The ruinous cost of an engineered oak floor

[JoceAndChris]

We're about to part with £2500 for an engineered oak floor for our rental flat. :shock: Does this sound about right? It's for 28 sq metres of the product, and includes the cost of fitting and removing the old floor, cutting round radiators and putting a beading round the edge.

I should mention the property is in Highgate, North London - it would probably be half that in Grantham.

Feeling suddenly more appreciative that we haven't had to lay a single floor in BC.

 

[timinder]

Unfortunately, that sounds about right. We had ours done by a local company last year and it wasn't far off that. I wouldn't use them again though!

 

[El Greyo]

Doesn't sound surprising. We've spent £1200 for 19 m2 on the engineered wood alone although it was the most expensive in the shop (but it looks so good!). So with removal of the old floor and fitting, I'm not surprised at the price you quote, especially in London. It should last though and look good.

 

[Penners]

Even at ordinary consumer prices (ie: ignoring trade discounts), you can buy 18mm thick solid oak floorboards or 15mm engineered oak for around £25/m^2 plus VAT. So your 28 m^2 would cost around £850, plus a bit extra for the beading.

I have no idea of today's labour costs, but I must say that around £1600 for taking up the old floor and laying the new one sounds pretty steep to me.

http://www.oakfloorsonline.co.uk/

 

[Moo]

That all makes me even more glad that we took Joss's advice and went for good old vinyl in our kitchen.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Very sensible Moo. This stuff is madly priced! I wish it was £25 per sq m, Mr P, but it's £65, and looks very different to the stuff in your link. Actually it looks identical to what's in our dining room here which I guess is around 90 yrs old, so it's a clever fake. Not the most expensive in the shop though, that was £95 a sq m and is hand distressed in Lithuania over a 6 week period. :shock: And we had another quote that was £4200 :shock: :shock:

I wondered, briefly, about dismantling a couple of the sheds here and using those boards, but we haven't the time and there's insufficient depth for a proper floor anyhow.

Thanks for the reassurance that the price sounds OK. Hopefully it will last until we're 80 and rich enough to have the place as our pied a terre

 

[plasticpigeon]

Sounds like madness for a place you're renting out!

 

[Svenedin]

Very interesting thread. I have sanded a few floors upstairs but I am still deciding what to do downstairs. My floorboards are all pitch pine which is apparently the hardest of all softwoods (sounds a daft thing to say). Anyway, my floorboards are not tough enough to take downstairs traffic (including Alsatian dogs) so I was considering having oak flooring laid on top. What strikes me is not only the high cost, which could be justified on many grounds: appearance, longevity, hygiene but what happens if access is needed under the floor? Pipes and wires are inevitable under a floor so does that mean the hugely expensive floor is trashed when a pipe leaks or access to the wiring is required? The same problem occurs with my ideas for more encaustic tiles in the hall.

 

[middi]

Engineered oak floor can be as much as twice the prize ( or even more !!!) than solid oak flooring ( material only). These floors are very stable and more " perfect" than any other wood floors, they are ( usually) pre-varnished . Not as "rural" looking as solid floorboards and therefore not appropriate in a old timber framed building .
£ 65 or so per square metre is about right (materials only).

Middi

 

[JoceAndChris]

Sveneden - have you thought about inexpensive rugs to protect your floorboards downstairs? Got to be cheaper, and cosier, than this engineered stuff, and still allowing access? Plus they can be steam cleaned once a year. There are some with a texture halfway between a doormat and a carpet, they're attractive and barely show the dirt.

I'm afraid I don't know about lifting it to access pipes - not an issue ( I hope!) in our flat. It does sound like a potential nightmare though.

Plasticpigeon - our agent said the prospective tenants described our current floor as tacky!! It's a light laminate, nothing wrong with it really. But our agent has said the flat looks tired and un cool, and we need to pimp it up. We're charging £1500 a month and it's just one bedroom ( though has a large back garden and front garden) - the renters in Highgate have high expectations. The cost of it being empty, because it doesn't attract, quickly mounts up.

 

[plasticpigeon]

It's another universe down there.

 

[Penners]

hand distressed in Lithuania over a 6 week period.

Here's a thought: if you want that "hand distressed in Lithuania" look for a fraction of the price, fit the cheap boards and then rent the flat out to students. In a few months the floor won't just look distressed, it'll look mortified.

In all seriousness, is it really a good plan to fit such a hugely expensive floor in a rental property? You may have plans to live there yourselves, in your dotage, but what will the floor look like by then, after decades of tenants?

I really can't believe that you need to pay this much in order to spruce up that floor.

 

[88v8]

hand distressed in Lithuania over a 6 week period.

... fit the cheap boards and then rent the flat out to students. In a few months the floor won't just look distressed, it'll look mortified.