The flooring journal
Good floors start with good questions.
Explore materials, sound and apartment living. Practical guides to help you choose well, plan carefully and understand the details.
Apartment flooring
Best flooring for apartments: quiet, finish and fit
Choose apartment flooring around sound, appearance, installation and scheme approval, with evidence to compare carpet, timber, laminate and hybrid.
Replacing apartment carpet with hard floors
Plan an apartment carpet replacement around approvals, acoustic evidence, floor height and installation details before choosing your hard floor.
Soundproof flooring
Why floorboards creak, click or sound hollow
Identify creaks, clicks and hollow sounds in a floating floor, record the symptoms, and prepare useful questions for an installer before arranging repairs.
Soundproof flooring: a quieter home, from the floor up
Understand impact and airborne noise, compare evidence for flooring and underlay, and plan the right next step for a quieter Australian home.
Acoustic flooring
Floating floors: choosing the right floor for your home
Understand floating floors, compare hybrid, laminate and engineered timber, and plan the underlay, acoustic evidence and details that suit your home.
Acoustic flooring: choosing a quieter floor
Understand acoustic flooring as a complete system, compare test evidence and choose useful next questions about the floor, underlay and building.
Acoustic hybrid flooring: beyond the star rating
Compare acoustic hybrid flooring by its complete test report, installation rules and strata requirements, with practical questions to ask before choosing.
Floating-floor expansion gaps: a considered edge detail
Plan floating-floor expansion gaps, skirtings and transitions without guessing a universal dimension or sacrificing the movement the floor requires.
Floating vs glue-down flooring: sound and the finished detail
Compare floating and glue-down flooring by the complete construction, acoustic evidence, preparation and room details before deciding how to install.
Can you lay hybrid flooring over tiles?
Check whether existing tiles can remain beneath hybrid flooring, including preparation, movement, finished height, moisture and apartment approval.
Hybrid vs engineered timber: choosing for the whole room
Compare hybrid with engineered timber through appearance, installation, acoustic evidence and future care, without assuming one floor is always quieter.
Hybrid vs laminate flooring: sound, finish and installation
Compare hybrid and laminate flooring through the details that matter at home: backing, moisture, acoustic evidence, room transitions and installation.
Hybrid vs vinyl flooring: start with the fixing method
Compare rigid-core hybrid with gluedown and loose-lay vinyl, including acoustic evidence, substrate preparation and the details that shape the finish.
Acoustic underlay
Acoustic underlay: the layer that deserves a closer look
Choose acoustic underlay by floor type, installation method and test evidence. Check thickness, moisture, star claims and strata approval before work.
Acoustic underlay for carpet: comfort with a clear specification
Choose carpet underlay for comfort, intended use and acoustic evidence. Understand AS 4288 classes, carpet labels, backing, stairs and strata records.
Acoustic underlay for hybrid flooring: getting the layers right
Check whether your hybrid floor permits extra underlay, how its backing was tested, and what to record for moisture, height and apartment approval.
Acoustic underlay for laminate flooring
Choose laminate underlay by board compatibility, moisture requirements and complete-system acoustic evidence, with practical checks before installation.
Regupol vs Damtec: comparing the complete systems
Compare Regupol and Damtec proposals through the specified floor, test construction, compatibility and installation scope before choosing an underlay.
Rubber acoustic underlay: choosing the right construction
Compare rubber acoustic underlay with foam and cork through system compatibility, tested construction, finished height and practical installation checks.
Acoustic underlay for tiles: sound, height and wet areas
Plan acoustic underlay beneath tiles with a complete floor detail. Check tile support, test evidence, waterproofing, thresholds and apartment approval.
Acoustic underlay for timber: a complete floor specification
Choose acoustic underlay for floating or bonded timber by checking the full system, moisture, fixing details, floor height and apartment test evidence.
Strata flooring rules
Strata flooring rules: a clear route to a considered floor
The NCC sets floor sound ratings for new buildings; your registered by-laws decide what you must do. Compare NSW, QLD and VIC rules and approval steps.
Choosing hard floors for an investment apartment
Plan hard flooring for a rental apartment around strata approval, tenant access, repair needs and a clear installation record for your manager.
Strata flooring rules in NSW: approval before installation
In NSW, a hard floor is a minor renovation under s 110 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015. You need approval, and your by-laws set the acoustic rating.
Body corporate flooring rules in Queensland
Queensland body corporate law sets no floor acoustic rating; your by-laws do. How approval works, what FIIC and L'nT,w mean, and what QCAT has decided.
Changing flooring in a South Australian unit
Check South Australian strata or community title rules before changing a unit floor, with practical guidance on evidence, approval and disputes.
Owners corporation flooring rules in Victoria
Victoria's model rules have no hard floor rule. Your owners corporation's registered rules set any acoustic standard, and VCAT decides disputes.
Changing flooring in a Western Australian strata home
Plan a WA strata flooring change with your registered by-laws, lot boundaries, acoustic evidence and written approval requirements in view.
Acoustic ratings
Flooring acoustic ratings explained: read the whole result
Read flooring acoustic ratings with confidence: laboratory and field results, IIC, impact sound levels, AAAC stars and the evidence a by-law needs.
What happens in a post-installation floor noise test?
Prepare for an apartment floor acoustic test: agree the criterion, arrange access, identify the tested construction and understand the report.