Hybrid Timber Flooring – it’s a yes from me

Back in mid August, we moved house which was a major lifestyle and life changing decision. I wrote about it in my post BE-ing in August – life changes and another year around the sun and after 3 months both Mike and I definitely have no regrets. We are closer to family and friends and love the neighbourhood we have chosen.

We moved from a 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment on the Gold Coast back to a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath townhouse in Brisbane. It is spacious and has a lovely small yard which is on our list of renovation projects.

Mike and I love to renovate and work on projects in all the homes we have lived together. In fact, since being together for almost 30 years, we have moved home several times. Usually, it is when we have finished renovating and I don’t get to enjoy the fruits of our labour.

This move, will hopefully be our last for some time so I’m looking forward to making it our home and a haven we can enjoy.

The townhouse is about twenty years old, in good condition but the decor is dated. We knew that when we purchased the property but the space and location plus the fact we are in a small complex of only 7 townhouses were the deciding factors. You can always change the decor and that is what we are doing!

I’m excited for the plans we have in mind.

(Some of you may have seen these photos on social media showing the progress of the project but I also wanted to journal our renovations here on the blog.)

First job – The flooring has to go!

Before

The first project on our list was to redo the flooring in the hallway, living, dining and kitchen area. I love a continuous flow in a home as it increases the feeling of space and light.

The floors when we arrived were tiles in the hall and kitchen and then a dark grey carpet in the lounge and dining. You can see by the photos that there is no flow, the dark floor makes the space look smaller and I didn’t like the colours of the tiles next to the carpet. For visitors the view from the entry to the living area just wasn’t inviting.

We obtained several quotes and even looked at doing the project ourselves. It wasn’t worth the angst of trying to do something we hadn’t done before, even though Youtube videos made it look easy. The professionals are much faster and accurate.

Some of the suppliers wanted us to arrange our own tiler, removal of carpet and to provide a skip. Perfect Floors, gave an all inclusive quote which was very reasonable and we didn’t have to worry about anything apart from moving the furniture (which is the same with all companies we dealt with). In particular, the electrical products such as refrigerator and dishwasher as they don’t want to risk damaging the appliance during the move – they left that to us, the owners LOL 🙂

We chose to replace the tiles and carpet with hybrid timber flooring. Gaining in popularity since 2019, it is hardwearing, scratch resistant, waterproof, easy to keep clean and cost effective. Of course, nothing is perfect and you need to clean up spills immediately but the positives outweighed any concerns.

The biggest issue for me was selecting a colour. I am not someone who can visualise how something will look. I need to actually see it. I chose Blackbutt in Viva Classic Range and although I knew I liked the colour, the sample Mike saw was a little different and he put some doubt into my mind.

The day before we left for our Tasmania holiday I quickly went back to the showroom at Perfect Floors, Capalaba, and double checked the colour. Lili and Rod were so helpful and gave me more samples to bring home just to make sure.

I was still unsure as we left for our holiday, but I stayed with my original choice and once the job was completed I knew it was exactly what I wanted. Aren’t we funny that we doubt ourselves? I don’t think I’m very good at interior design but I should learn to trust myself and my decisions.

Preparation

Mike and I had to remove all the furniture from the living/dining area and the refrigerator and dishwasher from the kitchen. Fortunately, I have my SIL who lives 5 minutes away who gave us a hand. Although, I think I’m doing quite well as an apprentice!

Installation

The installation took 2 days and required having the tiles removed, the underfloor prepared and then laying the timber panels. An unknown factor is when they lift up tiles or carpet. If the surface is okay then that requires minimal preparation. If it is uneven they have to level out the surface which can add to the cost. Fortunately, ours only needed minimal preparation. Our installer, Danny from Perfect Flooring was excellent and he did everything – tile removal, carpet removal and laying the timber.

Halfway through

This is the floor after removal of tiles and carpet. I thought even this stage was an improvement on the original.

All finished – What do you think?

What a difference! I’m so happy with the final result. The rooms look even more spacious and love the flow of the flooring from the front door, through the hall to the living and dining area. It is exactly how I imagined it to look and both Mike and I are very happy.

We still have a TV cabinet and buffet to arrive which are on backorder and a coffee table to purchase but the majority of the living and dining area is now done.

Future plans for 2023 include new kitchen benctops and complete renovations of the bathroom and ensuite. Stay tuned!

Renovating can have it’s moments of frustration when things don’t go to plan, but when the project is done and it looks good, all of the moving of furniture etc., was worth it. It is also a wonderful way for Mike and I to work as a team, doing something we enjoy.

Have you renovated? How was your experience?

Joining Denyse Whelan for her Wednesday Words and Pics link up