I can only give you my experience. I've lived for over 20yrs on real hardwood floors. And every time I stand on any kind of laminated plank it looks and feels like cheap plastic. There is just no comparison to actual wood flooring. Timber absorbs vibration, feels pleasant underfoot either barefoot or shoed. It looks real, because it is. Timber planks are 20mm thick, laminate ones are 5mm. Laminate flooring looks like a printed piece of plastic because, well it's very similar except for the top 2mm of veneer stuck to it. It may fool us in brochures and magazines but I've never once been fooled by laminate in person. They can give it all the fancy names they want like 'engineered' but at the end of the day it's all the same stuff. Laminated veneers on cheap plywood. But not one person on the planet has ever fooled that it's a real floorboard. Does timber scratch? Absolutely. So don't put a piano finish on it then. Stick with satin and matte finishes. It shows up the marks a lot less. Does timber dent? Absolutely. But those dents become part of the character of the home over time. I recently lived in a home with floorboards over 100yrs old. They had dents everywhere and yet those boards just looked lived on, they didn't look terrible. Does timber suffer water damage? Yes of course. But before you worry about it, go and check out the thousands of 100yrs old hardwood homes sitting on flood plains in this country. Every single one of them has been underwater more than once in it's lifetime. The original boards are there, strong and unfazed. Unless you plan to flood your home for weeks on end the occassional spill and overflow won't damage the timber at all. I'm a quality over quantity type of person so of course I'm going to rate going with the lifetime option over the rip it out every 5yrs option. If I had the money for hardwood I would not even consider plastic planks.

Hi Chris The cheapest option is Grind & Seal, but we usually recommend Mechanically Polished Concrete for inside of a home. This is by far a better option, if you were to go for a Matte or Satin finish it is less expensive than a higher gloss finish. Mechanically Polished Concrete does not have a top coat sealer requiring drying and curing time and does not need re-applying in the future which will save time and money in the long run. Because Polished Concrete does not require drying or curing time it can be used as soon as the process is completed unlike the Grind & Seal option. All floors are slippery when wet, a non slip agent can be added to a top coat sealer which would be the Grind & Seal method which we do apply in a shower area if there is not a shower base. Polished Concrete in Matte and Satin finish does have a very good slip rating, has no grout lines as with tiled floors where dust can get trapped therefore it is a wonderful easy to clean flooring solution. Hope this helps, I have provided some details regarding the 2 main processes below There are 2 different finishing processes / methods that are commonly called Polished Concrete, they are very different so it is important that you know the difference & which process/method you want and which is being used on your concrete Polished Concrete - 12 to 17+ step process During this process the concrete is ground to the desired level of stone exposure. After grinding the concrete surface, the Polished Concrete process begins. This process has a densifier applied in multiple stages that is absorbed into the concrete which hardens and strengthens the concrete. A Polished Concrete Floor is Polished in Multiple stages in a Refining Process using diamond tooling & resin pads. A penetrating sealer is applied in the final buffing stage to complete the process The "Polished Concrete" process has "NO TOP COAT SEALER" applied therefore there is no drying or curing time required so your space can be used as soon as the process is completed Grind & Seal (a 3 to 4 step process) This is NOT Polished Concrete. Grind & Seal is often referred to as Polished Concrete, this is the cheaper substitute that gives a "Polished Concrete Look" With the Grind & Seal method the concrete is ground to the desired level of stone exposure and a TOP Coat Sealer is applied such as water based, solvent based, urethane, acrylic or epoxy requiring 5-7 days to dry & cure

Having experienced a leaking shower, a step down sounds like a welcome added precaution, which seems rarely done. Supposedly if there is no hob or atepdown there is an angle, and obviously the whole thing is supposed to slope towards the drain anyway, but BeachBathrooms' earlier comment about capillary action rings true. It became obvious very quickly in our other shower that water was creeping across the grout outside the shower so whatever was meant to be done either wasn't or wasn't correctly done. Then there's the modern hotel bathrooms I've experienced where the water simply splashes out too easily. All in the name of style.

You should ask your builder why he is reluctant about 3 metres ceiling heights on the upper level. It is more work for him, so he should quote appropriately, and be paid for the extra height, the extra materials, the extra scaffolding etc. If you are building as an investment you need to understand your market. Will people pay extra for the extra high ceilings so it is profitable for you? In some really expensive areas homes with ceilings less than 3metres are looked down on by the buying public. In poorer areas people are more interested in square metres of floor area than ceiling height so you would lose money by putting in 3m ceilings to both floors. When building townhouses you need to think with your head, and not with your heart. Everybody loves high ceilings, but make sure that you increase the door and window heights proportionally. Standard height doors look funny with 3m high ceilings. This is one of the reasons why 3 metre high ceilings do cost so much more as you need everything taller, including window furnishings for it to look right. If you are building townhouses for future rental you will need to outweigh the additional cost of the extra height with the small increase in rent that could be achieved. While you say the height limit is 11 metres, it probably isn't 11 metres when it is close to the side boundary. Many townhouses are built close to the side boundary so you should check with your council about the side setback requirements. Usually the taller the building the further it has to be from the side boundary. Best of luck Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls and Dr Retro Virtual Visits