See the Camden Rigid-Core Flooring
Collection at Our Tampa Design Center
Choosing flooring from a small plank or a sample board is harder than it sounds.
A color that looks right in your hand can look very different across an entire room, next to your cabinets and under your lighting.
That is why the Step Up Home Improvements Tampa Design Center has the Camden rigid-core flooring collection installed across five full display areas, one Camden color in each, so Tampa homeowners can judge flooring at real scale before making a decision for their remodel.
This page explains how the Design Center is set up, what each Camden color looks like in our space, and how flooring fits into a larger kitchen, bathroom, condo or whole-home renovation.
Inside the Step Up Tampa Design Center
The Design Center is divided into five flooring display areas. Each area is finished in a different Camden color, and each has a custom gold and brass sign identifying the color by name. Rather than asking you to imagine a room from a 12-inch sample, we let you walk across the floor, stand back and see how it reads across a meaningful space.
We built it this way because flooring decisions are rarely about the plank alone. Seeing several colors installed side by side helps you compare:
• Color: How light, dark, warm or cool each floor feels over a large area.
• Undertones: Whether a floor leans warm, cool or neutral once it is next to other materials.
• Plank variation: How much the planks differ from one to the next across a full installation, which a single sample cannot show.
• Overall room appearance: How the floor sets the tone for the whole space.
• Interaction with cabinetry: How each color looks beside different cabinet finishes.
• Countertops: How the floor and countertop work together. • Wall colors: How paint colors shift the way a floor looks.
• Lighting: How the floor changes in natural light and artificial light.
• Other finish selections: How tile, trim and fixtures coordinate with the flooring.
Because the Design Center also displays cabinetry, countertops and other finishes, you can look at flooring alongside the rest of your selections in one visit.
Why See Flooring Installed Instead of Using a Small Sample?
A sample is useful for checking texture and general tone, but it cannot tell you how a floor will look once it covers a room. Several things change the result:
• Natural and artificial light: The same floor can look warmer in afternoon sun and cooler under LED lighting. Standing in a larger installation at different times of day shows you the range.
• Room size: Colors read differently across a large open space than in a small one. Lighter floors can feel more open, while deeper floors can feel more grounded, and a large area shows the effect in a way a sample cannot.
• Plank variation: Real installations mix planks from several cartons, so the pattern and color variation across a floor is more informative than any single plank.
• Wall color: Paint colors reflect onto flooring and can shift how its undertones appear.
• Cabinetry and countertops: Flooring is rarely seen alone. It is seen next to cabinet doors, countertop surfaces and backsplash.
• Furniture: Rugs, seating and other furnishings change how much of the floor you see and how it feels.
• The overall design palette: A floor that looks right in isolation may compete with, or disappear into, the rest of your selections.
What Is Camden Rigid-Core Flooring?
Camden is a rigid-core, wood-look plank flooring collection made by United Weavers. Rigid-core flooring has a firm, stable core beneath a printed and protective surface layer, and the planks are designed to
lock together along their edges.
Based on the manufacturer's current product information for the collection:
• Construction: Rigid core
• Overall thickness: 7 mm
• Wear layer: 20 mil
• Plank size: 9" x 60"
• Colors: Five: Moonlit, Opal, Tuscan, Vanguard and Autumn Grove
• Installation: The manufacturer's rigid-core installation instructions describe a click-lock installation
• Care: The manufacturer recommends prompt cleanup of spills and neutral pH cleaners, and advises against bleach, heavy abrasives and wax
Manufacturer requirements for installation, care and warranty apply to every project, and we follow them. We review them with you as they relate to your home.
Where Camden Flooring May Work Well
Camden is a residential wood-look flooring option that homeowners consider for a range of remodeling projects, including:
• Kitchens: A single continuous floor that ties cabinetry, countertops and backsplash together
• Living rooms and dining rooms: Larger spaces where you want to see the color across a wide area
• Bedrooms: A consistent floor across private spaces
• Open-concept spaces: Continuous flooring between kitchen, dining and living areas
• Whole-home renovations: A cohesive floor throughout the home
• Condo remodeling: Projects where flooring selection also has to fit building requirements
Suitability for any particular area, including areas exposed to moisture, depends on the manufacturer's installation requirements and the actual conditions in your home. We evaluate that with you before recommending a floor for a specific space.
Why Subfloor Preparation Matters as Much as the Flooring
A good floor can still perform poorly if it goes over a poor substrate. The material matters, but installation and preparation matter too. This is where a remodeling contractor adds value beyond selling a box of flooring.
