A typical lifespan for modern carpeting is 5 to 15 years,
depending upon the quality and the amount of foot traffic it receives. Other
types of flooring generally need replacing based on fashion or general
wear-and-tear.
It is important to consider a flooring update prior to
listing your home for sale for the following reasons:
- worn,
tired or stained carpet gives the appearance of being dirty (even if it’s not)
- slate
and tiled floors can seem dated, depending on the colour and style. Appealing
to the majority of buyers means you want your home to look fresh and modern
- if you
have damage, cracks, scuffs or chips in your slate, tiles or floorboards, this
will devalue the property in a buyer’s mind
Carpeting and floating floorboards, as a general rule, can
be a relatively inexpensive way to update flooring. Depending on specials and
promotions from carpeting stores you could carpet three bedrooms from around
$1,200. Floating floorboards can be purchased from as little as $25/m2 and if
you’re handy you can even lay them yourself!
Like paint and wall colours, flooring should be neutral
shades, so it will go with anything. If you’re worried about picking the wrong
colour, you should ask advice from the store you are buying from. Neutral shade
fashions do change from time to time (for example from cream and beige shades
to charcoal grey shades), so it is best to seek advice on what’s current.
Carpet - as a general rule, buyers like to have plush
carpeting in bedrooms and lounge rooms. Other areas, we recommend more durable,
easy clean flooring.
Polished floor boards - if you have an older home with
quality floorboards, we highly recommend that you stain and/or polish them up
as real polished floorboards are a great selling point.
Floating floor boards – floating floorboards are an
inexpensive way to modernise the high traffic and living areas of a property.
Beware of high gloss options as they look amazing but scratch and wear easily.
Perhaps use these if your property has either a couple living there or no
occupants at all! If you have a family and/or indoor pets, steer clear of the
high gloss.
Tiles – if you can afford to tile or re-tile your property,
go for large square neutral toned tiles. If you can’t afford to re-tile and
your existing tiles are dated, you can look into having the grout
professionally cleaned or you can even have the tiles professionally painted.
You can paint tiles yourself, but we do not recommend it – leave that one to
the experts.
Slate – slate is a little old fashioned these days but if
you can’t afford to replace the slate in your property, you can at least
freshen it up by sealing the flooring.
“The adventure of every new day begins the moment your feet
touch the floor.” ~Susan Gale~
If you would like to see all our tips, please email info@spartners.com.au to request a copy of our Preparing Your Home For Sale booklet.
If you would like to see all our tips, please email info@spartners.com.au to request a copy of our Preparing Your Home For Sale booklet.
