Swan Grey HydroPro Water-Resistant Oak

How to DIY This Floor?

The easiest DIY floors are floating floors like this one! 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).

What tools do I need to DIY this type of floor?

The most important tools are:

• Drop Saw and / or Table Saw - to cut the floorboards and are available for $150 at most hardware stores, or you can borrow one.
• Ruler or Set Square - to measure how much you need to cut for the end planks near the walls.
• Pencil & Eraser - to draw the cutting lines when you reach the last planks of each row.

Other “nice-to-haves” include a DIY Flooring Kit (available at Floor venue), spirit levels, tape measures, safety equipment, and work gloves.

Pro installation tips

• Floor Levelling - the subfloor refers to what you intend to lay the flooring directly over and is often concrete slabs, plywood, yellow tongue or even existing floorboards. Proper subfloor preparation is very important and you should:
  • Clean the subfloor
  • Check subfloor evenness (to prevent creaking and long-term joint damage)
  
• Underlay - is typically a soft rubber or foam material that goes underneath the floor and provides noise protection. If you live in an apartment block, your strata may have acoustic underlay requirements that you must confirm before a project.
• Expansion Gaps - between the floor and the walls to allow for natural expansion and shrinkage due to temperature and moisture changes. Consider:
  • Plank Width - wider planks have more expansion and should be given a slightly bigger expansion gap within the range below.
  • Environmental Moisture - if relative humidity is high, we recommend increasing the expansion gap size.