Laminate, the budget-friendly all-rounder

8mm and 12mm boards with a particleboard core and a printed wood-look layer. It's our most affordable range and the most scratch-resistant floor we sell, which is why you'll see it in shopping centres and airports as well as homes. Most laminate doesn't cope well with standing water, but our AquaStep range (from $36.95/m²) is water-resistant enough for kitchens and busy living areas. Click-lock installation makes it one of the easiest DIY options.

Good fit if: you want the timber look on a tight budget and the room isn't prone to spills or moisture. Shop Laminate Flooring

Hybrid, tough and highly water-resistant

A stone-plastic composite (SPC) core makes hybrid far more stable and water-resistant than laminate or timber, so it handles kitchens, spills and busy households without swelling at the joints. It's firmer underfoot than vinyl, very durable, and click-locks together for straightforward DIY installation. Ranges run from a 6.5mm acoustic option through to 9 and 10.3mm premium boards. For a bathroom or anywhere water sits on the floor, vinyl is the safer choice.

Good fit if: you want one hard-wearing floor across most of the house and value durability as much as water resistance. Shop Hybrid Flooring

Vinyl, the only fully waterproof range

Thin, flexible planks in 3mm and 5mm, with a commercial-grade wear layer and an Ultra Clean Guard surface coat. Vinyl is the one range here that is genuinely waterproof, which is why it's the natural choice for bathrooms, laundries and rental properties. It's scratch-resistant, comfortable underfoot, and the easiest range to DIY since most boards are stick-down or glue-down. There's a herringbone option too if you want the pattern without the timber price.

Good fit if: the room gets wet, or you want the simplest floor to install yourself. Shop Vinyl Flooring

Engineered Timber, the premium real-wood option

A real timber veneer (European Oak or Australian Hardwood, including herringbone layouts) sits over a multi-ply base. It's the closest you'll get to solid timber, real wood grain and feel at a lower price and with easier upkeep, since boards are factory-prefinished. The multi-ply base makes it more stable than solid timber, but it's still wood, so keep it out of bathrooms and laundries.

Good fit if: you want genuine timber character and are furnishing a living or dining area, not a wet room. Shop Engineered Timber Flooring

Solid Timber, the floor you refinish rather than replace

18mm boards milled from a single piece of Australian hardwood and prefinished at the factory, in Blackbutt, Spotted Gum, Blue Gum and Jarrah. It's the only floor here that can be sanded back and re-coated, more than once, so a solid timber floor can be brought back to new decades later instead of being pulled up. It moves with humidity, isn't suited to wet areas, and needs professional installation over battens or plywood, which is why it sits at the top of the range.

Good fit if: you're in the home for the long haul and want a floor that can be refreshed rather than replaced. Shop Solid Timber Flooring

Bamboo, the hardest natural floor

14.3mm strandwoven bamboo, harder and more durable than most timber, with a distinctive grain and a range of finishes from Light Classic to Dark Carbonised. It's a fast-renewing, eco-friendly material rather than a synthetic one, but like timber it doesn't suit wet areas. Best installed professionally.

Good fit if: you want a natural, sustainable floor that can take heavy foot traffic. Shop Bamboo Flooring

Whichever range you land on, three things are worth sorting before you buy: how many square metres you actually need including wastage, what underlay the floor requires, and which trims finish it off at the doorways.

How to measure your area · Underlay range · Flooring trims · Flooring FAQs