# vinyl and laminate floor



## han_solo (Aug 31, 2014)

My mother in law asked if i could put a sheet of vinyl flooring down in her bathroom. Wondering how hard is it and use glue over the whole thing or staples at the edges? My house it is loose with staples. Has the small block tiles that is stick on and they are about a 6x6 inches each. On laminate i would like to put that in my living room and i will put that in myself. Have carpet now and the subfloor is osb. The one looking at has the pad/styrofoam on each one. Would i need anything else for the bottom? Would that be enough to help with sound and keep it a little warmer in winter. I will talk to Lowes etc when i am closer to deciding about what will do thanks


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## beenaround (Mar 2, 2015)

sheet vinyl is hard to do right. I cut it out (after preparing the room...removing trim...fixtures) to fit but larger than the room dimensions. Lay it out, fold half back and spread the glue as instructed using the right notched trowel. Lay that section down, role it in and do the other half. After it's sll glued start trimming along the perimeter. Reapply the trim and fixtures after the recommended drying time. ***use the glue recommended***.

They have squares out now that are much better than they used to be.

The laminate flooring has different instructions for different materials. A couple things to think about. If you wanted to do something under the sub floor now's the time. If the sub floor squeaks now's the time to fix it. The pad under the floor does what they say it does. Some manufactures demand you use their glue, use it. When they say x can only span so far and you need Y expansion joints, it's for real.

A "pro" installed a lam. flr in a home I have to visit. The home owner mentioned the problem he had with the floor raising up, like a dome. I looked from one end of his house to the other and saw the "pro had just gone from one room to another without any expansion joints leaving the required gaps at the walls. I told the home owner I was pretty sure the limit was 40', it was around 70'. I was right, he called the "pro" while I was there and had me talk to him. After telling him what needed to be done he was at a lose as to what to do. In his mind it all had to be redone. I calmed him down and told him all that was needed was to cut away the flooring in the door ways and install the expansion joints. He did, problem solved.


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## Bottleneck (Apr 22, 2014)

there are tiles that overlap and float over the floor rather than being glued down. they work pretty good, but you have to make sure that you use a heavy roller to get them to initially stick well. I think that they were about 1.56/ft3

as for laminate, make sure you get the good thicker stuff, and don't let moisture near it.


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

I have to strongly disagree on the difficulty of sheet vinyl. There is a trick or two to it though. First, I would only use glue in a high traffic area where there is going to be scuffing - such as a porch or kitchen. Glue can be difficult. In a bathroom it makes more sense to have it "float" - both because it is easier, and because it allows you to lift and inspect for water damage and rot that can be common around tubs and toilets.

When you buy the roll of vinyl, buy a roll of builder's paper and a roll of wide masking tape and a pack of blades for the utility knife.

Set the roll of vinyl aside, remove the mop boards, and paper the floor with the builder's paper to make an exact pattern. Join it together with the masking tape as needed, but don't skimp on using the tape. Stabilize the paper position on the floor by cutting a few small squares in the paper and taping it in position. Where it folds up at the wall, cut along the crease. Do the same around any fixtures. If you cut too short, just tape on another piece and re-cut. Now unroll the sheet vinyl on a large open surface, like a garage floor or deck. Once you have everything exactly right on the paper, lift the pattern from the floor and use those squares you cut to tape it to the sheet vinyl. Cut around the edges and roll or fold the vinyl to get it in the room. When it is laid down, it will fit PERFECTLY. You can tack the edges or just leave it floating and put the mop boards back.

Working with a pattern and floating the vinyl is about the easiest flooring you can do, even more easy than stick-down squares.


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## brumer0 (Jan 21, 2015)

I am about to have a house built (had my first construction loan meeting today) and my builder showed me some samples of vinyl plank flooring. After some research I have a feeling that this is the way I am going to go. I think this is what bottleneck was referring to, because they do this stuff in planks and squares. might be worth checking into. Its supposed to be easy to install, cheap, and is almost waterproof.


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## Bottleneck (Apr 22, 2014)

This is what we installed


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## beenaround (Mar 2, 2015)

Bottleneck said:


> This is what we installed


That product is easier (than a sheet) and a good one, they strongly stress a dust free environment. It does have a down side, waste is higher...means more is needed. Hasn't been around long, laid it in a kitchen a few years ago, they haven't complained.

Last 3 jobs I did used a product called Alterna, a stone based tile that can be laid tight or grouted in, not inexpensive. Fortunately other manufactures are picking it up, some at half the price. 

All the stuff out these days makes claims of greatness, already seen some fail, like a very popular product, Tyvek. I won't use it anymore.


