Do you want to change the appearance of your rooms while saving cost? Well, search no more for vinyl flooring happens to be one of the solutions for you. This article will be an effective guide for a DIY (do it yourself) installation. It is simple to comprehend and will yield desired results if adhered to. All the best as you follow this 16 steps of vinyl installation!
1. Begin by taking measurements as well as ordering Vinyl
In this step, you are going to require a measuring tape. It is essential as it helps you to determine your rooms’ sizes. Take your time to ensure that the measurements you take are accurate. This will enable one to avoid ending up with minimal amounts of Vinyl to cover the entire desired area. In addition, one might as well opt to order for extra pieces of Vinyl slightly above the measurements taken just in case some areas may end up lacking cover. Having done this, one will be on the safer side as there will be no need of going back to ordering more material on the course of the process.
2. Shift items that might be in your way
It is important to note that Vinyl can be installed in a variety of rooms including the bathroom, living room and the kitchen as well. Therefore, as we all know, each room holds different items that may hinder proper installation of this flooring. There is thus the need to ensure that standing furnitures as well as appliances are moved from the living room. Also, ensure that in the kitchen area, the oven and fridge are moved. Notably, one should not be worried by areas where cabinets and vanities are established as their setting is somewhat permanent. This is because the flooring can be placed on them. Proceed on to eliminating trims established along the walls’ bottom edges.
3. Get rid of the old flooring
If one opt to replace and old carpet with this kind of flooring, this happens to be a significant step in the prior installation process. Unarguably, vinyl can be installed on almost any type of floor surface provided it is dry, flat, stiff and smooth. This process involves removal of not only the old floor but also threshold strips trimming out one’s doorways. On the other hand, one should concentrate on the areas along the sub-floors, hammering in or alternatively plucking out any nails as well as staples they might find. Despite the fact that this process is tedious, it is all worth the struggle and plays an important role toward achieving perfect flooring. In addition, one might find floor adhesives as well as old flooring containing asbestos. At this point, there are two options to handling this problem. One may contact their county to come and run the asbestos test prior to disturbing it. Alternatively, if the county does not offer such services, contacting a private testing lab might help as they may be at a position to carry out the test for you at an affordable charge.
Besides, one may be placing Vinyl on surfaces made of wood or concrete. This therefore means that in this case, no old flooring is to be eliminated. However, after installation is done, the surface level might be raised a little bit thus creating the need to trim door bottoms to allow room for the extra material. This can be done by scraping a piece of flooring that one desires to install. The piece should then be laid next the door frame. This will help one establish the point that should be cut. Turn the door on it’s side and saw the door’s bottom with the help of a handsaw.
4. Create a paper template of your floors
Making a paper template not only make cutting plywood and Vinyl easier but also enables one to acquire precise measurements. It involves cutting of construction papers into huge strips and placing it on the floor properly. Later on, one ought to cut out obstacles that are built in as well as corners around the floor area while adding measurements as they do so. The process should be repeated with quite a number of papers until the entire area is covered. For a huge floor surface, tape together the various pieces of paper one has in sizable sections. Do this up until a full copy of the floor is achieved. In addition, make sure that areas which are difficult to reach are also measured and drawn or rather cut onto the paper.
5. Get your underlayment prepared
Often, installation of underlayment is the ultimate solution for correcting floors that require much labour to smooth and level. Occasionally, a quarter inch is the size of underlayment which is made of plywood and whose significance is providing a good base for the vinyl by smoothing out the floor. Also, one should tape the paper template they made earlier to the their underlayment plywood. The paper template acts as a guide while cutting the plywood out so that it fits the floor surface. For precision, make sure that one checks for fit by use of the complete sections once they prove to match up.
Don’t forget to utilize Vinyl floor grade plywood for underlayment to ensure that it holds up. Also, it is essential that one begins by obtaining rough cuts of the underlayment and later on acquire more detailed cuts once fitting of pieces has been done.
6. Put the underlayment material in the room to be worked on
Notably, one ought to leave the underlayment plywood sheets in the desired room. Why is this important? It protects the vinyl from tearing as time goes by while carrying out the process. This is accomplished once they adjust to the normal humid levels of the room.
7. Proceed on to installing the underlayer
After putting the underlayment in their final location ensuring the wood fits in all the right places, installation should now be done. Installation requires one to be equipped with an underlayment stapler as well as staples measuring 7/8 inch. At least sixteen staples will be enough for each square footage of underlayment. Also, it is essential that one replaces staples that fail to penetrate the plywood fully. Restrain from using of screws as well as nails on the underlayer as it would only result to bumps appearing in the flooring.
