Wharekai Flooring: Sheet Vinyl or Carpet Tiles on a $3,000 Budget
A marae committee is re-flooring its wharekai before a large hui. The room is a rectangle 8.0 m by 6.0 m. Along one wall stands a fixed stainless-steel bench 4.5 m long and 0.8 m deep; the new flooring stops at the front of the bench, so that area is not covered.
Two quotes are on the table.
Option A - sheet vinyl. Priced at $42.00 per square metre and sold only in whole square metres. The installer insists on 10% extra on top of the floor area for cutting and waste. Adhesive is a fixed $380. Laying labour is charged at 0.35 hours per square metre at $55.00 per hour.
Option B - carpet tiles. Priced at $36.00 per square metre, sold in boxes covering 4 m² each, with 5% extra needed for waste and edge cuts. There is no adhesive cost, and a working bee will lay them for nothing.
The building fund holds $3,000. The wharekai is used daily for food preparation and serving, and the committee meets once more before the hui.
1. Calculate the floor area that actually needs covering.
Read the worked answer
Whole room = 8.0 × 6.0 = 48.0 m²
Bench footprint = 4.5 × 0.8 = 3.6 m²
Area to be covered = 48.0 − 3.6 = 44.4 m²
The bench area is subtracted because the flooring stops at the bench front - paying to cover it would be paying for material nobody will ever see or walk on. Keep 44.4 m² as the figure used in both quotes; any supplier pricing the full 48 m² is quoting on 3.6 m² of wasted material.
2. Work out the total cost of Option A (sheet vinyl), including waste, adhesive and labour.
Read the worked answer
Vinyl ordered
- Area plus 10% waste = 44.4 × 1.10 = 48.84 m²
- Sold only in whole square metres, so round up: 49 m²
- Cost = 49 × $42.00 = $2,058.00
Adhesive = $380.00
Labour
- Hours = 44.4 × 0.35 = 15.54 hours (charged on the area actually laid, not the area bought)
- Cost = 15.54 × $55.00 = $854.70
Total (Option A) = $2,058.00 + $380.00 + $854.70 = $3,292.70
This is $292.70 over the $3,000 building fund. Rounding the vinyl up rather than down matters: 48.84 m² cannot be bought as 48 m², and short-ordering would mean a join in the middle of the floor.
3. Work out the total cost of Option B, compare the two options, and recommend which one the committee should choose, given the budget and the daily food use.
Read the worked answer
Carpet tiles ordered
- Area plus 5% waste = 44.4 × 1.05 = 46.62 m²
- Boxes needed = 46.62 ÷ 4 = 11.655, so round up to 12 boxes = 48 m²
- Cost = 48 × $36.00 = $1,728.00
- Adhesive $0, labour $0 (working bee)
- Total (Option B) = $1,728.00
Comparison
- Option A: $3,292.70 - $292.70 over budget
- Option B: $1,728.00 - $1,272.00 under budget
- Option B is $1,564.70 cheaper
Recommendation - the cheaper quote is not automatically the right one. A wharekai is a food area: sheet vinyl is seamless and can be mopped, while carpet tiles trap crumbs and spillage in the joins and will need replacing tile by tile in a wet, greasy space.
The cost of Option A can be brought inside budget: a working bee for the laying removes the $854.70 labour charge, giving $2,438.00 - $562 under budget, and still vinyl. Alternatively, lay vinyl in the serving/kitchen half and carpet tiles in the dining half.
The defensible decision is vinyl laid by a working bee, with the $380 adhesive and 49 m² of vinyl purchased from the fund. If skilled layers cannot be found, Option B fits the budget but should be flagged to the committee as a hygiene compromise.