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## MrSmith (Jun 24, 2009)

In our previous house we had vinyl sheet, vinyl tile and carpet. Our current house had some hardwood, and we put laminate and tile where they had had vinyl, front hall and kitchen laminate, tile in bathroom. Our next house will have sheet vinyl and carpet. 
The mid priced laminate we bought soaks up moisture at every seam and swells. Because it floats, any cut not perfect will slip and expose seam. Every hard thing dropped chips the surface and it scratches easily. Also, with no carpet, we dust everything twice as often, and still have to sweep and use a semi dry mop regularly.
I also worked at a hotel that had laminate in the lobby. No idea what it was, but spills on the floor got under the laminate and seeped back up through seams, but no swelling.
I would never put laminate anywhere any moisture could get in. We had to buy expensive waterproof rugs for our entryway. 
Tile is nice, but was not worth the expense in our opinion. 
I would not put vinyl tiles or planks over a subfloor that was at all susceptible to water swelling. Water will always find a way through a seam.


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## brumer0 (Jan 21, 2015)

I'm thinking vinyl plank in the kitchen and high traffic areas. No bathrooms. What do you think of that?


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## sustainabilly (Jun 20, 2012)

When I remodeled one of the bathrooms, I had to replace some water damaged subfloor. I laid down underlayment before installing the sheet vinyl. Smoothed out any imperfections in the OSB seams. Because the bath had carpeting originally (mobile home), it also made it easier to get the commode to seat firmly on the floor. I cut mine much the same as Harry said above.


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## Bottleneck (Apr 22, 2014)

brumer0 said:


> I'm thinking vinyl plank in the kitchen and high traffic areas. No bathrooms. What do you think of that?


I have actually thought about using it specifically for a bathroom, assuming that I won't be able to bring myself to spending the money on the ceramic tiles that looks like wood. the plank tiles are also available in a stone look.

it is supposed to hold up to spills really well, and only get questionable if left in a flooded situation. there has been a couple that have began to come back up, i left some cinder blocks on them for a day or two and they haven't had it happen again since.

I have laminate in my shops office and the difference in it where the door is is night and day, even cleaning it up immediately, just the moisture from mud and snow has caused pieces to to separate.


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## brumer0 (Jan 21, 2015)

Thanks.


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

One more note on sheet vinyl:

In areas where you know there are going to be spills you can often score the backside of the vinyl and curve it up the wall to form a seamless mopboard. Also, any seams going across the floor can be handled by flipping the sheets before installation and making a waterproof seam between the sheets.


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## Nimrod (Jun 8, 2010)

I've laid my share of sheet vinyl. It expands and contracts with the temperature. You have to set the roll in the room it's going in and leave it for 4 or 5 days so it acclimates to that room. 

Remove all the trim, baseboard, or whatever you call it around the perimeter of the room.

Pull the toilet and pedestal sink. You are going to install them on top of the vinyl when you are done. 

Vacuum the floor repeatedly. Any bit you lay the vinyl over will show up as a bump once the floor is down.

Lay the whole roll out on the floor. Straighten it so the pattern is parallel with the walls. If the room is not square then make the pattern parallel in the most noticeable area. 

On a warm day, so the vinyl is expanded, trim the vinyl. Leave about an 1/8 of an inch gap where the baseboard will cover it up so the vinyl can expand without bulging. Trim right up to the door frame and other places where the baseboard won't cover.

Some vinyl is perimeter glued and some you glue everywhere. Follow the manufacturer's instructions. Stapling is not a good idea because the vinyl has to be able to expand and contract.

Peel back a quarter or half at a time and spread the glue. Lay the vinyl back down and go over it with a heavy roller. You can rent a roller. Work the trapped air bubbles to the edge so they can escape. Repeat with another quarter or half.

If you must have a seam between rolls then glue the first roll down, place the second roll so it overlaps the first and the patterns match up, glue the second piece down, and, while the glue is still wet, use a straight edge and razor knife to cut through both pieces at the same time along a line in the pattern so the cut is less noticeable. Remove the pieces you cut off and the cut edges should line up exactly when you lay them down. Wait for the glue to dry then apply seam sealer to the seam. This will prevent liquids from penetrating the seam and causing problems. 

Good luck.


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## Jokarva (Jan 17, 2010)

We will have sheet vinyl installed in the rental house when it becomes vacant, will let a pro do it though. Sheet vinyl is so much better than it used to be.

There are also loose lay vinyl planks, they are thick and lay flat with no adhesive or fasteners. They can be taken up and relaid, and if one is damaged it can be replaced easily. Karndeen is the brand we're looking at for upstairs bathroom. Lowe's has one too, but isn't very good quality.


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## dolfan (Aug 3, 2013)

Thanks. I dont know what she will do, I know the bathroom needs something done to it. I have thought about doing something here at my place. I went to lowes to see about how much i would need(living /dining room is about 26 x 13) but no one was there. This past tax time we checked into carpet and vinyl and it was like $3000 plus for carpet and under $2000 for the vinyl, I still want to do something here but not sure if have the money. On the laminate what kind of padding did you use,have seen the boards with padding under it but not sure it would work good. We have a dog and have heard that anything but carpet is bad for dogs bc it will mess the hips up somehow


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## Bottleneck (Apr 22, 2014)

Dunno about for the dogs, in my office I used the white foam underlayment in my office, it worked just fine, however alot of the higher quality laminate comes with the underlayment already attached which would be easier to install.


