Flooring Installation on Lanai and Molokai
Maui Prestige Flooring takes on flooring projects on Lanai and Molokai as well as across Maui, planning each one around barge freight, crew travel and lodging. With 16+ years and more than 1,700 jobs behind us, we know an off-island job succeeds or fails on the planning done before anyone leaves Kahului.
We install vinyl plank, carpet, tile and wood floors for homeowners in Lanai City, Kaunakakai and the Molokai homesteads, as well as landlords and small businesses. Travel and freight appear on the quote as their own lines, so you see what the trip adds before you commit.
Off-island jobs get the same licensed, insured crews, written quote and 1-year labor warranty as a job down the street from our Wailuku office.
Off-Island Flooring Projects on Lanai and Molokai
We take on off-island projects that are big enough, or can be grouped closely enough, to justify a crew trip: whole-home floor replacements, rental turnovers, small commercial spaces and multi-unit work. Both islands are part of Maui County, so the same Development Services Administration permit rules apply as on Maui, and like-for-like floor replacement generally does not need a building permit.
Lanai
Most homes are in Lanai City, at about 1,600 feet, where the Hawaiian Pineapple Company built a plantation town around Dole Park starting in the 1920s. It is cooler and mistier than the coast, and many of its wood-frame cottages still have original plank floors under later layers of vinyl or carpet.
Molokai
Work centers on Kaunakakai and the Hawaiian Home Lands homesteads at Kalamaula, first settled in 1922, and Hoolehua, settled from 1924. We also travel to Kualapuu, Maunaloa and the East End, where homes range from older raised houses to newer builds.
Each island brings its own conditions. Lanai City’s red dirt from the old pineapple fields and its cool, damp mornings call for tough entry floors and moisture-checked wood, while hot, dry Kaunakakai and the west end of Molokai suit vinyl plank and porcelain well.
Plantation cottages and older homestead houses may still hide 9 by 9 inch vinyl tile or black mastic from before about 1980, and both must be tested for asbestos before removal. Our floor removal and disposal page explains testing and haul-away, and on these islands we confirm what the county landfill accepts before demolition starts.
How Off-Island Jobs Work
An off-island job is a Maui job compressed into one planned trip. Everything is measured, ordered and shipped before the crew travels, and the crew then works a continuous block until the floor is finished.
Remote quote
Before booking
You send photos, room measurements and details of the current floor. We send a written quote with flooring, prep, freight, travel and lodging as separate lines.
Order and freight
Several weeks ahead
Flooring, adhesives, trims and underlayment are ordered with full overage and booked onto a barge, so everything is on island before the crew.
Crew travel
Day one
Lanai crews ride the passenger ferry from Maalaea to Manele Harbor, about 1 hour 15 minutes each way. Molokai has had no passenger ferry since 2016, so crews fly from Kahului on small commuter planes and heavy tools ship ahead.
Work block
Consecutive days
We work full, back-to-back days and stay on island, so a job that would take a week of short visits on Maui is done in one stretch.
Walkthrough
Final day
We walk the floors with you, leave spare material for future repairs and handle debris the way the quote describes.
| Factor | Lanai | Molokai |
|---|---|---|
| Barge port | Kaumalapau Harbor | Kaunakakai Harbor |
| Passenger ferry from Maui | Yes, Maalaea to Manele | None since 2016 |
| Crew flights from Kahului | Lanai Airport | Molokai Airport at Hoolehua |
| Main town | Lanai City, about 1,600 ft up | Kaunakakai, on the south shore |
| Typical housing | Plantation cottages, resort homes | Homestead houses, older raised homes |
A few things on your end keep the block on schedule, because a lost morning off-island cannot be made up the next day:
- Someone reachable on barge delivery day to open up and accept the pallet
- Furniture cleared from the work rooms, or a plan agreed in advance for moving it
- Power and water on, and pets secured while doors are propped open
- For rentals, tenant notice and entry arranged with the property manager before the trip
Lodging on both islands is limited and fills up, especially on Lanai, so we reserve rooms as soon as your dates are set. Rental vehicles are scarce too, so we book crew transport and a truck to move material from the harbor at the same time.
