Flooring in Singapore: Vinyl, Tile, Laminate and Overlay

Vinyl flooring: what the thickness number means

Vinyl flooring is sold by total thickness and, separately, by wear-layer thickness, and the wear layer is the number that predicts how it ages. A thicker plank feels more solid underfoot, but it is the wear layer that resists the scuffing from chair legs and sand tracked in from a corridor. TO FILL: vinyl flooring supply-and-install price by flat type

Subfloor condition decides everything

Vinyl is thin and takes the shape of whatever is under it. If the existing screed is uneven or the old tiles are hollow, the unevenness telegraphs through within months. Self-levelling compound or hacking and re-screeding is a condition question that should be answered on site, before a price is quoted.

Overlay or hack

Overlaying new tiles or vinyl over the existing floor avoids demolition cost, debris removal and the noise window that hacking imposes. The trade-offs are floor level — every threshold, door leaf and skirting has to absorb the added height — and the fact that you inherit whatever is underneath.

Tile, laminate and where each belongs

Tile remains the most forgiving choice for wet areas and for households that mop daily. Laminate is warmer underfoot than tile but unforgiving about standing water. Vinyl sits between them and is usually chosen for bedrooms and living areas in Singapore flats.

Hacking has a legal boundary and a time window

Removing existing floor finishes is noisy work, and HDB's guidance is explicit about when it may happen: general renovation works run 9am to 6pm Monday to Saturday with none on Sundays and public holidays, while noisy works including tile cutting are restricted to 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday (MyNiceHome). For a newly built BTO flat, HDB requires owners to wait three years before removing wall or floor finishes in the toilets.