The 3 Crucial Flooring Factors You Must Know Before It Costs You Double in Dollars!

Here are a few things I always ensure my clients are aware of.

When it comes to having your flooring removed and new flooring installed it is impeccable to ensure you cover all bases when it comes to getting the job complete from start to finish. When selecting trades people to complete a job they are purely focused on advising on what they specialise in, in their eyes that’s their job and in your eyes you’re completing an easy project hence why you’ve decided to manage the trades people. This can leave you completely mind boggled as you have no idea how much more to it there is than meets the eye.

One of my fundamentals when meeting a client on a job is not only quoting what I’m there for but also taking my knowledge from previous work and sharing that with my potential client so that you can wrap your  head around the bigger picture of what’s required in a flooring  project. 

Here are 3 things to consider before purchasing or making a decision if the flooring project is feasible before you get hit with some extra nasty bills that you weren’t expecting. 

#1 Existing fittings and fixtures

The first expense besides the flooring itself is to consider whether you remove the existing flooring or go over the top. Consider plumbing fittings, toilets, dishwashers, laundry troughs etc. They need to be removed prior to any works to ensure a professional finish on your project BUT IF you are going over the top you need to decide the following: Will your dishwasher height suit the new flooring height to bench top, Will your toilet need replacing at some stage or when its installed will the height difference affect your plumbing heights. Another one to touch on is your skirting boards, door seal heights: Going over the top of existing flooring to try and save a buck may actually cost you in the height adjustments and painting to all your doors and door seals. Added floor height can make your doors scrub etc damaging your freshly installed flooring.

#2 Flooring type

One thing I hear all to often is when clients receive additional floor preparations bills from their installed after already having the flooring removed and prepared and because they have already started installing your flooring they have you by the b**ls. I’ve had a client call me because a flooring install company was hitting her for $800 just to pour 3 bags of leveller…that is criminal! So knowing exactly which flooring you select before you even start is so important, different flooring requires different amounts of preparation. Quick example…You decide to lay tiles on your concrete slab and need to remove existing tiles. Simple, remove the tiles and grind back most of the adhesive. Most slab pits or imperfections from the removal can be repaired with glue, Tile adhesives can usually allow a bed of up to 10-15mm. Now we go on the other end of things and you select Vinyl flooring..this is where you want you flooring to be completely smooth, flat and level as the adhesive used for vinyl flooring is not made to be built up etc.. So when it comes to vinyl flooring in an average home you may need to allow an additional $500-$3000 just in additional preparation after already having your tiles and flooring ground back. I believe you get my jist.

#3 Disposal

Were nearly there, this is the bare minimum you need to know..

Ill keep this short.. DISPOSAL. Are you getting rid of your wastage or rubble or is your contractor. A Lot of contractors want you to organise a bin which I think is not fair as you need to know when it is best delivered, how big of a bin do I  need and so forth. As a trades person I know how much volume needs to be disposed of as well as when it should be delivered so I prefer to take care of a bin. If you ever need to take care of it. Volume calculator (lengthxwidthxheight and double it in cubic m3) See ive probably already confused you. Also most bin hire companies will tell you “Yes, we will deliver it first thing in the morning when in fact it gets delivered at 9am but then you have your tradie barking up the phone asking you where the bin is. Get your bin delivered day before service and consider if its on the property or nature strip as this can incur a permit of + $80-$100 and also try and get a bin that has an opening and gets dropped in place not dragged in place. You want a Marrel Skip bin NOT a hoof lift bin as this may damage your driveway or nature strip. 

Follow the 3 factors above and your well and truly ready to budget for your project and your menatlly prepared on what to expect. Happy flooring!