If you’re looking to re-floor a room in your home with wood flooring and you’re on a tight budget (and let’s face it, who isn’t?) there’s no doubt that you’ll be on the lookout for ways to save money. In this guide, we’ll share with you our 10 Top Tips about what you need to do to make sure you invest wisely and save money whenever you can when buying and installing wood flooring on a tight budget.
Decide between engineered and solid wood
Generally speaking, engineered wood flooring will be less expensive than like for like solid wood flooring. However, one thing you need to think about when choosing engineered wood flooring is how often you want to be able to re-sand and re-finish your floor in it’s lifetime. A reasonable expectation for low-cost engineered wood flooring is that you should be able to re-sand it on average 3 or 4 times during its life. If you want to have the flexibility to sand your floor more often, ie. if you are planning for the very, very long term, then it may be worth investing an extra few pounds and choosing a solid wood option. However, if you have under floor heating you won’t have a choice: you should choose an engineered wood flooring option that’s suitable for installation over your heating system.
Choose the most cost effective species
You’ll no doubt have a “look” in mind when re-flooring your room. It may well be that you want one of the ultra-modern almost black or almost white options or your preference could be for the natural wood colours? Either way, choosing an oak floor is likely to be your most cost effective solution in every situation. If you want a particularly dark or light oak floor, opt for a solution that has been artificially darkened or lightened, rather than thinking your budget will stretch to one of the exotic woods and being left disappointed. There are any number of colour changing effects that can make a relatively cheap oak floor look like a million dollars.
Opt for the cheapest grade
When wood is lumbered, it’s categorized into one of four different grades: prime, select, natural and rustic. Prime grade wood is highly consistent in its colour and grain and has very low sap content. It is the most expensive grade of wood. Rustic grade wood on the other hand sports its fair share of chunky knots and colour variety, but this shouldn’t be viewed as a negative. Rustic grade wood is in fact the cheapest grade of wood, but can look absolutely fantastic if you choose carefully.
Get the finish right
When you choose the finish for your floor, you need to think about your budget, but also about the reality of your home-life. If you have a busy household with lots of kids and a few pets, then you should make sure you invest in the likes of a lacquer finish that’ll stand up to the wear and tear that your life will throw at it. If there’s slightly less traffic in your home, then you can probably get away with choosing an oiled finish. Either way, by all means consider cost on this point, but also be realistic. It’s important to choose a finish that’ll protect your floor for the long run.
Shop around and negotiate
It sounds blatantly obvious, but shopping around will help you secure the very best deal for your wood flooring. Look on the High Street, look online, get some prices and then negotiate. Wood flooring is a competitive business and asking for a discount will at worst result in nothing and at best mean you’ve bagged yourself a bargain. Don’t be shy, be flexible and look for a great deal.
Make sure your measurements are right
One of the most common mistakes when people order their wood floor is ordering far too much or far too little. Neither situation’s ideal, so make sure you measure your floor accurately, allow a little for wastage and use your cuttings wisely.
Don’t forget to acclimatise your floor
When you’re on a budget, it’s even more important to respect your investment and treat it wisely. Acclimatising your floor will prevent it from expanding and contracting excessively after you’ve laid it and means it’ll look better for longer.
Do you preparation
Don’t be tempted to skimp on your subfloor preparation, particularly if you’re on a budget. There’s no point in making lots of effort to get the best floor your budget can buy then laying it on a damp or uneven subfloor. Invest all the time it takes to get the base for your new floor completely perfect.
Remember to leave an expansion gap
If you’re laying your floor yourself, don’t forget to leave an expansion gap all round your room. This is a small, 10-15mm space that allows your floor to expand and contract safely as the conditions in your room change. Not having an expansion gap can lead to cupping and bowing of flooring boards as well as unsightly gaps, so don’t forget your expansion gap because it’ll save you money and a whole load of hassle in the long run.
Look after your floor
It goes without saying, but once you’ve made all these efforts to get your floor on-budget, don’t let yourself down by not giving it the TLC it deserves. Make sure you invest in good quality door mats to reduce the dust and grime your floor will need to deal with and also give it a vacuum and a light mopping every few days and it’ll stay looking great for much longer than you imagine.
If you’d like help to choose a budget wood floor, why not get in touch? At Wood and Beyond, we have a constant range of great deals which means that you get great value, every day of the year.