2 Ways To Save Money On Your New Timber Floor
Timber flooring is an enduring and popular feature in many Australian homes. There are good reasons for this, with timber being a warm and beautiful material which suits almost all styles of décor. A good quality timber floor can also be quite costly, especially if you opt for hardwood. Fortunately, there are several ways you can save money on your home's timber floor, and here are two of them.
1. Supply your own timber
Timber is an expensive building material and is the most significant cost involved in installing a wooden floor. In many instances, the price of the timber is included in the quote that your chosen builder or carpenter provides for you. This price will also include the markup, or builder's margin, that your contractor adds on to the cost of the timber.
You can save yourself a considerable amount of money by sourcing the wood yourself. The best place to buy it from is a wholesale wood supply company in your local area. Their prices are generally the best because they cut and process the timber themselves, unlike general building supply companies who buy it in from timber merchants and will charge you extra for the 'middle man' fees.
2. Choose a floating floor
Often, timber floors are installed on top of a wooden frame which supports the planks. This frame is costly because not only are you paying for extra timber, you're also paying for a lot of extra labour for the contractor to construct it. A less expensive option is to choose a floating floor.
Floating floors involve laying the timber flooring directly onto your existing floor covering which has been covered with a rubber or polyurethane matting to keep the planks in place. As long as the existing floor is clean and dry it doesn't matter whether it is carpet, tile, vinyl, or concrete. The matting you'll need is cheap and easy to lay in comparison to a timber frame, and the labour costs will also be dramatically reduced.
Another bonus to floating timber flooring is that you can get away with using a thinner plank than is necessary with a floor supported by a timber frame. This is because the floating floor rests on the existing floor and isn't load-bearing, which means it doesn't need to be as strong. Thinner boards mean a lower timber bill because you pay not just for the length and width of the planks but also the depth.
Any project involving timber will require a fairly significant financial outlay. By using these two tips, you'll be able to save yourself some money and still have a beautiful and excellent quality timber floor.
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