How Long Does Flooring Installation Take?

The short answer

How long flooring installation takes is one of the first things people ask at a free measure, usually because they need to plan around work, children, pets, tenants or a move. For most Gold Coast homes the answer is one to two days for the main areas, with carpet often finished in a single day.

The time on site depends far less on the square metres than on what has to happen before the new floor goes down. Laying the floor itself is usually the quickest part. Lifting the old floor, cleaning off adhesive, grinding high spots and levelling low spots is what decides whether a job takes one day or three. That is why an honest timeframe can only be given after someone has looked at your existing floor.

Typical timeframes by floor type

These are typical ranges for an occupied home with normal preparation. They assume the product is on site, the rooms are accessible and the subfloor only needs routine work. Your quote will give a timeframe for your actual job.

• Carpet: three or four bedrooms is usually completed in one day, including removal of the old carpet and underlay, new underlay and trims at doorways.
• Carpet on stairs: adds part of a day, because each tread and riser is measured, cut and fitted individually.
• Hybrid flooring: a typical open-plan living, dining and kitchen area usually takes one to two days. A whole single-level home can take two to three days.
• Click vinyl plank: similar to hybrid, usually one to two days for an open-plan area, though the slab often needs more preparation because vinyl plank is thinner and shows imperfections.
• Glue-down vinyl plank and sheet vinyl: allow extra time for slab preparation and adhesive, and for the floor to settle before heavy use. Commercial areas are often staged.
• Engineered timber: pre-finished boards for a typical living area can often be installed in one to two days, after the boards have acclimatised.
• Solid timber: takes the longest. Boards need to acclimatise and the fixing method is slower, and boards that are not pre-finished need finishing in place afterwards, which adds several more days.

What happens on installation day

Knowing the order of work makes the timeframe easier to understand. Most jobs follow the same sequence, whatever the floor:

On a one-day carpet job all of this happens in a single visit. On a hard floor job where the slab needs levelling, the first day is often removal and preparation, and the new floor goes down once the compound is dry enough for the product.

• Protection and access: the work area and paths through the home are checked and protected.
• Removal: the old carpet, underlay, smooth edge, vinyl or floating floor is lifted and taken away. Removal of the old floor is included in our quotes.
• Subfloor preparation: staples, adhesive and debris are cleared, high spots are ground, and low spots or uneven areas are filled with levelling compound.
• Installation: underlay and the new floor are laid, with expansion gaps for floating floors and cuts around doors, cabinetry and fixed objects.
• Trims and finishing: transitions at tiled areas and doorways, scotia or skirting details, and stair nosings where needed.
• Clean-up and walkthrough: offcuts are cleared, the floor is checked, and you get care instructions and advice on when furniture can go back.

Subfloor preparation: the biggest variable

Every hybrid, vinyl plank, timber and carpet product has installation requirements, and for hard floors the most important one is flatness. A floor that is out of tolerance can flex, click, peak or open up at the joins later, so the preparation is not something to rush.

A slab that only needs a light scrape and vacuum adds very little time. Grinding ridges, filling dips with levelling compound or flood coating a whole area adds more, because the compound has to dry before the new floor can be laid. Drying times depend on the product, the thickness poured, the temperature and the humidity, and on the Gold Coast humid weather can slow drying in summer. Where a full flood coat is needed, the new floor is often laid the next day rather than the same day.

Removing old tiles adds the most time of all. It is noisy and dusty, it produces a lot of waste, and the slab underneath usually needs grinding and levelling once the tiles are off. That is one reason laying over sound, well-bonded tiles is often quicker. Our guide to laying flooring over tiles explains when that works and when the tiles should come up.

At Streatfield Flooring, removal of the old floor, subfloor preparation and levelling, stairs and trims are included in the fixed written quote after we check your floor at the free in-home measure, so the time and the cost of preparation are known before the job is booked rather than discovered on the day.

Stairs, doorways and the details that take time

Stairs take longer per square metre than any other part of the house. Every step is a separate surface that is measured, cut and fitted on its own, and hard-floor stairs need a nosing on every tread. Winders, open sides and curved stairs take the most care. A straight staircase can add a few hours to a carpet job, and more to a hybrid or timber job.

Other details also add time without adding much area: trimming internal doors so they open over the new floor, finishing neatly at sliding doors and thresholds, working around kitchen islands and built-in cabinetry, and transitions to bathrooms and laundries that keep their tiles. None of these are unusual, but they are why two jobs of the same size can take different amounts of time.

