Hybrid flooring is forgiving once it’s down, but it’s unforgiving about what it’s laid on. A click-lock SPC or RCB plank floats over the subfloor, which means every dip, hump, nail head and damp patch underneath will eventually telegraph through — as a creak, a popped joint, or a plank that flexes underfoot. The good news: prep is mostly common sense. This guide walks through the stages we use on real installs across our Sydney and Brisbane jobs.

1. Clear the room properly

Take everything out — furniture, appliances, rugs, doormats. Pull off skirting if you want a finish-trimmed look at the perimeter (most installers prefer this to using scotia). Take doors off their hinges so you can plane the bottoms once you know your final floor height. Hybrid plus underlay typically sits 7-9 mm above the existing subfloor, so doors almost always need a few millimetres trimmed.

2. Remove the existing floor

Whether you can lay over the top depends on what’s there. Carpet and underlay always come up. Floating laminate usually comes up. Tiles can stay if they’re sound, level and not drummy — but you’ll need to scarify the surface so the new floor sits flat. Glued-down vinyl or cork generally has to come off; a long-handled scraper or a heat gun does most of the work, and a chemical adhesive remover handles the residue.

If you’re laying onto a concrete slab — common in Australian ground-floor builds and apartments — the slab itself becomes your subfloor. We’ve covered the slab-specific considerations in detail in our guide to laying vinyl on a concrete floor, and the same principles apply to hybrid.

3. Inspect the subfloor and check moisture

Walk every square metre. You’re looking for cracks, holes, soft spots, loose boards, protruding fasteners, and any sign of damp. On timber subfloors, drive any proud nail heads or screws below the surface. On concrete, mark cracks wider than a hairline — they’ll need filling.

Moisture is the one most DIYers skip. Hybrid is waterproof on the wear side, but a slab releasing moisture from below can still cause issues with the underlay and the click joints. A simple plastic-sheet test (tape a 1 m square of plastic to the slab overnight; condensation underneath means the slab is still releasing moisture) is the bare minimum. For new slabs, give it the manufacturer’s recommended cure time before laying anything.

4. Patch and repair

Fill cracks and holes with a flexible patching compound rated for the substrate. On timber subfloors, replace any rotted or water-damaged sections rather than patching over them — a soft spot under a click floor will eventually become a squeak. Re-fix loose boards with screws (not nails) so they don’t work loose again under foot traffic.

5. Level the subfloor

This is the step that decides how your floor performs in five years. Hybrid manufacturers typically specify a tolerance of 3 mm over a 2 m straightedge. Anything outside that and you’ll get visible undulation and stressed joints. Use a long spirit level or a 2 m timber straightedge, mark the high and low spots, and treat them in the right order:

• High spots on concrete: grind down with a concrete grinder or diamond cup wheel.
• Low spots on concrete: fill with self-levelling compound, mixed and poured per the manufacturer’s spec.
• High spots on timber: sand or plane down.
• Low spots on timber: shim with packers or use a timber-rated levelling compound.

Self-levelling compound has to cure fully before you lay anything on top — usually 24 hours, longer in cold weather. Don’t shortcut this; trapping moisture under hybrid is a slow-burn problem.

6. Clean and acclimatise

Vacuum the entire floor — a broom alone leaves grit that will sit between underlay and subfloor and feel rough underfoot for the life of the floor. Wipe up any patching dust with a damp cloth and let it dry completely.

Then bring the boxes of hybrid into the room and leave them flat for at least 48 hours before installing. Hybrid is more dimensionally stable than laminate, but it still benefits from settling to the room’s temperature and humidity. Don’t stack the boxes on edge or lean them against a wall — the planks need to lie flat.

7. Plan the layout before you lay the first plank

Measure the room and dry-lay the first row to check that you won’t end up with a sliver-width plank against the far wall. Square the room with the 3-4-5 rule rather than trusting that the walls are parallel — they almost never are in older Australian homes. Leave the manufacturer-specified expansion gap around the perimeter and around any fixed object (kitchen islands, columns, hearths). Our expansion gap guide covers why this matters and what happens when it’s skipped.

When to call an installer

If your slab needs more than a thin skim of self-leveller, if there’s any sign of rising damp, or if you’re laying over a heated subfloor, get a professional installer to handle prep. The cost of a properly prepped subfloor is small compared to lifting a floor 18 months in because it was laid over an undulating slab.

If you’re still choosing your floor, the hybrid flooring brands guide covers the ranges we stock and which one suits which room. We’re happy to walk you through prep specifics in any of our showrooms before you commit.