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Housekeeping

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What flooring do I get?

13 replies

pixiemamma · 28/02/2010 15:51

DH is in process of decorating lounge/stairs/upstairs landing.
We have 19mo & 2mo and my DH is rubbish at remembering to take his shoes off when he comes in
I'm thinking that I'd like engineered real wood flooring for the lounge and then one of those seagrass/coir type hardwearing looking carpets for stairs & landing.
But I don't know - I mean children obviously fall over a fair bit so is a hard floor a bad idea while they're still tiny? have to consider food/drink/toys/falling over/inevitable DH's dirty shoes occasionally.
Also, should I have laminate or wood. I like the idea of real wood but worried that inevitable spillages will wreck it and DH will do his nut.
Is that seagrass type stuff really all that good or is really nasty scratchy and knee scrape tough?
Am very confused and can't afford a costly mistake.

OP posts:
hmmSleep · 28/02/2010 16:18

The seagrass stuff looks great, but is very rough and (this is going to sound gross) a nightmare to get vomit etc out of!

I've had varnished real wood floors which took red wine and all sorts spilled on them, this was when I had dd 0-2.5yrs and never any problem with falling etc, although she did choose to bum shuffle rather than crawl .

TheDevilWearsPrimark · 28/02/2010 16:20

Bamboo flooring is amazing!

We have solid Oak and it is very durable but a pain to keep clean , it's not engineered so as it has settled in there are small gps between some of the boards that get crammed with dirt.

i once went at them with a toothbrush haha!

pixiemamma · 28/02/2010 16:25

TBH I though that about the sick/other various squidgy things in the seagrass stuff. Will probably go for a more traditional carpet for stairs & landing.
DH really likes bamboo flooring - does it scratch easily?
I never thought about the gaps between the wood boards

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TheDevilWearsPrimark · 28/02/2010 16:25

Oh and I have runners on the stairs, and in the halls they are very durable and easy to keep clean.

TheDevilWearsPrimark · 28/02/2010 16:27

I don't know - I've only seen it in my friends house and she has an 8 week old so isn't at the point of trains etc on the floor yet haha.

TheDevilWearsPrimark · 28/02/2010 16:28

Plus, I figured with the stair runners they can be replaced more cheaply than a fitted carpet when they get tired.

pixiemamma · 28/02/2010 17:02

yeah, I like stair runners and there are some v.good quality ones on ebay too.

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gemmasetters · 28/02/2010 20:15

Don't think its quite the same but I put in laminate in the lounge. I love it when she gets food on the floor, or pees on the floor; any time it gets dirty. I hate it when I'm cold (floor is cold!) and I DEFINITELY hated it when my 2yo slipped on it and broke her leg

Don't know if that helps?

orienteerer · 28/02/2010 20:18

Don't worry about hard flooring and little ones, they cope, it's not a problem (and much easier to clean mess from).

orienteerer · 28/02/2010 20:21

We had solid oak floors (underfloor heating) throughout, including wooden stairs (rented house) from when DS was 6 months to 5.5 years. He did not suffer in any way.

midnightexpress · 28/02/2010 20:31

I wouldn't worry about spillages on engineered wood - we have it in our hallway and are probably getting it in our kitchen and you can just mop up spills very easily. I also wouldn't worry about hardness - our two charge about on it and haven't come to grief. I am not completely convinced by its durability though - ours is quite high spec oak and it's dented quite a bit where the children have bashed it with toys and where a ceiling collapsed (OK, so not an everyday experience, but anyway). However, we had laminate down when we moved in and it was horrid. I agree with whoever said consider bamboo - SIL has it in her hallway and it's very tough and reasonably cheap.

pixiemamma · 01/03/2010 13:19

I've done a bit of reading up about bamboo now & it sounds great and more hardwearing & resistant to denting than hardwood (solid or engineered) and also more resistant to warping due to humidity. Mind you, these were sites that sell the stuff, so they're not going to say it's shite are they?
Am not keen on laminate - even the expensive stuff - although I couldn't give a reason why as I've never had it. And I increasingly think that carpet in a main throughfare is a bit minging - referring back to fact that DH regularly 'nips in' with his shoes on and DS isn't shy about eating stuff he's dropped on the floor...
We got a 'end of trade job' load of travertine for the porch, loo & kitchen. The thought of pissy drips in the loo carpet makes me gag - although this probably has more to do with particular 'guests' and how ifeel about them if I'm honest. Anyway, I digress. When we took up the floorboards in the bathroom when me moved in to this house it was gross around the front of the loo and this has left a lasting image in my mind

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umf · 04/03/2010 12:10

We have bamboo throughout the house, except in kitchen and bathroom.

Put it in in November 2008, still very pleased with it.

Bought from www.simplybamboo.co.uk/, negogiated a bulk discount. (Beware - they only deliver to pavement outside house so you have to carry it all in, v heavy.)

They send you free samples, which I thought v useful.

We have the natural strandwoven downstairs, which I smugly think looks stunning. Our perfectionist decorator thought it the nicest flooring he'd seen. Our house is dark, so the glossy floor is good.

Children do need those little sticky bits on the bottom of their socks, though, cos otherwise slippery. DS spent most of babyhood in tiled floor kitchen, so I knew he'd be ok with hardish floor.

Upstairs we have (I think) vertical natural. It's nice too, very Scandinavian blond wood, but less impressive than the downstairs.

But the natural strandwoven would have been ott for our very ordinary bedrooms, also because the planks are wider so would risk making the quite small rooms look even smaller.

It's v easy to clean, I love it after those years of picking baby sick out of old carpets in rented houses.

Crucial to get someone good to install it. Annoyingly we didn't realise the perfectionist decorator could do it and got a floorer instead and he was a bit crap. Did a good job downstairs but then kind of lost interest and his botched bits detract upstairs.

No significant scratches so far. We're fairly careful and don't usually wear shoes indoors, though have DS3 who does all the usual DS3ey messy things. We have large built-in doormat at front door and lino by back door as dirt traps.

I think important not to get the floor too wet. Although the strandwoven is supposed to be ok in kitchens and bathrooms I'm not convinced. If we ever have the money to redecorate those I'm thinking about rubber floors.

But spills and "accidents" haven't caused damage to the bamboo in rest of house so far. Much better than laminate in this respect.

Hope useful.

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