What sort of floor is this?

Hi Folks,

I bought a IP recently in Sydney and wanted to do some quick renos to rent it out. The settlement is due in about 2 weeks and I have no access currently. Its a old house built early 80s.

To line up things for reno before settlement, I wanted your help with the below

1. Can you help me identify what floor is in the attached image?
2. What type of wood floor options do I have on the attached floor?
3. Do I need to rip off the current floor and install or I can install on top?

 

That looks like carpet. Pull it up and you'll likely find a concrete slab underneath. You could lay vinyl wood lookalike planks or floating timber floor if the BC allows. (some want carpet for noise reduction).

 

Hmm not a carpet. This is a house so should be good to install wood floors

Attaching another image of the kitchen floor if that helps to identify.

 

It's hard to tell from those photos. I reckon there's a good chance that it's rubber backed kitchen carpet glued down. I recall the pattern from the 80's.

 

That is carpet

Any you like

Yes, need to rip it up first

This room has lino. You would also need to rip this up if you wish to go with another flooring option.

 

Is it furry at all?

The first looks like carpet. The kitchen looks like Lino or maybe that boat carpet which is water friendly.

Being the 80s it's most likely a concrete slab and if it's a cheap house it's likely they've glued it down and you will have fun.

Once it's off the floor you can install any flooring of your choice according to budget, requirements and what is popular in the area

 

Thanks Guys for your quick responses. Appreciate it

Do you know approx cost in Sydney for ripping for a 120 Sqm internal place and having

a) hard timber floor installed
b) floating timber floor installed

Any recommendations of where I can source them?

 

From the pic I'm with @Propertunity
Had similar in a couple of my places, a VERY short fibre that doesn't really feel like carpet, almost like a felt look, black rubber backed, glued down which makes a blood mess to pull up because after all these years the rubber would have broken down/deteriorated, separates from the carpet when pulling up, the rest stuck to the slab.
Not overly hard to scrape off with a decent scraper, something Like This.

Before touching it I'd get a couple of flooring people around to give a quote, sus out their recommendations etc, from this you'll have a better idea, can then easily chase pricing from others now knowing how many sqr meters you'll need.

One thought if you want to do it on the cheap, leave it down and lay a firm short hair carpet over it, however if thats going to cause it to be too spongy that won't be good, will wear quickly.

If you don't mind spending the coin on something that will last, easy maintenance etc, rip it up and go with 5mm loose lay planks, plenty of threads on here regarding them, i.e. Floor coverings for rental development

 

Dance floor

 

Was wait'n for it, go back to your picture frames will ya

 

That carpet would be in the 30-40 year range,and they used to use a asbestos sheet sometimes under the old carpet like that,just put on a mask cut a small section out then see what's under the carpet..imho.

 

An external pic of the house would probably make it easier to identify what is under the carpet/lino

 

Thank you!

5mm loose lay vinyl planks sounds good to me. I think after settlement would get some quotes from flooring guys and take it from there.

Can we lay the vinyl planks right after we rip the old fibre, Lino or do I need to put in anything else?

Also, do the vinyl planks suit kitchen too and they can be sanded, polished later?

 

As long as the slab is relatively level, contact glue is spread on the slab, plank laid straight onto that.

I wouldn't go with any plank thinner than 5mm

Any room in the house, even the bathroom, as long as installed correctly

? its not timber, its vinyl that looks like timber without all the maintenance timber requires, especially if damaged.

Google

 

Sorry excuse my ignorance and stupid questions. First time doing this kind of thing.

Oh its Vinyl. As I will be renting, I thought it would be required as the tenants might have scratches and it starts to look bad after 2 years.

 

All good, prob things you know that I don't.

Not sure what that means, at a guess your refering to timber.
If a part of a timber floor gets damaged by a tenant will you be able to repair it yourself, or will you have to pay $omeone to fix it?
With "loose lay" vinyl "you" can easily lift out any damaged pieces and replace them with new/spares, or swap them with some from inside a cupboard etc where they wont stand out.

As said previous

Also, go to one of the major flooring outlets, not sure what's in your area but something like Solomon's, ask them to show/demo loose lay vinyl (not click)

 

I'm a massive fan of floorboards as I think it makes a place look really smart and if you get the right ones, they are quite durable. If you are planning to live there/ if it's a high end area I would suggest hard wood, if you are getting a tenant, laminate is probably better.

If you are keen to save some money, I would suggest you lay them yourself- my husband and I laid our floorboards in our PPOR and it was relatively simple (and we are not particularly handy). We got a great deal from Bunnings with real hard wood floors and laid it ourselves for a total outlay of around $2k for our 70m2 apartment.

 

Laminate clicks together, like real wood flooring, tongue & groove, is noisier than real wood, depending type requires underlay, like mdf if it gets wet it swells (hey Bob).
If a board in the centre of the room needs replacing, half the room has to get pulled to get to it.
With loose lay only the damaged piece (held down by tacky adhesive) simply lifts out, replace.

 

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I will try Vinyl loose lay planks.

 

And you would think it's safe if you dont use it in the kitchen (wet areas), well its not, anywhere there is a chance liquid can hit the floor and go unnoticed for a period you're in trouble.

at the last place we were renting i found a patch where the kids had spilt some water and it blistered up, hard to find but you could see it in the right light and also underfoot. about the size of a 50c piece. and this was in the dining area. in 12months there were a couple from memory (left now) and i was onto every spill like a paranoid nutbag!

They seem to be really hard wearing and safe from scratches.... but! any spill needs to be cleaned up ASAP!!
We have them in our kitchen and family room now and i do not like them!! i know that each year they'll only be getting worse! polished particle board is on the cards next