DIY Flooring Australia

The easiest DIY floors are floating floors! They click lock together and don't need glue or nails - they're super easy to install and if you make a mistake, you can simply un-click them and redo it. Floating floors include laminate floors, hybrid floors, bamboo floors and even engineered timber (if you are after real wood).

For the best and easiest click systems, look out for the floating floors with patented click-lock systems, most commonly the Unilin or Valinge systems. You can identify the authenticity of a patented click-lock system by the shiny stickers on every box!

Yes, ofcourse! It isn't difficult to install most floating floors, although it will take you some time. Floating floors are the most popular flooring in Australia in 2021 and are easy to DIY because they click-lock together.

For most rectangular rooms, the typical Aussie shouldn't have any issues installing the floors themselves, however, if you're dealing with stairs or if the rooms are not so "rectangle", you'll need some skill to measure and cut the floors to shape.

In any DIY installation, you will need a drop saw to ensure the planks are cut to size where the floors meet the walls.

If you choose to install a vinyl plank floor, it will take more time as you need to glue the planks to the subfloor. You won't need a dropsaw and you can even get away with carpenter's knife since the material is softer.

Depends on the type of floor and area - we wouldn't recommend DIYing solid timber glue and nail down floors as it requires some skill and experience.

However, with floating floors such as laminate, hybrid, bamboo and engineered timber, you'd get away with 30sqm per day! Thus, a typical 3 bedroom, living room and hallway installation that's 60sqm will take you 2 days to complete. If you DIY your floor in a duo, you could even get away with 50sqm a day.

Many Bunnings customers come to us for installation services. Our honest review of Bunnings flooring (Floor Select, Hanwood brands) are they reasonable value for money and only suitable for budget purchasers. The issues we've found are:

• Their click lock systems aren't industry standard and are difficult to install.
• They tend to be thinner than industry standards e.g. 5mm vs 6.5mm+ for hybrid vs 8mm vs 12.3mm+ for laminates, making them less solid underfoot and less durable.
• Bunnings has a very small selection of colours and styles.

Overall, Bunnings provides a decent budget selection of floors and may be suitable for DIY customers on a budget.

The cheapest DIY flooring would be a thin laminate flooring - typically around 8mm.

At FloorVenue, you can find the cheapest DIY laminate flooring for $20 / sqm + GST such ash the Luxflor 8mm laminate flooring range.

If you're after a waterproof option or if you're installing upstairs or in a unit with acoustic requirements from your strata, you can consider a Marvel SPC hybrid floor that's just $35 / sqm + GST. It comes with a 6 Star Acoustic Underlay - one that will pass almost any strata noise requirements. Find a better price elsewhere? We'll beat it!

No, it's not that hard. For beginners to floating flooring installations, you'll have to put in 2-3 hours of research, 2-3 hours of tool shopping, and you can get to work. It'll take you likely 2 - 3 days to install a typical house of 3 bedrooms, 1 living room and 2 hallways. However, if you're willing to put in the time and the effort (it will be a workout), you'll be able to DIY your own floors.

TLDR: You'll save $1200 - 1500 DIYing your floor based on a 60sqm area.

In Australia, floating floor installations typically cost $25 - $30 / sqm. Assuming a 60sqm area, you'd save $1500 - $1800 AUD.

However, you have to account for the tools e.g. Dropsaw ($150 - $200), DIY Kit ($50) - includes Mallet, tapping blocks, pull bars, spacers and others - let's assume $300 in total tool costs (if you don't have them already).

Thus, you'd be saving $1200 - $1500 if you're installing your own floating floor.

The largest tools you'll need are a drop saw and table saw, where basic ones will cost $100 - $200 from a local tool shop (or you can borrow one).

The rest are simple and come in a Flooring DIY KIT - a tapping block, rubber mallet or hammer, pull bar, spacers. To make your life even easier, you can use a set square, pencil, eraser and tape measure.

For skirting, you'll need a nail gun, drop saw or a table saw, pencil, set square and a tape measure.

All up, laminate flooring is the easiest to install, followed closely by hybrid flooring. As vinyl planks require a glue-down installation, they are a little more difficult than the first two floating floor counterparts.

1. Laminate flooring is the easiest floating floor to install out of the three, as their click-lock systems tend to be slightly easier to use compared to hybrid floors.
2. Hybrid flooring is similar to laminate flooring as it is laid as a floating floor and usually comes with pre-attached underlayment which saves you the hassle of laying them separately. Hybrid options also require a relatively flat subfloor.
3. Vinyl flooring on the other hand requires glue, which is both more expensive and more difficult to get right. Furthermore, they require a very even subfloor, which could incur levelling on top of installing.

The first step is to identify which type of floor you have, since there are different methods of installation. The three types are:

1. Floating Flooring - Floating floors are very DIY friendly and require no glue or nails, since they utilise a click-lock system which relies on gravity and friction. We have a Complete guide on installing floating flooring.
2. Direct-Stick - Also known as 'glue down', this involves using timber glue to directly stick the flooring onto the subfloor. Vinyl planks and sometimes engineered or solid timber will use this method of installation.
3. Nails & Glue - Only solid timber and thicker engineered floors (>14mm) use nails and glue. This is the most complex installation method and also the most expensive if you were to hire a professional.

When installing flooring, always start from the corners on one side of the room (usually left) and slowly progress towards the other side. Be sure to always leave an expansion gap (usually 10mm) between the walls and flooring. This accounts for the natural expansion which floors undergo during temperature and moisture changes.

Starting from the wall and using spacers will allows you to lay the first row of planks straight. The magic about floating floors is that the click-lock system will not engage unless the rows are completely straight. This makes them very easy to install.

Yes, direction is definitely important. Try to lay the flooring parallel to the hallways, lighting and longest direction in any room. This makes your space look less cramped and more spacious. If you had to choose a direction, prioritise the hallway direction first.