Australia’s Most Beautiful Floors

All resilient or hard floors require daily or weekly general maintenance, such as sweeping with soft bristle / anti-static broom, or a quick vacuum. Do not use steam mops or wet mopping for regular cleaning. Avoid using generic supermarket floor cleaning solutions as these tend to be concentrated and will damage the surface coating if used incorrectly. For sticky spills or stubborn scuff marks a damp absorbent cloth will generally do the job. We recommend Bona or Loba floor care solutions for our complete flooring product range. Check out the Floor Care section on our website for more specific product cleaning guides.

As a general guide only engineered timber floors with a natural or real timber wear layer from 2mm – 6mm can be refurbished or sanded to freshen up the surface and remove floor scratches. Deeper surface damage may require more intensive sanding to achieve a fresh clean décor. Timber floors can also be stained after sanding if a different colour scheme is desired. Laminate, Hybrid & Vinyl floors are not suitable for sanding, generally isolated plank repairs or uplift and replacement is performed if planks are damaged.

Importantly all floors have clear sacrificial coats on the surface to provide some basic protection for everyday wear & foot scuffing. A floor is meant to be walked on and surface scratches will occur over the life of the floor. For timber floors most quality floor retailers or hardware stores will offer hardened wax repair kits that can be colour blended to fill a surface crack or indentation. Some of these kits can work with laminate floors however as with Hybrid & Vinyl floors its probably easier to uplift a damaged plank & replace with a new plank if the damage is obvious. Certain local floor installers also offer this service for repairs and general refresher cleaning if required. Another worthwhile option is to contact Konig Australia as they offer repair services for all types of flooring and hard surface items, visit the website for details. Regular floor care & maintenance will keep you flooring looking good.

All floating installations require an acoustic underlay and depending on the subfloor type, the acoustic underlay will also need a moisture barrier (PE)film attached. This is known as a 2 in 1 Underlay. Generally, for normal residential installations a quality underlay will be approx. 2 -3 mm in thickness and have the PE film attached to the underlay. Our Standard White & Ultra Green underlays are an excellent choice. For Hybrid floors the acoustic underlay is attached to the product. This type of underlay will not have a moisture barrier (PE) film attached as these classes of product are considered interior waterproof, however in most circumstances Hybrid installations will require a 200uM plastic film installed over the substrate to reduce friction between the underside of the plank and the sub-floor. Certain building categories (multi -level) or Body Corporate requirements may demand additional acoustic sound performance, please consult with your building professional or flooring retailer for advice if these circumstances apply.

For absolute peace of mind the Builders Plastic provides extra protection against rising damp if a floating installation is involved, its a cheap insurance for when things don’t go as planned.

All existing flooring materials & the subfloors require inspection & possible repairs or leveling prior to any new installation. Certain flooring products can be installed over sound, flat & dry existing floors, or tiles if they meet the installation guidelines of the flooring product selected. It’s important to remember an old floor that squeaks and moves under normal foot traffic will still squeak & move under foot traffic if no repairs or levelling is conducted at the site.

It is a necessity to follow the installation guidelines, these guidelines recommend that all floating installations will require perimeter and intermediate expansion trims dependent on install length and width of the rooms. Commonly long hallways should be limited to 11m and room sizes to a maximum of 6m in width & 8m in length. Generally, it’s wise to consider room to room transition trims especially when rooms are adjacent to long hallways. Floating or click installs need to move as the building envelope moves. The product warranty will not apply if the necessary expansion trims are not included. Planning trim placement & trim colour in the room layouts is essential to discuss with the store prior to making your final purchase decision and before commencing the installation. Do not leave this decision up to the installer without understanding & confirming the trim placement & trim colour.

Yes, we have matching stair nosing available for all flooring types to suit closed stair systems only, the stair nosing is not suitable for exposed end stair systems. For special code requirements or custom projects stair nosing can be manufactured by local contractors. A wide range of trims & scotia that are colour blended to suit all flooring types are available, retail stores will have samples to assist with your interior design planning.

There are no Australian Standards that cover the manufacturing of the main flooring ranges that we sell. Our products are proprietary manufactured and imported into Australia to meet Australian building requirements. Australia has only a very small manufacturing capacity for certain Vinyl & Laminate products, everything else is imported. All ranges are certified for use in Australia with Fire & Slip ratings, these tests are conducted in Australia by Nationally recognised test laboratories and meet requirements for use under the National Construction Code ( NCC).

All ranges are considered safe for interior installations with Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emission levels achieving the E1 category, this level is considered safe for normal interior occupancy by the World Health Organisation and International Design Organisations. We also provide declarations for any PVC or stone based Vinyl or Hybrid product that they contain no harmful Phthalates or Respirable Silica Dust. Should you have specific health sensitivities please consult with your local GP.

No, our main flooring ranges are pre-finished with a final clear coating and ready to walk on after installation unless otherwise advised by your installer. For direct adhesive fixed floors, the installer may ask you to stay off the floor surface until the adhesive has cured. Generally, all floating installations can be walked on the day they are installed.

We have a number of specific flooring products that are suitabile for installation over Hydronic ‘In-Slab’ heating only. 

We do not provide warranty for any other type of underfloor heating systems. Our product guide will indicate which products are suitable.

