What flooring is best for aged care facilities?

The best aged care flooring depends on the area. Carpet tiles (Interface, Shaw Contract) work best in bedrooms, corridors, and common areas. They reduce noise, support dementia-friendly design, and allow individual tile replacement. Safety vinyl (Polyflor, Forbo, Armstrong, Karndean, Tarkett) is ideal for wet areas, dining rooms, and clinical spaces where infection control and slip resistance are critical. All products should meet AS 4586 slip resistance standards.

What slip resistance standards apply to aged care flooring in Australia?

Australian aged care flooring must comply with AS 4586:2013 for slip resistance classification and AS 4663:2013 for in-situ pendulum testing. Floors are rated using P-ratings (wet pendulum) and R-ratings (ramp test). Most aged care areas require P3-P5 ratings. These standards must be maintained over time, not just at installation, but after months of cleaning and use.

Can aged care flooring be replaced without relocating residents?

Yes. Specialist aged care flooring contractors like Premrest stage installations around facility operations. This includes after-hours and weekend work, wing-by-wing rollouts, advance subfloor preparation, and coordination with care teams. Residents stay comfortable, staff keeps working, and the facility stays operational throughout the project.

What is dementia-friendly flooring?

Dementia-friendly flooring follows design principles from HB 198:2014 and dementia care research. It uses calm, matte colours with appropriate contrast for wayfinding, avoids bold patterns or dark strips that residents may perceive as holes or obstacles, and maintains consistent tones to reduce anxiety and confusion. The right flooring helps residents navigate independently and feel safe.

Specialist Aged Care Flooring • Australia-Wide

Aged care flooring that passes every slip test, dementia audit and infection-control check — and stays that way after we leave.

Name: Premrest Aged Care Flooring
Telephone: 1300 207 915
Price range: $$

We supply and install compliant vinyl and carpet tiles for nursing homes and retirement villages — and we're Australia's specialist in low-moisture encap carpet cleaning that's odourless and dries in 15–30 minutes. AS 4586 slip-rated, dementia-friendly, seamless for infection control. Recommended by Interface, Shaw Contract, Polyflor and Forbo. Specialist teams in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

AS 4586 Slip-Rated
Dementia-Friendly (HB 198)
Infection-Control Ready
Zero Resident Relocation

Get a Free Site Assessment → Call 1300 207 915

Serving: Melbourne · Sydney · Brisbane · & regional Australia

The Problem We Solve

Generic flooring contractors get aged care wrong.

A regular commercial flooring contractor will give you a nice floor. It'll look good in the photos. And then someone will fall on it, or the cleaner's mop will turn it into a skating rink, or a resident with dementia will refuse to walk across the dark strip because it looks like a hole in the ground.

Aged care flooring has to do about six jobs at once. It needs to meet AS 4586 slip resistance requirements, not just on paper, but after six months of industrial mopping. It needs to support infection control with seamless, easy-to-clean surfaces. It needs to follow dementia-friendly design principles so residents feel safe navigating the space. And it needs to handle wheelchairs, walkers, and trolleys without falling apart.

Most flooring companies treat aged care like any other commercial job. We don't, because it isn't. The compliance requirements alone (AS 4586:2013, AS 4663:2013, NSQHS Standards, Aged Care Quality Standards) would make your head spin. We know them backwards because this is what we do.

The other bit that matters: your facility can't just shut down while the floor gets done. Residents live there. Staff work there. We stage installations around your operations, work after hours when needed, and coordinate with your team so nobody's getting displaced into a corridor.

What We Do

Install the floor. Then keep it performing.

Carpet Tiles

Interface and Shaw Contract carpet tiles purpose-built for aged care environments. Noise dampening, dementia-friendly palettes, and tile-level replacement when one gets stained or worn. We supply and install both ranges.

Explore Carpet Tiles →

Safety Vinyl

For wet areas, dining rooms, clinical spaces, and anywhere infection control is critical. Polyflor, Forbo, Armstrong, Karndean, and Tarkett healthcare ranges. Seamless heat-welded installations, all AS 4586 slip-rated.

Explore Vinyl Options →

Encap Carpet Cleaning

Specialist low-moisture encapsulation carpet cleaning for aged care. Completely odourless, healthcare-safe chemistry. Carpets dry in 15–30 minutes, so corridors and bedrooms come back online inside the same shift. Recommended by Interface and Shaw Contract for the carpets we install.

Encap Carpet Cleaning →

Low-Moisture Encap Carpet Cleaning

Carpets dry in 15–30 minutes. Completely odourless. Specialist scope, on purpose.

