Timber flooring installation
Engineered oak, solid hardwood, hybrid and vinyl plank — measured, moisture-tested, acclimatised and installed to the manufacturer’s specification.
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Hybrid, SPC and luxury vinyl plank flooring
Waterproof, hard-wearing and quieter underfoot than laminate — the sensible answer for wet areas, rentals, holiday houses and anywhere with kids and dogs.
Hybrid flooring is a rigid core — usually stone-plastic composite, hence SPC — with a printed decorative layer and a clear wear layer on top, often with acoustic underlay already bonded to the back. It is genuinely waterproof rather than water-resistant, which is the practical difference that matters in a Sydney kitchen or a beach house that gets wet feet all summer.
It is not timber and we will not pretend it is. What it is, is the right product for a large number of the jobs we quote — and specifying timber where hybrid belongs is a good way to make a client unhappy in three years.
When hybrid is the better call
We recommend it without hesitation in these situations.
Good fits
- Kitchens, laundries, and anywhere a dishwasher could one day leak.
- Investment properties and holiday rentals, where a floor has to survive tenants and be replaced in sections if damaged.
- Slab-on-ground ground floors with any history of moisture.
- Homes with large dogs, where a timber floor will scratch and a hybrid will not.
- Apartments where a pre-attached acoustic backing helps meet the building’s by-law.
What to look at when comparing products
The number that determines how long the floor looks new is the wear layer, measured in millimetres or mils — not the total board thickness the marketing leads with. A 0.3mm wear layer is a residential product; 0.5mm and above starts to be commercially rated. Core density decides how well it resists denting under furniture legs, and whether it telegraphs small imperfections in the subfloor.
Pre-attached acoustic backing is worth paying for in apartments, but check the tested rating rather than trusting the words on the box — see our apartment and strata page for what those numbers actually have to be in NSW.
At a glance
| Construction | Rigid SPC or WPC core, printed decor layer, clear wear layer |
|---|---|
| Water resistance | Fully waterproof core; suits kitchens, laundries and wet-prone areas |
| Wear layer | 0.3mm residential; 0.5mm+ for commercial and heavy traffic |
| Fixing | Floating click system over the pre-attached or separate underlay |
| Also covered | Laminate and loose-lay luxury vinyl plank |
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Questions
Common questions
What is the difference between hybrid, laminate and vinyl plank?
Laminate has a fibreboard core that swells permanently if water gets into it. Vinyl plank is fully flexible and needs a very flat subfloor because it telegraphs everything underneath. Hybrid sits between them: a rigid waterproof stone-plastic core with a vinyl wear surface, so it tolerates water like vinyl but stays dimensionally stable and spans minor subfloor imperfections like laminate.
Is hybrid flooring good for apartments?
It is one of the two products we most often recommend for apartments, alongside floating engineered oak. Many hybrid ranges come with acoustic underlay pre-attached, and the rigid core handles the slab well. What matters is the tested impact-sound rating of the completed system against your building’s by-law, not the fact that a backing exists. We check the tested figure before recommending anything.
Can hybrid flooring be laid over existing tiles?
Usually yes, provided the tiles are sound, well adhered and reasonably flat. Grout lines up to a few millimetres are generally fine because the rigid core bridges them, though deep or wide joints may need filling first. It saves the substantial cost and mess of tile removal. We check for drummy tiles and level tolerance at the measure.
Does hybrid flooring scratch?
It resists scratching considerably better than timber, which is the main reason we recommend it for households with large dogs. It is not indestructible — dragging furniture without felt pads will still mark it, and grit tracked in from outside is abrasive over time. Unlike timber, a scratched hybrid plank cannot be sanded out, but individual planks can usually be replaced.
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Apartment & strata flooring
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Read moreEngineered oak flooring
The most specified floor in Sydney right now, and for good reason — real timber wear layer, far more dimensional stability than solid, and it suits apartments.
Read moreFree measure & quote
Get a quote for hybrid, spc & vinyl plank
Free on-site measure, itemised written quote, and the exclusions stated plainly.
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