Only carpet flooring?

[Blingk]

We have just returned from a recent recce trip to NZ and we found all accomodations to be carpeted. Don't anyone use any other type of flooring other than tiles and carpet? We like parquet or 'Pergo' laminated flooring but wonder if it is too cold for a house without central heating?

Anyone out there has wood flooring?

[Smiler]

Yep there are houses that have polished rimu or other wood flooring.

We have tiled floors in our bathrroms not with under floor heating although thats slowly making an appearance and we also just looked at a place with polished concrete floors. Didn't fancy that much, too cold.

I guess that there might be a draft problem with wood, depending on the style of the house and tiles can be cold too. Just bung a rug down.

AND Welcome to the forum.

[Moorf]

Most of the older villas have beautiful wooden floors - great with raised houses too as it gets a healthy circulation going with also helps your fires/burners along. Our last house in Chch had only wooden floors - not a carpet in site! The rental prior to that had tiles floors (brrrrr even in Sumner was chilly!).

Flooring co.'s have loads of floor coverings on offer - from Amtico-types thru to vinyl, pure wool, laminates and all the other sorts you'd find in UK/USA etc.

[ruthyroo]

Our current rental has both carpets and wooden floors - I know which I prefer to look at (wooden floors) but I definitely know which ones I prefer to walk on / live with (carpet)! It's winter now and given that the floorboards are completely uninsulated underneath, open to the elements in the garage below the house, my feet turn to blocks of ice within moments of standing on them... give me the extra insulation of carpet any day! If I was doing it myself I would go for non-carpet floors for appearance, and install under floor heating plus lots of insulation. My folks in Scotland have just put it under the tiles in their kitchen and think it's great - and this is in a house with three foot thick stone walls, cavity insulation, double glazing, central heating and a log fire!! Argh I am so envious!!!

<Goes off to skulk around the "Damp Homes and Condensation" thread having just spent the morning squeegeeing the water off the bedroom windows - on the inside...>

[Diny]

Our rental (when we first arrived) had wooden floors. Nice to look at - period. Cold cold cold and very noisy !!!

Our house has carpets and underfloor insulation. I wouldn't consider anything less. The bathroom had a carpet when we bought the place but it had to go. Shag pile carpet and 3 boys with questionable aim ...... go figure.

Our kitchen and utility has vinyl 'tile effect' floor covering - again with under floor insulation.

Diny

[Tia Maria]

Have to agree with Ruthyroo, our villa has wooden floors, and they are sooooo cold, even though our villa is reasonably warm. I tend to jump from rug to rug!

We have one concrete floor, which is even colder, so we're getting that carpeted, with underlay.

I have seen companies that sell laminate here, not sure if they sell the Pergo range though. I'd imagine if combined with underfloor heating, or adequate insulation, they would be warm enough.

Cheers

Tia

[Blingk]

Thanks Smiler for the welcome!

It is shame not being able to have wooden flooring unless one has underfloor heating. We would prefer wooden flooring if all possible as it is cleaner and kinder to our sensitive noses.

Anyone watches 'Debbie Travis'? Sometimes she would redo the entire floor from carpet to parquet. So I am also curious why Canadians have wooden flooring when Canada is colder than NZ? Forgive my ignorance....

[Diny]

I am also curious why Canadians have wooden flooring when Canada is colder than NZ? Forgive my ignorance....

I think the simple explanation is that Canadian houses are alot warmer than NZ ones. They have heating which equates to more than a log fire. Once you've actually lived an entire winter in NZ you'll understand why everybody goes on about the cold houses.


Diny

[richard]

It is shame not being able to have wooden flooring unless one has underfloor heating. We would prefer wooden flooring if all possible as it is cleaner and kinder to our sensitive noses.

We had our kitchen floor sanded and sealed recently as it turned out to be the cheapest option. The floor boards are Rimu so have come up nicely. It is not noticeably colder than the cork tiles that used to cover it either.

[ruthyroo]

I think the simple explanation is that Canadian houses are alot warmer than NZ ones. They have heating which equates to more than a log fire. Once you've actually lived an entire winter in NZ you'll understand why everybody goes on about the cold houses.


Diny

Oh this is so true. All those things I listed that my parents have in Scotland for coping with sub-zero temps and cold, wet, windy weather (double glazing, central heating, log fire, underfloor heating, underfloor / wall cavity / loft insulation etc) - none of them are standard in NZ except the log fire! And the temps here have been down to 0 degrees at night for a couple of weeks now...

It does my head in and has to be (at this time of year) the least appealing aspect of life in NZ.