Most aged care carpets that look exhausted aren't worn out — they're just badly cleaned. We use the encapsulation (encap) system: a polymer detergent worked into the carpet with a counter-rotating brush. The polymer locks soil into brittle crystals that vacuum out next service. Less moisture, no odour, no wet floors blocking corridors during medication rounds. Carpet only — we don't do hard floor stripping, polishing or strip-and-seals.

Dry In 15–30 Minutes

Total moisture applied is a fraction of hot water extraction. Corridors, bedrooms and lounges back open to residents the same shift. No "stay out of this hallway" notices for hours.

Completely Odourless

Healthcare-safe, fragrance-free polymer chemistry. Nothing for residents with dementia-related sensory sensitivity, COPD or just a sharper nose to react to.

Two Service Models

Train your existing general cleaner on the encap method and supply the chemistry; or have Premrest crews run the full programme. Either way, the first site walk is on us.

Recommended By The Carpet Makers

Interface and Shaw Contract recommend encap (and recommend Premrest) for their healthcare carpet ranges. Less moisture, less heat, longer carpet life.

Our six-step aged care flooring process

We Start With Your Problem

Not a product catalogue. Every aged care facility has different pressure points. Maybe it's a wet area that keeps failing slip tests, corridors that are too noisy, or a dementia wing that needs a full rethink. We work out what's actually going wrong before we recommend anything.

Compliance Is Built In

AS 4586 slip resistance, AS 4663 in-situ testing, NSQHS infection control requirements, Aged Care Quality Standards. We specify to all of them. You get the documentation, testing reports, and product certifications your accreditation audits need. No chasing up paperwork after the fact.

We Supply and Install

One contractor, one point of accountability. No finger-pointing between the company that sold you the vinyl and the mob that laid it. If something's not right, it's on us. Full stop.

Your Facility Keeps Running

We stage the work around your operations. After-hours installs, wing-by-wing rollouts, coordination with your nursing and facilities team. Your residents don't get herded into a common room while we tear up their hallway.

Slip Testing & Rectification

Floors change over time. Cleaning chemicals, foot traffic, and wear all affect slip resistance. We test existing floors to AS 4663:2013 and if they fail, we fix them: anti-slip treatments, surface refinishing, or replacement. Most companies only test. We test and solve.

Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane

Local teams in all three cities. Same standards, same approach, whether it's a retirement village in Frankston or a nursing home in Parramatta.

Aged Care Flooring Knowledge

Deep-dive guides for facility managers

Aged care flooring involves more nuance than most people realise. These guides cover the specifics.

Slip Resistance in Aged Care

AS 4586, pendulum testing, P-ratings, wet vs dry slip resistance. What it all means and why your floor needs to pass after six months of cleaning, not just on day one.

Read the Guide →

Dementia-Friendly Flooring

Why certain patterns cause falls. How colour contrast aids wayfinding. What HB 198:2014 actually recommends. Practical design principles that make a real difference.

Read the Guide →

Articles & Insights

Niche deep dives on everything from cleaning chemical compatibility to lifecycle costing for carpet tiles vs vinyl in high-traffic aged care corridors.

Browse Articles →

Standards & Compliance

Compliant by default, documented by design

Aged care flooring sits at the intersection of about five different regulatory frameworks. Here's the shortlist we specify against on every project.

AS 4586:2013

Slip resistance classification for pedestrian surfaces. The standard that determines whether your floor is compliant. We specify products with verified P-ratings for every area type.

AS 4663:2013

In-situ slip testing using the wet pendulum method. We test installed floors to confirm they actually perform, not just what the product data sheet says, but what your floor does in the real world.

HB 198:2014

The guide to slip resistance that covers wayfinding, contrast, and design for vulnerable populations. Essential reading for dementia-friendly environments.

NSQHS Standards

National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards require infection control through seamless, cleanable surfaces. This drives our vinyl specification approach.

Aged Care Quality Standards

The standards that govern safety, quality of life, and care outcomes in aged care. Appropriate flooring directly supports physical safety and cognitive comfort.

Full Documentation

Testing reports, material certifications, product data sheets. Everything your accreditation audit needs, provided upfront. More on slip resistance →

Talk to a Specialist

Tell us what's going on with your floor

Whether it's a new build, a replacement project, or a floor that's failing slip tests, start here. No obligation, no pressure, just a conversation about what you actually need.

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Phone

1300 207 915

Email

office@premrest.com.au

Service Areas

Melbourne · Sydney · Brisbane

We're Premrest, a specialist commercial flooring contractor that focuses on environments where the floor actually matters. Aged care is one of those environments.