About Underfoot

New Zealand’s flooring industry is a billion-dollar sector that touches almost every home and commercial space in the country. It has never had a publication worthy of it.

That’s the reason Underfoot exists.

What we do

We publish independent guides, explainers and news on carpet, vinyl and hybrid, hard flooring, and floor preparation, for three audiences:

• Homeowners working out what flooring to buy and who to hire
• Installers running their craft and their businesses
• The wider industry (suppliers, retailers, FloorNZ members), who need considered analysis of where the market is going

Most of what’s been written about flooring in New Zealand serves someone else’s interests. Retailer content is commercial. Manufacturer content is commercial. International content ignores NZ pricing, climate, regulation, and product availability. Lead-generation platforms publish thin SEO bait. Industry communications stay inside the membership. Underfoot exists to fill the gap none of them can.

What we stand for

Five things, none of them negotiable:

Editorial independence. We don’t take payment for coverage, and no brand, supplier or retailer gets a say in what we publish. If we take advertising or sponsorship in future, it will stay separate from what we write.

NZ-first relevance. Every piece has to be useful to a New Zealand reader specifically: NZ prices, NZ products, NZ regulation, NZ climate, NZ language. We never republish or reskin international content.

Depth over thinness. If a topic deserves 2,500 words, we write 2,500. If it deserves 500, we write 500. We don’t pad for keyword density and we don’t shortchange to chase clicks.

Practical usefulness. Every piece must change what the reader does next. If you can read something we publish and walk away with nothing you can act on, we’ve failed.

Respect across audiences. Homeowners deserve the full picture, told properly, with no condescension, no jargon-as-gatekeeping. Installers deserve to be treated as the professionals they are: no “tradie” cosplay, no top-down lecturing. The same publication is useful to a Mt Eden homeowner and a Wellington flooring contractor.

What you’ll find here

Cost guides, buyer guides, regional comparisons, and process explainers for homeowners. Installation techniques, training pathway guides, business advice, and health-and-safety coverage for installers. Market analysis, supplier news, regulatory tracking, and industry interviews for the trade.

All of it free to read. No paywall. No member gate.

How we make money (and how we don’t)

Underfoot doesn’t take payment from retailers, brands or suppliers for coverage. If we take advertising or sponsorship in future, it will be kept separate from editorial, and we’ll turn down any arrangement that would compromise our independence. The money can never come from between us and our readers.

Get in touch

You can reach us through our contact form. Tips, corrections, story ideas, partnership enquiries: all welcome. If you’re an installer, retailer, supplier, or industry insider with something we should know about, it’s for you.