Hybrid flooring over tiles, concrete and floorboards

Hybrid flooring is laid as a floating floor. The planks click together and rest on the subfloor, which is the floor under your new floor. So every job starts with one question: what is that floor, and can it stay? In November 2026 we read the installation instructions of 12 suppliers of hybrid flooring. In short: tiles can stay in most cases. A concrete slab and a timber floor are normal subfloors. Each must be flat, dry and solid. Carpet is removed. The numbers differ from supplier to supplier. Your own floor comes with its own installation instructions. Follow those.

Can you lay hybrid flooring over tiles?

In most cases, yes. 10 of the 12 suppliers name tiles as a floor that the planks can go over, or as a kind of subfloor. The other 2 give a rule for the joints between tiles, and say no more about tiles.

The suppliers ask for the same kinds of things. The numbers are not the same.

• The tiles are firmly fixed, and no tile is loose. 6 suppliers state this in plain words.
• The floor is flat, clean and dry.
• The grout lines are not too wide or too deep. Grout lines are the filled joints between the tiles. The next part shows the limits.

One supplier adds that the tiles must be level with each other.

A floor laid over tiles sits higher than before. Doors may need to be shortened, and the edge to the next room gets a strip. Our guide to hybrid flooring trims and stairs explains these strips.

Grout lines: how wide and how deep

The planks need a flat base. A wide or deep grout line leaves a hollow under the planks. All 12 suppliers give a rule for grout lines. This list shows the biggest grout line that each supplier allows without filling it.

• 3 mm: 5 suppliers. Four of them state 3 mm for the width and for the depth. One states 3 mm for gaps such as grout lines.
• 3 mm wide and 2 mm deep: 1 supplier.
• 2 mm deep: 3 suppliers. One of them adds 5 mm wide, one adds 2 mm wide, and one gives the depth only.
• 5 mm wide or deep: 1 supplier.
• 1 mm wide and 1 mm deep: 1 supplier.
• By the thickness of the plank: 1 supplier. It also states a levelling layer of at least 3 mm over the tiles before its 6 mm planks.

10 suppliers add what to do with a grout line above the limit: fill it level with the tiles. 2 give the limit only. 4 suppliers state that a filler or levelling compound must be completely dry before the floor is laid.

How to lay hybrid flooring over tiles

1. Check the tiles. Loose tiles are fixed or replaced.
2. Measure the grout lines: how wide and how deep they are. Compare them with the limit in the instructions of your floor.
3. Fill the grout lines that are above the limit, level with the tiles. Let the filler dry.
4. Check that the whole floor is flat, against the limit in your instructions.
5. Clean the floor.
6. Lay the plastic film, if your instructions ask for it.
7. Lay the planks as a floating floor, with a gap at every wall. Our guide How to lay hybrid flooring shows these steps.

Laying hybrid flooring on concrete

All 12 suppliers give rules for a concrete subfloor. The slab must be dry, flat and clean.

• Dry. 7 suppliers state a limit of 75 or 80 per cent relative humidity. Relative humidity is a measure of the moisture in the slab, read with a test tool. 3 more state a different limit or test, and 2 give no number.
• Flat. All 12 state how flat the subfloor must be. The limits differ, for example 2 mm over 1 metre or 3 mm over 3 metres. 4 suppliers say how a subfloor is made flat: high spots are ground or sanded down, and low spots are filled, for example with a levelling compound. A levelling compound is a cement mix that is spread over the floor to make it flat.
• Clean. Some suppliers name old glue, paint, wax and oil. These come off before the floor is laid.

A plastic film on the slab is a moisture barrier. 8 of the 12 suppliers state a film, or another damp-proof layer, on concrete. 4 of them state it on every concrete subfloor. The other 4 state it where the moisture was not tested or where the reading is too high. Our guide How to lay hybrid flooring lists the flatness limits and the film rules.

How long a new concrete slab must dry

A new slab holds a lot of moisture. 3 of the 12 suppliers state how long a new slab must wait before the floor is laid.