8. Complete the smoothing out of the underlayer
For this process to be carried out, a sander will be a requirement to enable smoothing out of bumps that might be in the underlayment as well as edges. Also, a leveling compound will be required to fill up cracks and spaces. By doing so, a smooth surface will be achieved and ready for the flooring to be applied. One should follow package directions that indicate the compatibility of the floor leveling compound, underlayment as well as the vinyl adhesive to be utilized later on in the process.
9. Come up with the desired pattern of your vinyl
Typically, vinyl are either found in sheets form or square tiles measuring twelve inches. If in tiles form, it is usual that they get arranged in a particular pattern. Despite the fact that it is simpler to place them in rows, one should not shy away from trying other arrangements such as placing them across the room diagonally. The key point here is establishing the way to lay the floor. One may draw a straight line to act as a guide for the first row of vinyl using a chalk. Recall that while working with tiles one should commence from the middle of the room and work their way out throughout the room. This will ensure that it is kept symmetrical. In the case of sheets, it is more straight forward as one should simply cut it out. As one carries out this process and the room happens to be larger than the sheet, they ought to allow for seams.
10. Decide on the process of application for the vinyl
Factually, there are two kinds of vinyl including glue down as well as self stick. Glue down tends to take more time and labour as compared to self stick. Prior to installing the vinyl, one ought to apply a layer of flooring glue meant for vinyl. On the other hand, self stick requires less time as well as work. This is because it is designed to be stuck on the floor as it comes with adhesive backing meant for that purpose. One should follow directives given on either case for best results.
11. Proceed on to labelling patterns on the paper templates obtained earlier
Begin by laying out the vinyl and cutting it carefully so that it fits perfectly by use of a paper template to ease the application process. Remember that the template acts as a guide to creating precise patterns of the vinyl. Otherwise, one may skip all those processes and opt to cut the vinyl while directly placed on the underlayer.
12. Glue the vinyl floor
This step will require one to be equipped with a notched trowel as well as vinyl flooring adhesive. Often, the trowel is meant for spreading adhesive and is usually 1/16 inch in measurements. In addition, some adhesives can be applied using a napped paint roller that is short. The gluing process ought to be started from any corner of choice. After scooping sizable amount of glue one should smear it on the underlayer covering a section of the room. Let it sit for some minutes so that your allow it time to set. Why should you allow it to sit for a while? It is simple. Placing vinyl immediately will result bubbles of air forming due to evaporation of the solvents in the adhesive and you don’t want that to happen. Due to spills as well as smears that accidentally occur on the vinyl, one ought to have a damp piece of clothing to wipe away the mishaps. Also, it is necessary that you pay attention to the compatibility of the trowel’s notch size with the adhesive you opt to use. Compatibility information may be found in the application directives provided.
13. Place the vinyl on the underlayer
While working on vinyl composition tiles, ensure that they are aligned perfectly with the row. Also, refrain from sliding tiles as you lay them. This is because it causes the adhesive to drag and ruin proper placement of the vinyl.
14. Apply pressure to compress the vinyl down
At this stage you will require a rolling pin if working on tiny vinyl tiles. On the other hand, renting out a floor roller from the closest garden center might be of great assistance. Compress the tiles using either of the mentioned equipments to ensure the tiles, adhesive as well as underlayer get stuck together. For best results, it is necessary that one compresses every section of vinyl as they get laid followed by repeating it once the laying of vinyl is concluded. This will leave the tiles firm and steady.
15. Go on applying the vinyl
As one follows the desired patterns of layout in the course of application, they should continue sticking vinyl on the glue and rolling over. Once the entire floor gets filled, there is need to pay close attention to the edges. One may need to cut some of the vinyl so that it fits edges that appear odd. Do not forget to compress them using your roller so that they are left firmly placed.
16. Complete the flooring process
Having done all the above, the area should now be left untouched for several hours. This will ensure that the adhesive dries up accordingly. Later on, replacement of the trim that was initially removed ought to be done. Also, threshold strips ought to be added at this point. In addition, one should caulk throughout areas where the edges meet with baseboards using a caulk gun in case you worked on a bathroom. By doing so, the vinyl installed is likely to last longer and is protected from damages caused by water.