamboo scratchs easier, harder to install than laminate.

In my house i have quickstep colonial blackbutt laminate but would be too high end for a rental. There is that many of them these days. Vinyl planking is popular.

 

Hard surfaces upstairs can create a lot of noise downstairs even from normal use.

Consider using resiliant mounts for the plasterboard ceilings downstairs and insulate between floors with sound insulation.

 

Just use accoustic underlay.

 

That would help, but if it was a house I was going to live in, I'd go a bit further than that.

It's easy during the build, but difficult and pricey afterwards.

 

Timber look 5mm loose lay vinyl planks (not the click type) if one gets damaged (hot iron etc) easy to pull just that piece & replace with spares, or one from in a cupboard etc.

Just had-em put in my place, quite to walk on, easy to clean, look great

 

LOL, spoken like a true investor.

I was planning to put rockwool in between floors to dampen the noise a bit. Just want to figure out the most resilient option

 

+1 for Vinyl planks downstairs/living areas

Maybe carpet upstairs or bedrooms to reduce costs.

 

Thanks guys. I think I'm set on tiles on the ground floor, despite the lack of depreciation. I'll have a look at vinyl plank for upstairs. I think bamboo is off the list as it appears to scratch far more easily than I thought. The townhouses are a fairly modern design, so I want something mid-range that looks decent but will be reasonably tenant-proof.

 

Go the vinyl over the click clack laminate! Water on them causes them to swell at the joints if not cleaned immediately also they can bulge or creak if not level underneath. Defs go vinyl

 

Another vote for vinyl planks here

 

So vinyl doesn't swell with water?

 

I wasn't aware of that.
That said, i think it's silly to dismiss something based on tax benefits (or lack of).
Comes down whether its fit for purpose.

 

Yup, because they're secured to floor they're not an addition they're part of the house.

But completely agree, I wasn't being serious on the depreciation part

 

Would they not then fall under the general capital depreciation at 2.5% pa?

 

No it's just like the rolls of vinyl except in trendy plank version.
The sub floor may be suseptable to water damage though

 

Yup

 

ha! nothing a jackhammer wont fix

 

Yes when I first looked at them I believed it would be possible for spillage to leak through the joins onto the slab, cause mould, ants etc.

I mentioned this at a few showrooms, in one the salesman lifted a couple of planks, placed down a sheet of paper towel, replaced the planks, poured a glass of water and left it while going thru the range/prices etc, came back to it a good 10min later, wiped up the spillage, lifted the planks, surprisingly the paper towel was dry.