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Original poster

I’m I being a cheap skate

63 replies

Bellex · 03/02/2022 23:25

Hello all,

I’m buying my first house. A new build which doesn’t include flooring amongst other things. Today I went to the suggested flooring supplier to get some quotes for flooring. Third time in as the previous visits have been a disaster due to staff not knowing about the arrangement with the developer and wanting to book me in for a measure up. And to be honest at this point I was going to go somewhere else as I really need to know how flooring is going to cost so I can budget for it.

I went in today, explain and the guy understood. He then started to show me the amtico flooring, having looked at this previously I know it costs on average £150 per square metre so is on the pricey side. My friend has also recently had issues with hers which I explained, he said he’s never ever heard or seen any issues with it. So he showed me other laminate options all of which came to over £75 per square metre.

So I politely gave him a nudge to show me something abit cheaper. I ended up picking a laminate £25.99 per square metre with fleeting and then a carpet runner and two separate laminates for the bathroom. This all came to £3600 for roughly 115 metres squared plus stairs.

The guy did repeatedly kept coming back to amtico which would of cost me £18,000. I’m buying this house alone and I’ve saved up for the past 2 years to do so. I have additional costs like a media wall, the garden plus actually furnishing it as I have no furniture. £18,000 seems a lot to pay just for flooring but the guy kept saying it was an investment?

What are you thoughts? (For reference the house is 3 bed semi for 195k)

OP posts:
FortunesFave · 03/02/2022 23:28

I was taught that if you can't afford the best, always get the cheapest. The middle ground is usually no better than the lowest cost option.

Laminate is fine in my opinion. We have it through our kitchen and diner and it's nice underfoot and looks nice too. The guy would keep coming back to the Amtico, as that's his job...to upsell the expensive things.

It's not an investment if your potential buyers don't like it.

stevalnamechanger · 03/02/2022 23:29

It's totally fine to get the cheapest . Upgrade later if you really want to . Of course they are pushing you to the most expensive option!

Ohlalaohlala · 03/02/2022 23:32

Blimey that’s crazy money.
Amtico last year where I live, we were quoted £65 sqm fitted.
Stick to your guns.

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Home improvement
Ohsugarhoneyicetea · 03/02/2022 23:33

£18,000 for plastic flooring?! That's insane. You could put oak topped engineered wood in for £6k.

PissedOffNeighbour22 · 03/02/2022 23:33

Jesus, £18k for flooring Confused. No, you're not being cheap, you're being completely reasonable and purchasing within your budget.

Luredbyapomegranate · 03/02/2022 23:34

He’s just a salesman. Spend what you want.

Ilovecharliecat · 03/02/2022 23:38

you have a budget, just stick to it. The salesman is thinking of his commission, you don't need to fund his life

Jmaho · 03/02/2022 23:50

Don't buy any flooring from this company. Go and get two more quotes. Laminate for £75 a square metre is far too expensive and whilst Amtico is expensive it's not 18 grand expensive

sadeyedladyofthelowlandsea · 03/02/2022 23:52

That is BONKERS. I carpeted a similar sized three bed house for £800 (paid for carpet only, free fitting, AND they left me all of the offcuts). I'd been quoted £4k for laminate which I just couldn't afford.

Mind you, my brief to them was 'I want the cheapest thing possible that won't make me want to feel sick when I look at it.' Six yrs later, it's still absolutely fine. Agree with PP that you either go for the most expensive or the cheapest option for flooring.

Try a local independent carpet/flooring company. Mine were brilliant - spoke to them Friday afternoon, they measured up on Monday morning, fitter in Wednesday morning. You are NOT being a cheapskate!

QuizzicalEyebrows · 03/02/2022 23:55

Go elsewhere and get more quotes. Don't go somewhere just because it's been recommended. That doesn't necessarily mean it's good value or quality

Outlyingtrout · 03/02/2022 23:56

That’s not a sensible amount of money to spend on flooring in a £195k house. It’s almost 10% if the value of your property. Unless you aren’t worried about money or value and you just love it - in which case go for it.

I was taught that if you can't afford the best, always get the cheapest. The middle ground is usually no better than the lowest cost option.

This isn’t correct in my experience at all. I used to work for many years for a company that supplied materials to domestic and commercial clients for building and renovation projects and it most definitely wasn’t true of our products (or those of our competitors).