• At least 60 days: 1 supplier. It writes that the concrete must cure for this time. Cured means that the concrete has set and hardened.
• At least 1 week for each centimetre of slab thickness, up to 4 cm: 1 supplier. Above 4 cm, each centimetre needs twice as long. Its example: a slab of 6 cm must dry at least 8 weeks. This supplier adds that these times are only a guide, because drying depends on the weather and on the air flow in the building.
• As a guide, one month for each 25 mm of slab, up to 50 mm, and more time above that: 1 supplier.

1 more supplier states that the concrete must be cured and completely dry, and gives no time.

Waiting does not show that a slab is dry. One supplier adds that a slab that is many years old is not always a dry slab. So a moisture test is still needed.

Laying hybrid flooring over floorboards

A timber floor can be the subfloor too. All 12 suppliers name timber subfloors in their instructions. A timber subfloor is made of floorboards, or of sheets such as plywood and particleboard.

• Solid. 8 suppliers state that there must be no loose boards or loose parts. Most say how: they are nailed, screwed or fixed down again. One supplier adds that a new floor does not stop the squeaks of the floor under it.
• Dry. 8 suppliers state a moisture limit for timber. 6 name 14 per cent as the limit, and 2 of the 6 write it as 10 to 14 per cent. 1 states below 10 per cent. 1 states 8 per cent, or 10 per cent if the floor had a covering before. The other 4 give no number.
• Flat. 5 suppliers name sanding for a timber subfloor, to make it flat and smooth. 3 name a layer of rigid sheets over the boards, such as plywood or hardboard.
• Air under the floor. 5 suppliers say that a timber subfloor needs ventilation. This means that air can flow in the space under it.

Suppliers do not agree on a plastic film over timber. 3 state a film under every floor. 2 state a plastic sheet over rough subfloors such as particleboard, so that the back of the planks does not catch on them. One of the 2 states it for particleboard and for strip timber floors. 1 says the opposite: a damp-proof film should not go over a wooden subfloor, so that the wood can breathe.

Old vinyl, laminate and carpet

• Vinyl and linoleum. 8 of the 12 suppliers name vinyl or linoleum as an old floor that can stay, when it is firmly fixed and flat. One of them adds that only one layer of old vinyl may stay. Soft, cushioned vinyl is different: 3 suppliers state that it cannot stay. One supplier gives a test: try to peel the old vinyl up. If it lifts, it must be removed.
• Old floating floors. 5 suppliers state that an old floating floor cannot stay. Laminate is one kind of floating floor. 1 supplier lists old hardwood and laminate floors among the floors it accepts.
• Carpet. Carpet is removed. 7 suppliers state in plain words that carpet cannot stay under the planks, and none of the others names carpet as a floor that can stay.
• Old floor coverings on a timber subfloor. 2 suppliers state that any old floor covering on a timber subfloor is taken up before the new floor is laid.

1 supplier states that all old floor coverings are taken up before the floor is laid, and 1 highly recommends it.

Old floors and asbestos

Some old floor coverings, and the glue and underlay under them, can contain asbestos. 4 of the 12 suppliers warn about this in their instructions. 2 of them state that you should be certain there is no asbestos before any old floor, glue or underlay is taken up. 3 say that where asbestos is known or suspected, only a licensed or professional asbestos removal company should remove it. If your floor is old and you are not sure what is in it, have it tested before anyone lifts, sands or grinds it.

Floor preparation for hybrid flooring: a short list

1. Find out what the subfloor is: tiles, concrete, timber, or an old floor covering.
2. Take out what cannot stay: carpet, old floating floors and soft vinyl.
3. Make it solid. Fix loose tiles and loose boards.
4. Check that it is dry. Concrete and timber each have their own moisture limit.
5. Check that it is flat, against the limit in the instructions of your floor.
6. Fill grout lines and low spots. Grind or sand high spots.
7. Clean the floor.
8. Lay the plastic film, if your instructions ask for it.