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

Thank you robandlyn. I am definitely leaning towards the karndean especially for the kids. I might use it for a splashback?? hi the interior therapist. Thank you for your reply. The budget that was put into our build (by the builder) makes hardwood floors an extra $23k. Although the 600 x 600 are expensive to lay it still comes in at less than half the price including bathrooms. We had hardwood in our last house, I liked it but it scratched and dented with chairs and kids dragging their sandy bikes inside. i am worried that I will choose the tile and hate the cleaning and potential slippery accidents in summer but I worry about the look of karndean....... is it very plasticky? I have some samples but it's very hard to tell from such a small piece. Is the tile we have chosen too 'busy' for all areas? Maybe I have really bad taste and it's an ugly tile lol Thanks so much for all your help guys :)

Budget and site. This can decide the structure quite quickly. The design and structure should be site specific. Slab on ground is the preferred option on a flat site due to speed and economies. A suspended timber floor on bearer's and joist's can sometime's be comparable cost wise on a flat site but is better suited if there's quite a bit to significant fall on the site. Suspended slab may be the most expensive compared to the other's.

If you are after a durable and stable timber floor then Spotted Gum is superior to an engineered floor. But there are many others like Turpentine, Blackbutt, Brush Box, Mahogany to name a few. Having said that the installation process for both are completely different. The longest lasting timber flooring system is Australian Hardwoods installed over Hardwood Battens. Having been in timber flooring in Sydney for over 57 years our experience with trying different products always brings us back to Australian Hardwoods. Selecting a grade of timber does not translate into colours it is merely the quality of the timber board ie in the imperfections of nature - Select Grade has less gum vein and grub marks than say Standard Grade - however if you choose a commercial named grade then you get whatever the suppliers offers in their own grading. Oh and by the way be aware that many imported products are products with Formaldehyde which is toxic. But I agree with Paul if you are after uniformity then you need to go with an engineered product, the beauty of hardwoods lies in the variation so that no two timber floors will be exactly the same. Hope this helps a little more - being a tradesman we do not necessarily base our choices on colours but rather performance of the timbers which varies from species to species.