Vinyl is one of the most popular flooring types that is used by many homeowners because of its outstanding benefits. It is inexpensive and can be affordable easily for covering your floor. It is highly durable because it can last for a long time.
The best thing about vinyl flooring installation is that it is 100% moisture or water-resistant and requires very low maintenance. It also felt very soft/comfortable when you walk on it. Vinyl can help in the isolation of your home and easily maintain a consistent temperature of the floor in all seasons.
You can also use this flooring type for upgrading your home's interior. Like replacing carpet with vinyl plank flooring can give a new life to the interior decor of your home. If you are also wondering about the question; can I install vinyl flooring myself? Then the answer is yes because installing vinyl plank flooring is so easy to do by yourself instead of hiring a professional.
Many people wonder about how to install vinyl plank flooring? To help you we brought this article to give you a perfect guide for the easiest laminate flooring to install by yourself.
Tools & Material Required For Installing Vinyl Flooring
You need various tools and materials for installing the vinyl planks on your floor.
Tools
- Measuring tape.
- Hammer.
- Utility knife.
- Carpenter's square.
- Nailset.
- Pliers.
- Drawbar tool
- Fine-tooth saw.
- Flat pry bar
- Straightedge.
Materials
- Vinyl plank flooring.
- Concrete patcher.
- ¼ inch spacers.
- Sandpaper (if needed).
- Floor leveling compound.
Step-by-step Guide on How to Install Vinyl Plank Flooring
You can install the vinyl planks easily by following a few instructions and keeping some major points in your mind. The minor mistakes made by the people while installing vinyl planks can cause a great disaster.
We will help you learn about how to install vinyl plank flooring? By guiding you with a step-by-step procedure. You will easily get the answer to how to install luxury vinyl plank easily by following these instructions:
1. Measure The Area of Flooring
Take the exact measurements of the area where you have to lay out vinyl plank flooring. Measure edge-to-edge dimensions for doing luxury vinyl plank installation like a professional.
2. Plan The Layout For Flooring
At this step, decide in which direction you will have to install the vinyl planks that give your room an amazing look. The general rule is to lay down the planks on the longest side of the room.
You can also install them as per your requirements, like if you want to install them in a parallel direction for an adjacent room.
3. Remove Baseboard
For installing the vinyl planks easily you have to remove the trims that make any type of connection with the floor. These trims can be base shoe moldings, baseboards, and case moldings.
Use the pry bar for removing the baseboard from the floor by gently praying back from the top of the molding. Set aside these trims for reusing them again or you can also purchase new baseboards for your floor.
4. Create Undercut Doorjambs
Undercut the door casing for allowing the vinyl planks can easily slide underneath. For that purpose, place a piece of the vinyl plank against the casing of the door and mark it with a pencil, then remove that vinyl plank.
Now start cutting the marked area by using a Door Jamb Saw, then remove the waste that occurred from this.
5. Preparing The Floor
You can lay down the vinyl planks over the existing flooring. But if the surface of the floor is having any high spots, then you must sand down to create a smooth surface to apply new flooring.
The floor must be flat and smooth for installing the vinyl planks easily on them. You can make the surface of your floor smooth by filling out the cracks and divots if your floor suffers from them. You can also bend down the high spots by scratching them or making them flat by using the hammer.
6. Install The First Row
Install the first row of vinyl planks by placing the full planks at the center and away ¼ inch from the sides of the wall. Then place the planks on both sides one by one then cut them according to the required length.
7. Cut Vinyl Planks In Perfect Sizes
At this step, cut the vinyl planks as per the required sizes for installing on the floor. Many people ask the question; how to cut vinyl flooring? Because it is a tricky task to cut the vinyl planks perfectly.
Cut the planks carefully because the vinyl has a slippery surface. If you try to cut in one pass by using the utility knife, it may slip and can damage the other areas of the plank. Use the fine-tooth saw for cutting the planks perfectly in straight-line order. Now flip and fold the plank so that it can be snapped off by itself. If it didn't snap off, then use a utility knife for giving a light finishing cut to it.
8. Put The Table At Perfect Place
Most of the branded and luxury planks have inbuilt edge-to-edge lock type of tongue or groove in them. Put one plank on the flat surface of the floor and the other plank should be placed in a direction that can easily be fit into the other plank's receiving groove or lock system of floor tiles.
Once you install the first row in this manner successfully, continue to install vinyl flooring in this way across the entire area. Join the new row with the groove of the previous row for making a perfect grip.
9. Cut Plank For Bulge Surface
While installing the vinyl planks, you must encounter the obstacles like door frames and floor ducts. You can easily cut the plank by using the utility knife into the desired shape for your floor.
10. Fit The Planks Around Bulge Surface
After cutting the planks, attach the planks with the other plank's groove that is laying down on the floor. Vinyl planks are flexible and you can easily bend and fit them easily around the door frames or floor ducts.
11. Cut And Install The Final Row
The last row of the planks needs to be trimmed to create the best fit with the walls of the floor. Cut the planks in the size that can be laid down at the gap of ¼ inch gap from the wall.
Cut the planks to the desired size by using the utility knife. Then attack them with the previous row by creating an end-to end- lock between them. You can also use the drawbar tool to perfectly fit the last row on the floor.
12. Reinstall The Baseboard
This is the last step from the guide on how to install vinyl plank flooring. After installing all the vinyl planks on the floor, take the baseboard you removed at the start. Reattach the baseboard efficiently by using the brad nailer on the ¼ inch area that you left while installing planks.
You can also do manual nailing by using a hammer, but it can damage the baseboard. That's why we recommend you to use a brad nailer. You can also install the new baseboard or trim molding if you don't want to reuse the old one.
Conclusion
This is all about how to install vinyl plank flooring? I hope you can easily install the vinyl planks on your floor after reading and understanding all the points and steps we have discussed above.
If you didn't understand something or have any queries regarding this, then you can ask by posting a comment. Our professionals will guide you.