Which is cheaper - sand and varnish original floors or put down lamanite?

I

ice

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Any advice on which would be cheaper?

To take up carpets, sand and varnish original floorboards (1960's house)

or put down laminate floors?

Looking to do the whole house - 3 bed semi. There is laminate on two of the four downstairs rooms. carpets in upstairs.
We are on a seriously tight budget but the current carpets are pretty old and manky:eek:

Thanks
 
Probably better to buy some cheap carpets to replace the existing and save up to fund the preparation, sanding and varnishing of the floors.

I wouldn't have laminate floors at any price.
 
I am with the other guys!! if you have real wood floors, they not only look better, but will add value to your property if/when you sell. Laminate is cheap, but looks cheap and therefore you should get some carpet and when the time is good for you, get the floors sanded and varnised, real solid wood floors always look great.
 
Thanks for the replies....

I might just get the old carpets steam cleaned and make do till we have the funds.

Do all houses have solid wood original floors ? How would I know if they were solid wood?

Is it a big / expensive job to sand and varnish the floors ? Would we not be better to do this before we move it and have it done with?
 
Is it a big / expensive job to sand and varnish the floors ? Would we not be better to do this before we move it and have it done with?
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Hi there, We live in a 1960's semi - we got our floors down stairs done for €500 (that included everything) - that was two sitting rooms and a hall (the boards in the kitchen were too badly damaged to sand) , it may sound expensive but we did the floors in our first place and by the time you factor in your time, equipment rental and gloss you are looking at €200 per room. If you are based in Dublin I will try and get the number of the guy who did our floors.
 
Thanks Pinkybear, I would love the details if you have them handy.

Do the original floors look good?
 
The floors look really well, he paints them a a gold color. The nice thing as well about daragh is you prep the room - ie remove carpets furniture and stuff, go to work - come home and the floor is done..
 
It makes it so much easier that you haven't moved in, i.e. you don't have to remove everything from the room and put it back in, plus the amount of dust the sanding blows about, will only have to be hooverd up.

Matter of opinion, but personally I'd get it over and done with now. If you want to do it yourself and you have the time, you could get it done very reasonably by hiring out a sander. The corners you will have to get down and do with a smaller rectangle shaped sander. You'd easily get 3 rooms sanded in a night. Then if you go and varnish with Translac, it gives a terrific shine and last years even with high heels. Forget how much it costs now, but you'll see it on the same shelf as all the other varnishes in Atlantic or B&Q and it is the most reasonabley priced.
 
I did my house before I moved in. Did all the sanding and varnishing. If I were to do it again I would have someone come in and do the sanding and I would do the varnishing myself as I found it therapeutic.I put 3 coats of varnish on sanding lightly between each coat with sand paper.
Good luck with it they will look fabulous.
 
Sanding it yourself is a lot of work, especially the cleaning afterwards and I've done it the past but don't think I'd do it aagin. Its also something you have to redo after 5yrs or so with a fresh coat of depending on how the floor is used. Some of my own need a freshen up now.

Laminates certainly don't look the same. But its a cheap durable surface that looks smart and modern and is easy to maintain. Certainly easier to clean than carpets. So probably healthier too. We've used them now and then, in a couple of houses and been happy with them. They have a shelf life though and again after 5yrs or more they start to look at bit tired.
 
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