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Hi Guys,

Asking this on behalf of a friend.....

She had dishwasher leak and ruin her floor (laminate) and the insurance assessor has said that they will pay for replacement flooring upto £40 Sq Metre.
Area to be replaced is Downstairs Toilet, Hallway and Kitchen/Diner (don't know actual area).
Assuming the £40SqM figure includes fitting, underlay, etc, any ideas what sort of flooring (in terms of £? Sq M and material)could be within that budget - She is keen on Real Wooden Flooring, rather then another Laminate.
I have also suggested an Engineered Wood flooring as I think that is better suited to a kitchen as it is more stable?
PS Skirting is staying put, so expansion gaps will be covered by beading.

Not sure of the price Hoovie, but this happened to a friend and all the laminate lifted. They claimed on the insurance and it was settled quickly, but by the time they were ready to replace the floor it had dried out and went completely back to normal.

In this case, she is very happy it happened as she never liked the flooring

Neither did my friend, not sure what they spent the insurance money on

£40 / sqm?
Laminate flooring can be bought from £5/sqm to about £20 / sqm, i have found the average cost to fit this would be around about £9 / sqm. Various underlays foam / matting etc matting about £15 for 10sqm

Engineered boards can cost from £20 upto stupid amount / sqm but fitting on this i have found in my area to be from £15 sqm upwards to £40 sqm, depending on sub floor, amount of work required to fit etc

It would be nice to have the enginereed board down but i think if your friend is after enginereed flooring down then they may have to put some of their own money towards it.
I would tend to go for the lamnate and go for a good brand of laminate like quick step. Loads of several designs and shades out now. Im sure your friend will find a laminate flooring they will love the look of.

Hi Hoovie

She could get a good laminate floor for that price, engineered would be a struggle, solid timber no chance

Have you suggested a tiled floor as wood in wet areas is not a good idea as she now knows

Iv'e lost count the times iv'e fitted wood to kitchen/bathrooms and gone back at a later date and tiled the area after water damage

I always say wood and water don't go together unless its a boat

I'll let her know she needs to lower her sights a little
She thought she could get solid wood because she thought the £40SqM was just for flooring, forgot installation, underlay, etc I have assumed it was an all-in price as Insurance Assessers are not famed for their generosity

Tiles in kitchen much better idea really - or even the old fashioned Vinyl - that can look very good if chosen well.

I would have suggested she could buy the stuff and her husband fit it, but she has been waiting over a year for him to do the downstairs WC

Hoovie you can get floor tiles now with woodgrain on them, believe it was at Wicks about 600mm x 200mm as far as l can remember they had a bit of a rustic look to them