Mumsnet Talk

We need to choose flooring for our upstairs (three bedrooms plus the landing). Our floorboards are old, uneven and gappy, plus the floors are not level and have quite a 'bounce' to them.

We're not keen on carpet and was thinking of cork, or possibly bamboo. We want something eco friendly and easy to clean.

I've seen the 'floating' cork floors, which are beautiful. However, our carpenter has said they need to be fitted over a flat floor, so he would still need to fit 9mm or 12mm plyboard underneath - which kind of negates the idea of having the floating floor?

I have got some samples of stick-down cork tiles, but they have a bit more of a 'pinboard' look about them, so I'm not sure...

I don't know much about bamboo, but could that be a good alternative? Or wood?

We are going for a modern minimalist look with all white walls, so want something to compliment that.

we have bamboo in the kitchen, hall, dining rooms and bathrooms
it is glued down and happily sits across the joins between the concrete and wooden floors as its 11mm thick

I have cork in my bedroom! The stick down type, I think we got Frost colour here www.siestacorktiles.co.uk/ambiente-cork.htm I love the properties of it and would choose it again for a bedroom. I didn't want carpet as I think dust and hair always gets stuck behind the bedhead end embedded in the carpet (or am I a slothful housekeeper?). Cork is warm underfoot, has a softness to it. If anything the effect visually is slightly Mediterranean tiled because we went for a light colour, it does not look cork board at all.

Cork can be gauged, so no heels or anything like that on it, and no dragging heavy furniture across it. It is fine for us because we are always barefoot or in socks in the bedroom. We used the stick down tiles in a new loft conversion so we laid them on a perfectly flat boarded floor, but any raised imperfections eg. and nail slightly poking out would show through over time, there is one bit in ours which is slightly raised and I think there is probably a not perfectly flat screw underneath.

Just noticed you said you are having a modern look, our bedroom is very modern looking with all white walls, but even with the lightest colour cork, do not expect white, it is quite far from that.

Thanks - that's all really helpful! DH likes the look of bamboo - if it could be put down onto top of the existing floorboards that might be ok. Otherwise the cork stick-on tiles might be best on top of a plywood base.

I also like Linoleum / Marmoleum (the modern kind!) - we had it in the bathroom of our previous house and it was great, and very eco friendly too. I think we'll probably have that in the new bathroom, but I guess it would be a bit much to have it in the bedrooms too!

our bamboo is glued to the floorboards
access to under floor is hidden under the doormat wells in the hall

Hmm, I spoke to a bamboo flooring company and they recommended having a min 9mm ply substrate underneath, due to the uneven floorboards - plus underlay for sound absorption. However the thickness of the ply + underlay + 14mm thick bamboo would push the level of our floors up by a lot. Our carpenter is currently fitting the doors which allow for a max 18mm gap underneath (for carpet + underlay, which he'd assumed we wanted!). Arrgh.

Stick down cork would be fine, but I'm not massively sold on the samples I've seen. Plus I believe we'd have to lay them and seal / finish the floor afterwards which seems quite time consuming?

I'm almost giving in to the idea of carpet as I just want the upstairs to be finished...! But then I think of the mess the kids make...

I've got some samples of Marmoleum and am seriously considering it. It looks kind of similar to cork but would be easier to maintain I think. It comes in lots of lovely colours...

Currer
we've got no underlay or substrate - the bamboo floor is 5 years old and its fine.
and its not loud or cold ...

We have cork in the bedrooms and we are really happy with it. Not too cold in winter on the feet and really does make the rooms quieter than those with laminate in them. Ours are floating though as the foundation they sit on is concrete. You don't need a sound underlay for cork.

Thanks for your help everyone. We've had a flooring guy out and seen lots of samples. The cork is lovely but I think in terms of it being hardwearing we would prefer Marmoleum... We like this design to contrast with the white walls: Welsh Moor

We are also thinking about our downstairs floor, which is a lovely parquet floor we discovered under the carpet. It is the one original feature I love (not many of those in a '60s house!), but the flooring guy said it needs a lot of restoration work. The fingers are not particularly thick and a lot are coming loose. It also has had a trench dug out of it where we had a burst pipe in the concrete floor.

DH is keen on having strand-woven bamboo instead as he reckons it would be harder wearing than the parquet, which dents really easily. So many decisions...

We've had ours seven years and it looks like when we put it down...

My friend put marmoleum floating floors in her kitchen and doesn't like them but I don't know why.

Have you tried the flooring forum at garden web?

We have bamboo and marmoleum downstairs and wicanders cork in all the bedrooms and I love my cork floors and would never have anything else in bedrooms again, it's warm and has some give and none of the disadvantages of carpet. The cork came on click together boards and didn't need underlay or glue.

I think [http://www.wicanders.com/en/collections/corkcomfort/the-collection/Identity-Moonlight/534/ this]] is ours.

sorry we've our CORK for seven years