DysmalRadius · 03/02/2022 23:59

I would go to a flooring supplier of your choice who aren't affiliated with the build at all. That way you get fresh eyes and they aren't already seeing £££££ signs when you come in knowing that you have just bought a new house and might be tempted to go all in to get it done before you move in. Get recommendations from other local people - I bet you can get that price down.

Bogeyes · 04/02/2022 02:57

Is he chasing comission?

DockOTheBay · 04/02/2022 03:09

Absolutely not. When I saw £150/m2 I thought it was a typo!
How can flooring that costs 6x more be an investment? Will increase the value of the house by that amount, definitely not.
You could buy all the furniture to fill the house with the extra 12k you'll save.

As others have said I would also get quotes elsewhere

Lockdownbear · 04/02/2022 07:28

Shop around. That's silly money.
They can give you a price based on the drawings.

GeneLovesJezebel · 04/02/2022 07:30

Have you been somewhere else to compare prices ?

Ohhelpicantthinkofaname · 04/02/2022 07:32

That’s crazy money for flooring!!

When we moved into our new build we carpeted the whole place for £1300 (expect kitchen and bathrooms which already had flooring). We intended to change it for better over time, but 6 years on and the carpet is still there because it’s still absolutely fine. You don’t need to spend a fortune.

The sales guy was probably earning commission, so trying his luck with the expensive stuff.

LittleBearPad · 04/02/2022 07:36

Whilst you don’t need to spend absurd amounts on flooring are you sure about the Amtico cost - ours was £90 a square metre.

Go and get a couple more quotes from elsewhere and then compare and contrast.
L

RoseHarper · 04/02/2022 07:37

Get independent quotes as the companies affiliated with house builders always charge a premium,those figures are crazy. Decent laminate would be around £30 m2 plus fitting, amtico around £60 ish. Do not pay those prices, you could get much better quality flooring for less cost.

Cocona · 04/02/2022 07:43

Those prices seem like an absolute rip off and scammy to be honest. That's just silly money for flooring, even the laminate. When I was shopping for flooring I'm sure laminate came in between £15-£25 and whilst they weren't greatest, surely laminate is laminate. It's a budget option so why pay so much.

For reference I paid £1,400 for the entire flooring in my 3 bed detached in the North East in 2020. The was a half decent laminate in the kitchen/diner and hall fitted by a joiner and then carpet fitted in the lounge, stairs, landing and 3 bedrooms.

For decent stuff I would expect to maybe pay double but certainly no more. We did scrimp because we had a dog and plan on changing the kitchen so they aren't going to be long term fixtures.

MrsElijahMikaelson1 · 04/02/2022 07:45

Don’t go with their people. We have Amtico-the whole of downstairs cost us about £3,500. We bought it separately from Floor bay online and used their fitters.

Peppermint81 · 04/02/2022 07:49

Definitely get quotes elsewhere, think your being stitched up! Carpets upstairs and laminate/wood downstairs best combo I think.

BarbaraofSeville · 04/02/2022 07:51

All those prices are insane.

Definitely shop around and look at luxury vinyl tiling (LVT) from a couple of other independents. It's more expensive than laminate*, looks great and will last decades. It's what I would get if starting from scratch.

A friend of mine had the downstairs of her (admittedly small) semi detached, but the living room, dining room and hallway done for £2k.

  • Laminate shouldn't cost £75 to £150 psm to lay, the basic product is around £5-20 psm and obviously fitting costs, but not that much. LVT for a property your size, I guess would probably be in the range of £5-8k?
Original poster
Bellex · 04/02/2022 08:00

Thanks all, I’m going to get some more quotes. I did try another place but I was in there for 20 minutes and nobody spoke to me.

The house is roughly 110 square metres. 55 square metres each floor plus stairs that doesn’t have measurements.

I was alarmed as he look me straight to the most expensive range when he’d given the developers some samples of his cheapest range.

OP posts:
PegasusReturns · 04/02/2022 08:09

I have a mix of engineered hardwood and Amtico and although I never thought I’d say it I love the Amtico.

Part of the cost is in the laying it it’s a big and messy job and once you’re in your house you’ll never do it because you have to rip out everything built in and remove skirting.

Ultimately it depends on the value of your house. I wouldn’t put a laminate floor in a high end property.