Timber Flooring Installation in Perth: Step-by-Step Process and Timeline

Quick answer: A typical timber flooring installation in a Perth home takes 3 to 7 working days from strip-out to finished floor. That breaks down as about a day to remove the old floor, 1 to 3 days to grind, test and level the slab, and 2 to 3 days to lay the boards, trims and skirting. Pre-finished boards can be walked on the next day.

Most people only have a new floor laid once or twice in their lives. So it's normal not to know what happens between signing a quote and walking barefoot across new boards. Who turns up? How much mess is there? Can you stay in the house?

This guide walks through a timber flooring installation the way it happens on a real Perth job at Nulook Timber Flooring, from the first phone call to handover. It's based on a typical engineered floor glued to a concrete slab, because that's what most Perth homes have.

The Whole Job at a Glance

Stage	What happens	Typical time (60–100 m²)
1. Consult and measure	Room sizes, moisture check, product choice	1 hour on site
2. Quote and ordering	Fixed written quote, boards ordered	1–3 weeks lead time
3. Strip-out	Old tiles, carpet or boards lifted and removed	0.5–2 days
4. Slab preparation	Grinding, moisture testing, levelling	1–3 days
5. Laying the floor	Boards glued or floated, cuts around doorways	2–3 days
6. Finishing	Skirting, trims, stair nosings, clean-up	0.5–1 day
7. Handover	Walk-through and care instructions	30 minutes

The laying itself is the quick part. The prep before it is what decides how the floor looks and sounds in ten years.

Step 1: The Consult and On-Site Measure

Everything starts at your place, not in a showroom. Floors look different in your light, next to your cabinets, with your wall colours. So we bring samples to you.

At the measure, we:

• Measure every room, including robes, hallways and the odd corners that eat boards
• Check what's on the floor now (tiles, carpet, vinyl, old timber) and how it's stuck down
• Test the slab's moisture with a meter
• Look at door heights, sliding door tracks and where the new floor will meet tiled wet areas
• Talk through how you live: kids, dogs, afternoon sun, how long you plan to stay

That last point matters more than people expect. A family with two Labradors and a west-facing living room needs different advice from a retired couple in a shaded townhouse. If you're still deciding between product types, read our engineered vs hybrid flooring guide before the measure.

Step 2: The Quote, and Ordering Your Boards

You should get a written quote that lists materials, prep and labour separately. Ours is fixed, so the price doesn't creep up once the job starts. It should also name the exact product: brand, species, board width and wear layer thickness.

Once you approve it, boards are ordered. Stocked ranges usually arrive within a week or two. Imported or special-order boards (wide European oak, herringbone) can take longer. This is the part of the timeline people forget, so if you're working towards a date like Christmas or a house sale, book early.

For price ranges before you get a quote, see our Perth timber flooring cost guide.

Step 3: Strip-Out

Day one on site is usually the noisiest.

Carpet comes up quickly, along with underlay, tack strips and staples. Tiles are slower. They're broken up, bagged and carted away, and the adhesive underneath is still stuck to the slab. Old floating floors lift out in an hour or two. Glued timber or vinyl takes much longer.

We bring dust extraction and seal off doorways, but strip-out is still messy. Take pictures off the walls in the rooms being done, and move anything fragile out.

One thing to know about older Perth homes: vinyl tiles, sheet vinyl and some underlays laid before about 1990 can contain asbestos. If there's any doubt, the material gets tested before anyone breaks it up. That's a non-negotiable step, not an upsell.

Step 4: Slab Preparation (the Part You Never See)

This is where good and average installations split apart.

Grinding

A diamond grinder takes off old adhesive, paint, high spots and the weak top layer of concrete. The adhesive for the new floor needs clean, sound concrete to grip. Laying over old tile glue is one of the most common causes of boards lifting later.

Moisture testing

Concrete holds water, and timber soaks it up from below. Damp slabs cause cupping (boards curling up at the edges) and adhesive failures. We test before laying, and if readings are high, we use a moisture-barrier primer or adhesive. The ATFA's consumer site, Floor Choices, explains why moisture control matters for timber.

Levelling

Most manufacturers want no more than about 3 mm of variation under a 3 m straight edge. Plenty of Perth slabs miss that, especially once tiles come up. Low spots get filled with self-levelling compound, which needs time to cure before boards go down.

Prep can take anywhere from half a day on a good slab to three days on a bad one. Our guide to installing timber flooring over concrete goes into more detail.

Step 5: Laying the Floor

Now the boards go down. On a slab, there are two main methods:

• Glue-down (direct stick): boards are glued straight to the slab with a flexible flooring adhesive. It feels solid, sounds quiet and adds little height. This is our usual method for engineered timber flooring in Perth.
• Floating: boards click together over an underlay and moisture barrier, without being fixed to the slab. Faster, and the standard method for hybrid.

Older homes with suspended timber floors on joists sometimes suit a third method, nailing. Our guide to floating vs glue-down vs nail-down floors compares all three.

A few things happen during laying that most people never notice:

• The layout is planned first. Boards usually run the length of the main living area, towards the main light source. The installer works out where the first row starts so the last row isn't a thin sliver against a wall.
• Boards are mixed from several boxes. Timber varies in colour. Pulling from three or four boxes at once stops you ending up with a dark patch in one corner.
• Expansion gaps are left at the edges. Timber moves with humidity, especially through Perth's dry summers. A gap of around 10–15 mm is hidden under the skirting.
• Door frames are undercut. Rather than scribing boards around architraves, the frames are trimmed so boards slide underneath. It's cleaner and looks more professional.

