Carpeted floors?

[PatrickO`D]

Hi Fat Tire, I know Oregon is a pretty eco-minded state,have you considered recycled Ceramic tiles for the Bathrooms? You mentioned cleaniness & maintenance for picking your carpeting, may I suggest that it also be fire retardent and durable. Hostels get alot of foot traffic and replaceing carpeting every year can hit the bottom line. Carpets also help to keep winter energy bills down by helping to insulate against drafts through the floor, a benefit for a hostel in a northern state.

[Fat Tire]

Hi Fat Tire, I know Oregon is a pretty eco-minded state,have you considered recycled Ceramic tiles for the Bathrooms? You mentioned cleaniness & maintenance for picking your carpeting, may I suggest that it also be fire retardent and durable. Hostels get alot of foot traffic and replaceing carpeting every year can hit the bottom line. Carpets also help to keep winter energy bills down by helping to insulate against drafts through the floor, a benefit for a hostel in a northern state.

Thanks for your suggestion of recycled tile for the bath areas. I'll certainly consider that. The carpet we are considering will only be to cover specific areas and to act as a "runner" over heavily trafficked areas. The second floor of our building has a huge open area and we hope to use it for other community activities as well as hostel use. Yoga classes, dances etc. Thus, any carpet would need to rolled up for those occasions. Later, Fat Tire

[jonL]

I'm designing a hostel right now (for use in Australia) and I went to a hospitality expo recently. Here's me two cents:

1) If you are going to use carpet, make sure its the commercial grade ones, and the ones which are bought in 'squares' this make replacing worn/damaged areas of a carpet cheap to do as you only need to replace a part of the carpet than the whole thing.

2) Laminates seem to be the norm in US dorms. They are easy to clean and effective although they make the place look cheap. However, I did come across laminates which look better quality and had a wood effect.

3) Wood. I was thinking of wood or even bamboo. However due to the high traffic nature, if they are polished the polish would need to be frequently applied. Also it is expensive.

4) Tiles. I know tiles are commonly used in the bedrooms in South East Asia. Hope they will be receptive in Perth Western Australia

I think I would probably go for either the tiles or laminate. The problem with tiles however is that sound bounces off.

[Hostels]

Here's me two cents...

Useful information, thanks. I added it to the Start a Hostel guide in the Wiki.

[Phillip]

1) If you are going to use carpet, make sure its the commercial grade ones, and the ones which are bought in 'squares' this make replacing worn/damaged areas of a carpet cheap to do as you only need to replace a part of the carpet than the whole thing.

The commercial carpet tiles are a lot better quality than the carpet tiles you buy in a hardware/homeware store. If you do this, make sure to get spares or a guarantee that the carpet will be still available in the years to come. Nothing like getting a nice tile carpet and then not having spares on hand. Also make sure they have been treated as well for stain resistance. It will cost a bit extra but they will last longer. Choosing the right color will help reduce stains.

2) Laminates seem to be the norm in US dorms. They are easy to clean and effective although they make the place look cheap. However, I did come across laminates which look better quality and had a wood effect.

I'm not a fan of laminates as once they are stuck on they are usually pretty hard to get off and usually look tacky. Feel very institutional.

3) Wood. I was thinking of wood or even bamboo. However due to the high traffic nature, if they are polished the polish would need to be frequently applied. Also it is expensive.

If you can find the fake wood flooring that we have in Japan that would work quiet nicely. Its a thin layer of real wood on chipboard and slot all together. Again not cheap and you would have to use under flooring sound dampening. It can easily get damaged though.

4) Tiles. I know tiles are commonly used in the bedrooms in South East Asia. Hope they will be receptive in Perth Western Australia

I think I would probably go for either the tiles or laminate. The problem with tiles however is that sound bounces off.

For constantly hot areas i suppose that would be better but if the temperature is varied they'll be freezing in winter unless you have under floor heating.

My preference would be the commercial tile carpets as these can be replaced fairly easily, they stop sound bouncing around and you can have different colors for different floors / rooms.

[Fat Tire]

Thanks to all for your helpful ideas & suggestions. We have "closed" the property purchase & have begun renovation. We will be putting bamboo flooring over 1/2 " plywood. We have also decided (with an architects help) to install skylights in the great hall (on the second floor). This, combined with the light colored bamboo flooring will brighten the entire area and give it the look of a solarium. And by the way, I have figured out how to build my own bunk beds. We are building 15 of them and I have set up a little manufacturing plant in the workshop area. We hope to be open by this fall.

[Phillip]

Thanks to all for your helpful ideas & suggestions. We have "closed" the property purchase & have begun renovation. We will be putting bamboo flooring over 1/2 " plywood. We have also decided (with an architects help) to install skylights in the great hall (on the second floor). This, combined with the light colored bamboo flooring will brighten the entire area and give it the look of a solarium. And by the way, I have figured out how to build my own bunk beds. We are building 15 of them and I have set up a little manufacturing plant in the workshop area. We hope to be open by this fall.

Congrats! It sounds like it's going to be light and airy which is nice. It would be good to see a before and after shot of how the renovation goes. Are the bamboo floors going to be polyurethane coated for extra protection?

Also on you bunk beds, do you have to get some compliance check / standards check that they are matched to the guidelines such as load / size? I'm still researching on this for our place as i would like to build our own as well.

[Fat Tire]

Yes, I did look at standards for bunk beds although these seem to apply to beds built for commercial / resale and not for individual usage. Still, I built mine out of 2X6 framing material so they are quite stout & will take more weight than we would ever put on them. Because the lumber was rough I've spent a good deal of time routing edges & belt sanding the wood to remove rough edges etc. Also, my ceiling height is abnormally high (9'2") so I was able to make the bed posts 8' 6" tall thus allowing plenty of room to the bottom bunk & plenty of room for privacy curtains on both top & bottom bunks. I'm also building two lockable cabinets under each bunk bed so guests can secure valuables right in their room. And yes, the bamboo flooring is a prefinished product. With runner rugs in high traffic areas we should not experience abnormal wear patterns.

[Hostels]

...plenty of room for privacy curtains on both top & bottom bunks.

Great feature

[Irishdon]

I don't like carpet floors as they are difficult to keep clean. Tile floors are much easier to clean and I think more hygenic.