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## dolfan (Aug 3, 2013)

What can i do if the sub floor is uneven(at the seams)? I am sure it is(my house is a manufactured. What about checking for water moisture,i know to get the wood in the room for a few days thanks


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## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

*What can i do if the sub floor is uneven(at the seams)? *
They make a "thin patch" material available at most lumber yards that is trowel applied to straighten up irregularities like this.

*What about checking for water moisture *
If you suspect moisture in the sub-floor, duct tape a 12" to 18" square piece of plastic (visqueen) down to it sealing the perimeters and leave it a couple days. When you peel it back, if their is condensation on the visqueen of floor, you have moisture in the sub-floor that could cause issues with your flooring adhesive, etc.


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## Bottleneck (Apr 22, 2014)

I had to lay down a coating of underlayment, which wasn't hard, except I had one corner that was an inch lower than the opposite side. Mix it kinda soupy, poor it on and spread with a trowel only as thick as you need.


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## dolfan (Aug 3, 2013)

I was thinking about the seams where it will be uneven in height could a hand held belt sander work? I know that will be slower to do than a company that does wood floors i am sure they have some kind of a powerful sander to do this. thanks


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## Bottleneck (Apr 22, 2014)

You could, but it may not be as even as one would hope. I think that it calls for something like no more than a 1/4" in a foot of change


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## NEfarmgirl (Jan 27, 2009)

We bought a transition that was made specifically for laminate down to vinyl in our previous house. It was a nice gentle slope so if your foot hit it you did not trip. This was only for a stretch that was about 4 feet across though between two rooms. I don't know how big of an area you are dealing with though.


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## Bottleneck (Apr 22, 2014)

Oops, I was still thinking about leveling a floor. Farm girl was correct about the transitions.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

Nimrod said:


> I've laid my share of sheet vinyl. It expands and contracts with the temperature. You have to set the roll in the room it's going in and leave it for 4 or 5 days so it acclimates to that room.
> 
> Remove all the trim, baseboard, or whatever you call it around the perimeter of the room.
> 
> ...


good stuff this is how my dad taught me to do it , only other things are in small complicated rooms like bathrooms with a lot of corners and such we made a pattern from craft paper and masking tape then carried that out to a larger room and taped it down on the unrolled roll of flooring and cut out the perimeter we would also turn the heat up to at least 75 the roll could come up to temp expand and flatten nicely making it flexible to work with 

clean clean clean the floor under the where you plan to put the vinyl , don't be afraid to put down new 1/4 inch plywood to get a good surface to adhere to 

it is 5% removing the old , 90% getting it all ready with a clean flat surface , flooring cut to the room and 5% gluing it down 



I have used the 3 or 4 foot plank vinyl in my kitchen this last go round , I am not happy with it it will go to a roll of sheet vinyl or real ceramic tile when I tear this batch out in a few more years


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## eXo0us (Nov 14, 2015)

we installed vinyl plank over whisper pad, (the white stuff which normally goes under laminate) 

turns out great and no problems with the uneven and ever moving floors in our mobile home.


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## Dead Rabbit (Oct 30, 2010)

Quality laminate is a very good product. They even make laminate that is conducive for moisture areas. Like bathrooms. I've installed thousands of sq ft of laminate. And had no issues. I feel when people have problems is because it's either a dirt cheap product and you get what you pay for or more than likely it's installed wrong. I now refuse to install cheap laminate. It's junk and hard to install. If the homeowner buys there own flooring I insist it's certain brands or they can call someone else.

For bathrooms I only install tile. I don't personally install sheet vinyl. Most every client I have wants tile anyway. Only in commercial apartments do the owners insist on vinyl. I sub that out


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## eXo0us (Nov 14, 2015)

Dead Rabbit said:


> For bathrooms I only install tile. I don't personally install sheet vinyl. Most every client I have wants tile anyway. Only in commercial apartments do the owners insist on vinyl. I sub that out


I've got tile, yet all the grout are all cracked and tile are loose. Not the fault of the installer, it's the building site, we are living in a swamp area and the house is moving between wet and dry season. 

Nothing major, only a couple of tens, yet enough to destroy grout. So next year I'm going to rip out all that tile and install Vinyl planks into the bath.


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## dolfan (Aug 3, 2013)

Dead Rabbit said:


> Quality laminate is a very good product. They even make laminate that is conducive for moisture areas. Like bathrooms. I've installed thousands of sq ft of laminate. And had no issues. I feel when people have problems is because it's either a dirt cheap product and you get what you pay for or more than likely it's installed wrong. I now refuse to install cheap laminate. It's junk and hard to install. If the homeowner buys there own flooring I insist it's certain brands or they can call someone else.
> 
> For bathrooms I only install tile. I don't personally install sheet vinyl. Most every client I have wants tile anyway. Only in commercial apartments do the owners insist on vinyl. I sub that out


May i ask what brands? You can pm me if you dont want to post it on here


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