The Ultimate South African Flooring Guide: Part 6
The Complete Accessories & Materials Guide
You have measured your rooms. You have calculated your wastage. Now comes the exciting part: bringing your vision to life.
Choosing your flooring is about more than just picking a beautiful plank. Whether you are installing Laminate, waterproof SPC, or Glue-Down LVT, the true success of your renovation lies in the finishing touches.
From the visual impact of your colour choice to the hidden technical materials—like subfloor primers, acoustic underlays, and precision profiles—that guarantee your floor's lifespan.
Here is your complete guide to the essential aesthetic and technical flooring accessories.
1. The Aesthetic Foundation: Choosing Your Floor Colour
Selecting the right colour and finish doesn't just match your furniture—it dictates the entire spatial atmosphere of your room.
✨ The Current Market Trend: Light and Airy
- Right now, both the global and South African flooring markets are heavily trending towards lighter, muted tones.
- Whitewashed woods, pale Scandinavian oaks, and soft, warm greys are dominating modern interior design.
- Why it works: Light colours reflect natural light exceptionally well. This creates an airy, expansive feel, making small, narrow, or dark rooms appear significantly larger.
🍂 The Highveld Dust Factor: Warm and Practical
- While light floors are trending, practicality often dictates choice in South Africa.
- In Gauteng and drier inland provinces, warm, mid-toned oaks (often called "honey" or "wheat" tones) remain consistently popular.
- Why it works: These natural mid-tones perfectly mask the inevitable winter dust, pet hair, and everyday footprints much better than stark white or very dark floors.
💡 The Golden Rule of Colour Selection
Never buy a floor based purely on a digital screen. Every computer monitor and smartphone display renders colour differently.
The Solution: Always order a physical sample. You must view the plank in your own home, under both your natural daytime sunlight and your artificial evening lighting, before committing to a full pallet.
2. Required Subfloor Accessories (The Non-Negotiables)
The type of floor you chose dictates exactly what goes underneath it to ensure a valid warranty.
🛑 FOR LAMINATE AND SPC (FLOATING FLOORS)
- Damp Proof Membrane (DPM): Any ground floor installation requires a DPM to protect against structural moisture.
- The Minimum Underlay Requirement: Laminate and unpadded SPC require an underlay for sound absorption and warranty compliance.
- Acoustic Upgrades: For multi-story buildings, we recommend a high-density acoustic rubber underlay to reduce footfall noise.
- The IXPE Advantage: IXPE is vastly superior to standard EVA foam because it does not crush over time and is inherently moisture-resistant.
✅ FOR LVT (GLUE-DOWN)
- Liquid Moisture Barrier: An absolute necessity if any subfloor moisture problems are identified prior to installing LVT.
- Self-Levelling Screed & Slush Primer: LVT requires a glass-smooth surface. You must apply a bonding primer followed by a cement-based smoothing compound.
- LVT Adhesive: A specialised high-tack vinyl adhesive is required to bond planks permanently to the cured screed.
3. Choosing Your Floor Profiles: MDF vs. Aluminium
Floor profiles are essential for covering expansion gaps, bridging height differences, and finishing exposed edges safely.
- 🏅 Aluminium Anodised/Powder-Coated: The industry choice. Highly durable, completely waterproof, and handles heavy traffic flawlessly.
- ⚠️ Laminated MDF: These feature a paper-wrapped finish. They are highly susceptible to moisture damage and often present colour-match issues.
- ⚖️ Aluminium Wood-Wrapped: A hybrid option that is more durable than MDF but carries similar colour-match challenges.
Skirting And Quarter Round White Pine
Skirtings & Quarter Rounds: Finishing the Perimeter
Skirting And Quarter Round White Pine
Skirtings (baseboards) hide the mandatory expansion gap left against the walls.
- Pine Skirtings (Painted White): The industry standard. Solid pine can be sanded down and repainted to match your walls perfectly.
- MDF Skirtings: These cannot be sanded or repainted and swell easily if exposed to moisture from mopping.
- Quarter Rounds (Beading): Used if you are keeping your existing skirtings. Always pin or glue them to the skirting, never to the floating floor!
5. Fitting Tools & Sealants: The Installation Kit
Having the correct tools prevents damage to the planks and ensures a professional finish.
🛠️ Essential Smaller Accessories:
- Coloured Silicone: Essential for neatly sealing gaps around door frames and finishing edges for LVT.
- Masking Tape: Critical for prepping the room before pouring self-levelling screed.
🔨 For Floating Floors:
- Spacers: To maintain the 10mm expansion gap.
- Tapping Block: Protects the locking tongue.
- Pull Bar: To pull final planks into place.
- Rubber Mallet: For securing planks gently.
- Cutting Saws: Jigsaw or Mitre saw for precise cuts.
🧰 For Glue-Down LVT:
- Gauge Rake: To spread screed to correct depth.
- Spiked Roller: To release air from wet screed.
- Spiked Shoes: To walk over wet compound.
- Notched Trowel: For spreading adhesive.
- Floor Roller: To press tiles into the glue.