For 60–100 m², laying usually takes two to three days. Herringbone and chevron patterns take roughly twice as long.

Step 6: Skirting, Trims and Stairs

Once the floor's down, the edges get finished. New skirting covers the expansion gap. Trims sit where the timber meets tiles, carpet or sliding doors. If you have stairs, matching treads and nosings are fitted to carry the floor up without a colour break. See our timber staircases work for examples.

Then the site is vacuumed, boxes and offcuts are taken away, and the floor is wiped down.

Step 7: Handover and the First Few Weeks

We walk through the floor with you, check any small touch-ups, and go through aftercare. With pre-finished boards:

• Walking: you can walk on the floor carefully the next day.
• Furniture: move it back in with felt pads on every leg, lifted, never dragged.
• Rugs: hold off for a week or two while the adhesive fully cures.
• Cleaning: a dry microfibre mop only for the first week.

How Long Does Timber Flooring Installation Take?

Putting it together for a typical Perth home of 60–100 m²:

• Carpet to engineered timber, good slab: about 3–4 working days
• Tiles to engineered timber, average slab: about 5–7 working days
• Hybrid over a flat slab after carpet removal: about 2–3 working days
• Solid boards sanded and coated on site: add 3–5 days for sanding and coats

These are realistic ranges, not best cases. Weather, slab condition and access (apartments with small lifts, double-storey carry-ins) all shift the timeline.

Does the Season Matter in Perth?

A little. Timber takes up moisture from the air in damp weather and gives it back in dry weather. The WoodSolutions Timber Flooring design guide says an 80 mm board moves about 0.25 mm for every 1% change in moisture content. Floors laid in a humid winter week will shrink a touch in February, and floors laid in a dry heatwave will swell a touch in July.

That's why expansion gaps matter more than the date on the calendar. A floor laid with the right gaps and moisture checks can go down any month of the year. The two things we do adjust for are very hot days, when adhesives and levelling compounds can go off too fast, and cold, wet spells, when levelling compounds take longer to cure.

Can You Stay Home During Installation?

Usually, yes, for pre-finished floors. We work room by room where possible, so you keep a kitchen and a bathroom. The loudest days are strip-out and grinding. If the whole ground floor of a single-storey home is being done in one go, some families stay elsewhere for two or three nights, mainly to avoid living out of a bedroom.

Pets are a different story. Dogs and cats get stressed by grinders and strangers coming in and out. A few days at a friend's place or a boarding kennel makes it easier on everyone.

Our homeowner's checklist for getting ready for new floors covers what to move, what to book and what to tell the kids.

What Does Timber Flooring Installation Cost?

As a rough guide for Perth in 2026, installed engineered timber runs about $94–$210 per m², typically around $145 (What's the Damage Perth cost table). Strip-out, levelling, skirting and stairs are extra. Our detailed engineered timber flooring cost guide breaks down supply, labour and extras line by line.

Why One Team for the Whole Job Matters

On a lot of flooring jobs, one crew does the strip-out, another grinds the slab and a third lays the boards. Each hand-off is a chance for something to slip. The layer crew blames the prep, the prep crew blames the slab, and you're stuck in the middle.

Nulook Timber Flooring uses one in-house team from strip-out to finished floor, with professional systems from Bona, Pallmann, Sika, Uzin, Wakol and Wolff. The same people who ground the slab are the ones who glue the boards to it, so they care about getting it right.

Book Your Free Measure

Every installation starts the same way: a free on-site measure, a moisture check and a fixed written quote. Have a look at how our process works, then book your measure or call 0405 821 884.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does timber flooring installation take?

For a typical Perth home of 60 to 100 square metres, timber flooring installation takes about 3 to 7 working days. That includes strip-out, slab preparation, laying and finishing. Removing tiles and levelling the slab add the most time.

What are the steps to install timber flooring on a concrete slab?

Remove the old floor, grind the slab clean, test it for moisture, level any low spots, then glue or float the boards. Finish with skirting, trims and stair nosings. Skipping the prep steps is the main cause of floor problems later.

Can I stay in my house while timber floors are installed?

Usually, yes, for pre-finished boards. Work is often done room by room, so you keep a kitchen and bathroom. Strip-out and grinding are noisy, and pets are usually better off elsewhere for a few days.

How soon can I walk on new timber floors?

With pre-finished engineered or solid boards, you can walk on the floor carefully the next day. Put felt pads on furniture before moving it back, and wait one to two weeks before laying rugs.

Do timber floorboards need to acclimatise before installation?

Most modern Australian timber flooring is made to 10 to 11 percent moisture content and doesn't need long acclimatisation in typical homes. Installers should still check board and slab moisture before laying.

Do I need to remove tiles before installing timber flooring?

For glue-down engineered timber, yes, in most cases. Tiles are removed and the slab ground back to clean concrete. Some floating floors can go over flat, well-bonded tiles, but this raises the floor height.

Why is slab preparation so important?

Timber needs a flat, dry, clean base. Uneven slabs cause hollow sounds and movement, damp slabs cause cupping, and old adhesive stops new glue bonding. Good prep is what makes a floor last.

Which direction should timber floorboards run?

Boards usually run along the length of the main living area, often towards the main window or light source. In long hallways, running boards lengthways makes the space feel longer and more open.

How much does timber flooring installation cost in Perth?

In 2026, installed engineered timber in Perth typically costs about $94 to $210 per square metre. Strip-out, slab levelling, skirting and stairs are usually quoted as extras.

Who installs the floor at Nulook Timber Flooring?

Nulook Timber Flooring uses one in-house team for the whole job, from strip-out and slab preparation to laying, skirting and finishing, so there are no hand-offs between separate trades.