Before installation, we look at:
• The existing floor: What is there now, what condition it is in and whether it can stay or should come out.
• Flatness: Rigid-core flooring is installed over a floor that must be sufficiently flat. The manufacturer's instructions specify a flatness tolerance and call for leveling where the floor is outside it.
• Uneven substrates: High and low spots can be addressed with grinding or leveling before flooring goes down.
• Moisture considerations: The manufacturer's instructions call for moisture testing of concrete substrates, and flooring should not be treated as a moisture barrier.
• Existing flooring conditions: Some existing floors are acceptable substrates and others are not, and the requirements vary by floor type.
• Transitions: Where the new floor meets tile, carpet, thresholds or other rooms.
• Installation quality: Layout, plank staggering, expansion spacing and trim details that affect how the finished floor looks and performs.
Skipping preparation can affect appearance and performance and may affect warranty coverage. A floor that is installed well over a properly prepared substrate is the goal.
Flooring as Part of a Complete Remodel
Step Up is a remodeling contractor first, and flooring is one part of a larger project. Flooring choices affect, and are affected by, almost everything else in the room, so we coordinate them with:
• Kitchen cabinetry: Cabinet color and finish against the floor
• Bathroom finishes: Coordinating adjacent rooms so the transition feels intentional
• Countertops: Surface color and pattern next to the flooring
• Paint: Wall colors that suit the floor's undertones
• Tile: Backsplash, shower and floor tile alongside the plank flooring
• Trim: Baseboards, thresholds and transitions
• Whole-home finish selections: A consistent palette from room to room
Whether you are replacing flooring alone or planning a larger project, we can help. See our flooring installation and flooring guide pages, or explore kitchen remodeling, bathroom remodeling, condo remodeling and whole-home remodeling.
Visit the Step Up Tampa Design Center
Come see the five Camden flooring installations in person and compare flooring alongside the otherselections for your remodel.
Step Up Home Improvements
4401 E Hillsborough Ave, Tampa, FL 33610
Learn more about our Tampa showroom and Tampa Design Center, or schedule a consultation.
Step Up Home Improvements LLC is a Florida Certified General Contractor, license CGC1537447.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Camden rigid-core flooring?
Camden is a rigid-core, wood-look plank flooring collection. Rigid-core flooring has a firm, stable core beneath a printed and protective surface layer, and its planks lock together along the edges. Based on the manufacturer's current product information, Camden is 7 mm thick with a 20 mil wear layer and 9-inch by 60-inch planks, and it comes in five colors.
Can I see Camden flooring installed in Tampa?
Yes. Step Up displays the Camden collection across five installed areas at the Tampa Design Center, 4401 E Hillsborough Ave, Tampa, FL 33610. Each area is finished in a different Camden color and identified with a custom gold and brass sign, so you can compare the colors across a full space.
Why does Step Up display five Camden colors?
Seeing larger installed areas allows homeowners to compare color, plank variation and coordination with other materials more accurately than a small sample. Each of the five areas shows a different Camden color at real scale, next to other finish selections.
Does Step Up install Camden flooring?
Step Up provides flooring installation as part of remodeling and flooring projects, based on the scope of the project. We evaluate the existing floor and substrate and follow the manufacturer's installation requirements.
Can I compare flooring with cabinets and countertops at the Design Center?
Yes. Flooring rarely looks the same in isolation as it does next to cabinetry, countertops and wall colors, so coordinating selections together helps you make a more confident decision. The Design Center lets you look at flooring alongside other remodeling selections in one visit.
Is Camden flooring suitable for whole-home remodeling?
It can be, depending on the manufacturer's installation requirements and the actual conditions of your
project. Factors such as the existing substrate, flatness, moisture conditions and the areas involved all matter. We review these with you before recommending a floor for a whole-home renovation.
Do I need to prepare the subfloor before installing rigid-core flooring?
Substrate evaluation and preparation matter. The manufacturer's installation instructions call for a clean,
dry, flat and smooth substrate, with leveling where needed and moisture testing for concrete. Preparation
requirements depend on your existing floor, so we evaluate the substrate before installation.
Can Step Up help me select flooring for a kitchen or full-home remodel?
Yes. We help homeowners coordinate flooring with cabinetry, countertops, paint, tile, trim and other finish selections, and you can compare flooring in person at the Tampa Design Center.
