How to install Vinyl Flooring

Plan/Prepare:

Calculate the amount of flooring you will need (generally you want to purchase about 10% MORE than you calculate to accommodate for mistakes and/or waste). My bathroom + master closet floor space is approximately 112 square feet. I wanted the flooring to continue into the master closet.

If I take my approximate of 112, and multiply it by 1.10, I get 123.2. I want to buy AT LEAST enough material to cover 124 (rounding up) square feet.

The vinyl flooring I selected was Shaw® Vancouver Ember. It came in boxes that covered approximately 18/sq feet each, so I purchased 7 boxes from my local home improvement store, so I should have enough coverage for 126 square feet.

Most home improvement stores can help you calculate the amount of materials you need based on the measurements you’ve taken.

For any kind of planking, think about which direction you want the planks to go. Vertically or horizontally along the floor in the room. The general rule of thumb I use is: the long side of the plank should go along the longest wall in the space.

Generally speaking, with a DIY room update, you want to complete the flooring last. Note in my picture that the new shower basin and the tile surrounding the tub is already complete. This is done on purpose so my flooring can sit right up against the new material, and I can simply caulk the space between. Its important to think through your project steps when taking on an entire room project. If you need help walking through this, check out my DIY Project Checklist for more help.

Out with the old:

Start by removing any old flooring. For my bathroom, this was pretty easy as it was just one large piece of laminate flooring that was glued down. I could have simply gone over it, but I wanted to make sure I didn’t have anything unknown below it. The closet previously had carpet, so this and the padding was also removed.

Once removed, I could see the plywood below. Because my master closet had carpet before this update, I actually had to purchase a plywood plank for the closet space to ensure the floor was even between the bathroom and closet.

If laying on concrete, a vapor barrier may be required, check the installation instructions of the flooring you purchased. For my project, a vapor barrier was not required.

Like I said, in my closet, I removed a piece of carpet, so I had to make sure all the tack strips, carpet staples, and any other fasteners were removed.

I vacuumed several times to ensure any dust/dirt was removed from the entire flooring.

I was very fortunate that my sub-floor was very level, but I made sure to double check. If needed, I would have added floor leveling compound to make sure I didn’t have any high/low spots that would make my flooring look wavy in the end.

I was now ready to cut!

Design the new floor layout:

Before I cut my first “tile”, I wanted to make sure I understood how wide the first and last row would be. To get this measurement, I AGAIN measured the width of the room. Then I measured the width of one tile. I knew the gap between tiles was going to be VERY small, so I didn’t bother with including it in my calculation. This will help my understand how to cut my first row (NOTE: The FIRST row is almost ALWAYS the hardest).

In the above example, the *total room width is 90 inches (*leaving a 1/4 inch gap between the tile edge and the wall for expansion. Tile should NOT butt up directly to the wall).

If we are using 12 inch tile, the amount of rows needed will be 7.5. (90 inches / 12 inches = 7.5 rows). This means the first tile will be cut to 6 inches wide.

Another option is to split the first and last row, so both rows are partial rows. This will depend on the size of the room, and the width of the tile. If the same room is using an 8.5 inch wide tile, the amount of rows would be would now be calculated as 90 inches / 8.5 inches = 10.6 rows.

You could split the first and last row so they are both partial rows, say 1/3 of a tile for the first row and 1/3 of a tile for the last row.

THIS IS A GENERAL GUIDANCE. Each room will be different. A row that is too thin will look out of place so use your best judgement.

Ok, enough math…. let’s get working.

Prepare the new flooring:

After purchasing the vinyl planks, open at least 2-3 of the boxes and start mixing up the pieces. Sometimes there are small variations to color or texture, and mixing them up will allow for these anomalies to “disappear” when laying the floor. Allow them to sit up to 24 hours (or longer if the installations instructions advise it).

First row and beyond:

To make straight cuts, use a speed square straight edge, and run a Box Cutter/Retractable knife along the speed square. This will score the vinyl plank. For wider planks, you may need to score from top and bottom.

Then simply bend, and snap!

For thinner cuts, or L-shaped cuts, use a pliers to bend and snap.

Take your time on the first row, this will be the foundation for the rest of the floor.

Once the first row is in, start with the second row, staggering the joints by 30-50% (sometimes the installation instructions will advise how much to stagger the joints for the best finished look. When you join the row to the neighboring one, you should be able to “click” them into place. If needed use a RUBBER mallet to hammer down loose joints. (DON’T use a steel hammer as this could damage the tiles).

That’s it! The hard part is done, simply keep stacking the rows until you get to the other side of the room!

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Happy DIY’ing!