Maui County is planning its own ferry service, targeting Lanai in mid-2027 and Molokai in 2029, which could make Molokai trips simpler; until then we plan around flights.
Shipping Materials by Barge
Flooring for Lanai and Molokai travels by Young Brothers barge, which calls at Kaumalapau Harbor on Lanai and Kaunakakai Harbor on Molokai on sailings from Honolulu. Material is booked onto a specific sailing, collected during limited pier gate hours and trucked to your home before the crew arrives.
Barges do slip. In June 2026, high swells and a tug repair delayed sailings to both islands, which is why we never send a crew over until the material is confirmed on island.
How we protect your order in transit:
- Full overage, typically 5 to 10 percent for straight layouts and more for diagonal or patterned floors, because a short box cannot be fixed with a quick run to a Kahului supplier
- Every consumable on the same shipment: adhesive, thinset, grout, trims, transitions, underlayment and fasteners
- Shrink-wrapped pallets, with tile and wood cartons kept flat, dry and off the ground
- Material moved inside the house to acclimate as soon as it is delivered
Raised plantation cottages often need some plywood replaced once the old floor comes up, and there is no same-afternoon run to a Maui lumberyard. On those jobs we ship a small repair allowance of plywood and fasteners with the flooring, and the quote spells out how it is billed.
Planning a floor on Lanai or Molokai?
Send photos and rough measurements, and we will tell you what the trip, freight and flooring are likely to involve.
Which Projects Make Sense to Schedule
Projects that fill several working days, use in-stock or easily shipped material and need little curing time make the most sense off-island. Whole-home vinyl plank, multi-room carpet and rental turnovers are the best fits.
Strong fits
Whole-home luxury vinyl plank installation, carpet installation across several bedrooms, and multi-unit or small commercial spaces.
Better combined
Small repairs, single rooms and stair work. We pair these with other jobs on the same island or schedule them with a larger project.
Plan carefully
Site-finished hardwood and tile over a new mortar bed need more days and cure time, so travel and lodging take a bigger share of the cost.
Many jobs can be quoted from photos and measurements alone. For a photo quote, send us:
- Each room’s length and width, or a simple sketch with measurements
- A wide photo of every room and a close-up of the current floor
- Photos of doorways, stairs and where the floor meets tile, carpet or the lanai
- Close-ups of anything soft, cracked, stained or bouncy
- The year the home was built, if you know it
If the subfloor needs a closer look, we either schedule a measure trip or confirm conditions on the first morning, with any change priced in writing before work continues.
For resort, office and multi-unit work, our commercial flooring services cover phased scheduling and larger orders.
FAQ
Lanai and Molokai FAQ
Do you charge for travel to Lanai or Molokai?
Yes. Off-island quotes show crew travel, lodging and freight as separate lines, so you can see exactly what the trip adds on top of the flooring and labor.
The travel share shrinks on larger projects, and it shrinks again when we can pair your job with another on the same island. Ask when you contact us whether we already have work planned on Lanai or Molokai.
Can you quote from photos and measurements?
Yes, for most straightforward projects. Send room lengths and widths, photos of each room and doorway, a close-up of the current floor and anything you know about what is underneath, and we will send a written quote.
The quote lists its assumptions, such as a sound subfloor or no hidden layer of old tile. If we find something different on site, we price the change in writing before doing the extra work.
Flooring services we bring to Lanai and Molokai
Get a quote
Tell Us About Your Off-Island Project
Send your island, town, rough square footage and a few photos of the floors. We will reply with questions or a written quote that includes freight and travel.
- Mon to Sat 7am to 9pm, Sun 9am to 9pm
- 1710 W Kaahumanu Ave, Wailuku, HI 96793
- Licensed, insured and backed by a 1-year labor warranty