All Australian Engineered Timber Floors ( Fiddleback & Select) are excluded for installation over underfloor heating, any type.  No warranty would apply. 

The home owner and install contractor need to observe and follow the specific install requirements and on-going operational aspects as provided by the heating system manufacturer. All new systems should be commisioned by the heating system contractor along with an operational handover. 

The install contarctor should be aware by the owner  / builder on what type of system is installed so they can follow the systems specific requirements for a flooring installation.

Very specific steps & preparations are required prior to and immediately after the installation. If in doubt please contact the heating system provider for guidance.

Failure to follow the system guidelines for installation and on-going operations will void our product warranty.  Note: We do not provide specific installation details as each heating system will have their own unique operational guidelines that must be followed.

You do not need to be present however it is vital to check the product delivered to site matches what you believe you purchased. Check for colour, size and grade based on the order provided to the retailer. The installer may have no idea what colour was selected, it’s better to resolve an issue before install rather than walking into a massive surprise when you return. Leave clear instructions on accepted trim placements and contact details if the installer encounters problems at the site.

In the lowest priced budget category $-$$, will be shorter length approx. 1.3 -1.5m standard Laminate, Hybrid & Vinyl products. Next price category $$, would be full plank length 1.8-2.2m Laminate & Hybrid. Water Resistant Laminate would be the next category $$-$$$, & in the higher end of the middle budget area will be the start of the natural timber product options. The timber product categories $$$ – $$$$$, start with thinner wear layers at 2mm moving up to 6mm wear layers for high end planks in the Prestige & De Marque Oak plank & parquetry ranges. Click install products are the most cost effective to install, any product requiring direct adhesive fix will generally require a bigger total budget due to material & labour cost.

Generally Laminate floors provide a hard robust surface to handle everyday household activity & pets. The surface coatings range from AC3 – AC5 with the higher number providing a tougher surface performance. Hybrid & Vinyl floors along with certain types of water-resistant laminate floors will have moisture resistant capabilities providing good all-round attributes for modern family living. The surface coating on Hybrid & Vinyl floors will not be as scratch resistant as a laminate product but will have good impact sound performance. Due to modern imaging technology, Laminate, Hybrid & Vinyl will display realistic timber decors that are almost like natural timber flooring but at a fraction of the price. Natural Timber flooring is considered a higher/luxury budget category however certain sizes can still meet the middle budget level. Price increases as the size, thickness and complexity of the product coating changes. Timber floors do require a higher level of personal involvement in terms of cleaning and general housekeeping duties however the wow factor offered by natural timber flooring is difficult to match from the other budget categories.

Both Hybrid & Vinyl Plank floors are considered Waterproof for interior use. The term supports localised topical spills and short-term moisture exposure from household accidents. These types of events usually occur from the surface or top of the planks; kitchen, laundry & bathroom spills are common areas where this can happen. Generally, incidental spills are cleaned up within a reasonable period of time avoiding any long-term visual or structural damage. 

What Waterproof doesn’t mean is that these products can be flooded or exposed to long-term sub-floor moisture excess without impacting the products shape and overall performance. Hybrid and Vinyl planks have a core construction that is largely inert, unlike timber planks the core has a very slow moisture vapour transmission capacity, therefore if the concrete slab or levelling compounds are not suitably dry or if extensive home flooding or building leaks have occurred the floor planks may be impacted by this moisture exposure. Slight cupping, twisting or delamination can arise because the excessive moisture remains trapped under the surface of the planks. In the case of exterior flooding harmful micro bacterial matter may be present therefore reuse will not be possible due to the hazardous nature of contaminants tracked in with the storm water. These events are not product warranty matters they are considered site related requiring your Building Insurer to cover the damage for rectification. 

It is vital the installer carries out sub-floor testing prior to install to make sure the site is ready and suitable for the product selected.  This is critically important for all new and old concrete slab installations as concrete will release moisture for a considerable period of time during the curing process. Older slabs can also prove problematic if the slab condition is porous, cracked or lacking in perimeter damp proofing.

In areas such as Bathrooms, Laundry and Powder Rooms you will need to confirm with local building regulations to determine if Hybrid or Vinyl Planks can be certified for installation in wet areas. Floating (Click) installations are generally not suitable for areas where topical wetting may occur, certain Vinyl Planks can be direct adhesive fixed to meet code requirements but floating floors are best suited to general living areas. It’s always best to get written confirmation from the retailer and installer prior to purchase.

Hybrid & Vinyl floors are  not a substitute for a waterproof membrane. Builders plastic is required to control moisture vapor from below the floor surface.

Our Hybrid products that contain a composite stone polymer core (Aspire & Easi-Plank) do not contain any harmful ‘Respirable Silica Dust’. An independent Australian Test Certificate is located in the resources download section. The products are safe for cutting & interior living environments.

Note; always wear Personnel Protection Equipment (PPE) when cutting & installing any flooring product.

It’s always wise to store a spare carton or two of the product just in case a little accident occurs or a small remodelling job eventuates.

Yes, it doesn’t matter if the wood based sub-floor is new or old, you need to fully sand the surface and pay special attention to the joins to remove any old coating or other site residues. This process helps adhesion for direct fix applications and makes sure that the surface is flat to allow for direct fix or floating installation methods.