Floor coverings
Floor coverings choices can be quite confusing. Buy2LetExpert suggest
materials that are as practical and as easy to clean as possible while
at the same time giving interest and 'warmth' to the room. This is
particularly so when the target tenant is tending to be a younger
person. As always it is difficult to generalise but But2LetExpert steer
away from fitted carpets in all but bedrooms. Other rooms may have
loose carpets which are quickly and cheaply replaced at the end of the
tenancy. Some pointers might be:
Tiles
Buy2LetExpert.com would always recommend a natural tile such as honed
travertine (polished or natural). Natural tiles have many advantages:
- They are much less slippery when wet which is important in a
shower area.
- Natural materials always look good and usually can be matched
quite well if there ever needs to be plumbing or other repairs in
the future!
- Natural tiles are fairly timeless. Fancy artificial colours and
textures move fast with fashions so using a natural material saves
money in the long run.
- Natural tiles have a 'real edge' so no use of ugly plastic
corner pieces on external corners or ledges like in sunken shower
trays is necessary.
- Natural tiles cost more but even with a natural tile the biggest
cost by far is preparing for and the tiling process its self. i.e.
if the main cost is labour why waste the labour cost on a cheap
synthetic tile? Natural tiles are available for as low as £25 per
metre from our suppliers anyway so actually not much more than a
synthetic tile.
- Natural tiles look great and will sell the property to
prospective tenants. A small extra expense here is well worth it as
tiling is so visible.
Wood Flooring vs Laminate
We would always recommend hard wood flooring or tiles in living
areas. Such flooring gives the impression of the room being larger and
is cheaper to maintain than a fitted carpet which needs to be changed
far more frequently. 'Soften' the floor with the use of loose carpets
made of natural materials. The carpets will also deaden sound nuisance
which may be an issue in flats. In all but the most budget properties we
would recommend a real wood surface of at least 3mm to allow for the
floor to be sanded 2 or 3 times. Consequently the floor should last for
10 years plus (or 3 or 4 carpets worth). So actually the strategy may
save money in the longer term with the added benefit of a beautiful
floor.
Carpets
Carpets are 'warm' and do help to deaden sound noise in situations
where the flat below may have an issue with noise. However, in many
instance the careful placing of loose carpets can achieve the same
effect. We do normally recommend fitted carpets in bedrooms although
this is not essential. The main reason is that carpets get very little
wear in a bedroom and a life in excess of 5 years is quite normal. A
living room carpet can be worn in 12 months so the wood or tile option
is best here.
A room by room summary might be:
Bathrooms and W.C.
Always use tiles and ideally natural materials such as honed
Travertine (polished or otherwise). Such materials are easy to clean and
beautiful. Use under floor heating (electric or water). Never fit carpets in a bathroom.
Living Areas
Carefully sourced, real wood laminate flooring is recommended.
Scandinavian countries have good experience of the product so
Buy2LetExpert often sources from Sweden or Denmark. Tiles are
another possibility but under floor heating (UFH) is a must otherwise
the tiles will be cold. Electrical UFH is the cheapest to install but
can be expensive to run. Non electrical ('wet') systems differ in that
the heating is sourced from a loop of water pipe under the tiles linked
back to the boiler like the radiators. Such a system is expensive to
install but cheaper to run.
Kitchens
Tiles or laminate real wood flooring is recommended. Tiles are the
ideal for ease of maintenance BUT modern tastes often demand a
kitchen/living room such as is shown below:
In such examples the division between kitchen and living area is
deliberately not clear. The ceiling line follows through. There is no
wall division to the ceiling and just half walls divide kitchen and
living areas. This fools the eye
into believing the rooms are each bigger! There is however no natural division point for
the floor. Hence the best option is to run the same floor into the
kitchen. Hence there is no floor or ceiling division giving the feeling
of more space. This is possibly a slight downside in terms of
maintenance but a big gain in terms of the flat as a whole and rental
income. Furthermore such as design is modern and young and appeals to
young families or groups of sharers. In this example the former living
room has become an additional bedroom meaning greatly improved investor
returns.
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