Glue-down vinyl, sheet vinyl and commercial jobs

Glue-down vinyl plank and sheet vinyl are bonded to the slab, so they need a smoother, cleaner surface than a floating floor. Preparation often includes grinding, priming and a full flood coat, and the adhesive has its own working time and curing time set by the manufacturer. Heavy furniture and rolling loads are usually kept off the floor for a period after installation.

In shops, offices and other commercial spaces, the timeframe is planned around the business. Larger areas are often installed in stages so part of the space can keep operating, and the order of work is agreed before the job starts. Our commercial flooring page explains how staged installation works.

Timber: acclimatising before installation

Timber is a natural material that takes up and releases moisture, so boards are normally delivered and left to acclimatise in the home before they are laid, as set out in the manufacturer's instructions. This happens before installation day and does not usually affect how long the installers are on site, but it does affect when the job can be scheduled after delivery.

Pre-finished engineered timber is ready to walk on soon after installation. Solid timber takes longer to install, and boards that are finished in place need several more days before the finish is complete. If timing is tight, engineered timber is usually the quicker timber option. Our engineered vs solid timber guide compares the two in more detail.

Apartments, units and body corporate rules

Apartment jobs on the Gold Coast often take longer than the same area in a house, for reasons that have nothing to do with the floor. Body corporate by-laws commonly set the hours when noisy work is allowed, lifts may need to be booked and protected, and materials and waste have to be carried through common areas. Many buildings also require approval for hard flooring and an acoustic underlay that meets the building's impact sound requirements, and that approval has to be in place before work starts.

A typical apartment can usually be completed in one to two days, depending on the area, the preparation needed and the product. Check your building's rules early, because approval is often the longest part of the timeline. Our apartment flooring and acoustic rules guide covers what to ask your body corporate.

When can you walk on the floor and move furniture back?

Carpet can be walked on as soon as it is laid, and furniture can go back the same day. Floating hybrid, click vinyl plank and floating engineered timber can usually be walked on straight away, and furniture can go back once the installation is finished, using felt pads under the legs and lifting heavy items into place rather than dragging them.

Glue-down products are different. The adhesive needs time to cure, so follow the manufacturer's guidance before putting heavy furniture or appliances back, and keep rolling loads such as office chairs off the floor until the adhesive has set. Floors finished in place need the longest wait. Your installer should tell you exactly when each room can be used again before they leave.

How to keep your installation on schedule

Most delays are avoidable. A little preparation on your side helps the job finish within the expected timeframe:

• Read your quote and confirm what is included, especially removal, preparation, stairs, trims and whether furniture moving is part of the job.
• Clear small items, decorations and anything fragile from the rooms before the day. If furniture moving is not included, move it out or agree a plan beforehand.
• Empty wardrobe floors, under-bed storage and the bottom of linen cupboards in the work area.
• Make sure there is clear access and parking close to the house for removal of the old floor and delivery of the new one.
• Arrange somewhere for pets to stay away from the work area, and plan for children to be out of the way while tools are in use.
• In apartments, get body corporate approval and book the lift before the installation date.
• Tell us at the measure about any deadline, such as a move-in date, a tenant starting a lease or guests arriving, so it can be planned for.

Planning around moving house, rentals and holidays

If you are moving house, the easiest time to install new flooring is before the furniture arrives, when the rooms are empty and the job can run without interruption. Allow a margin between settlement and the move-in date in case the slab needs more preparation than expected.

For rental properties, carpet between tenants is usually a one-day job, and hard floors in a vacant property can be scheduled with less disruption than in an occupied home. For holiday lets, plan the installation around bookings and allow time for any glue-down product to cure before guests arrive. Our guides to rental and holiday-let flooring cover product choices for each.

Getting an accurate timeframe for your home

The only way to get a reliable timeframe is to have your existing floor checked. At a free in-home measure, our mobile showroom brings samples to your home, we measure the areas, look at what is under your current flooring and check the subfloor, stairs and transitions. You then get a fixed written quote with the expected timeframe, covering removal of the old floor, subfloor preparation and levelling, stairs and trims, with no travel fees anywhere from Coomera to Tweed Heads.

Streatfield Flooring is a family-owned flooring company based in Mudgeeraba that has been supplying and installing carpet, hybrid, vinyl plank, timber and commercial flooring on the Gold Coast since 1994.