How to Lay Vinyl Flooring on Floorboards | Step By Step Guide & Vast Info

This article’s main objective is to educate us on how to lay vinyl flooring on floorboards and other topics.

Vinyl flooring is very durable and fits over most surfaces, including concrete. Although the flooring comes in various forms, planks are installable with minimal tools and measuring. The hardest part of the job is often cleaning and leveling the concrete base. After the concrete base is ready, lock the vinyl planks together to install your new floor.

How to Lay Vinyl Flooring on Floorboards

Step 1: Prepare your support.

To facilitate installation, it is essential to prepare the surface on which you will lay your floor. Vinyl can be laid on an existing floor, such as:

• Vinyl or linoleum
• Parquet
• Laminate
• Tile

The most important thing is to have a level, clean, and dry substrate. If the floor is uneven (tile joints, parquet chamfers, or any crack), consider using a leveling compound. Remember, vinyl is a resilient floor covering that will show any dents in the substrate.

Tip: You can use vinyl with a textile backing to even out small backing irregularities (Essentials 220T, Essentials 280, and T Exclusive 280T).

Thoroughly clean the media with a neutral detergent to remove any dirt or dust, and make sure it is scorched before you begin. If the surface is smooth, a primer may be necessary to help the flooring adhere to the substrate.

Step 2: Prepare your flooring.

It is essential that the flooring acclimatizes at least 24 hours before installation to a minimum ambient temperature of 15 ° C. Unroll the flooring and cut it to size, leaving 15-20cm more to avoid running out of material at the end of the laying.

Step 3: Lay your flooring.

As a general rule, the flooring should follow the direction of the primary light source. However, if the room is narrow, such as a hallway, the strips should run the room’s length, regardless of the light’s direction.

Apart from the floor patterns, all consecutive strips should be laid in the opposite direction for a smooth rendering. You will find the explanation in the product description.

Tip: For a long-term installation, the joints should not coincide with the doors and areas where there is the most traffic.

Laying Methods

There are three ways to install your flooring, depending on the size and use of the room. Consider a small room with a lot of traffic (an entrance, for example), such as a medium-sized room.

• Small room (<12 m²): A floating installation is sufficient. You can lay your vinyl flooring on the backing. Unroll, cut the flooring to the right size, and you’re done – easy!
• Medium room (<25 m²) A semi-floating installation will do the trick. Use double-sided tape around the room to secure the flooring.
• In large rooms (> 25 m²), it is necessary to glue the vinyl. For this, we have a simple and ecological solution: Use the water-based spray glue, Tarkospray.

Finishing Keys

For a clean finish, don’t forget to add a plinth around the room – it will protect the edges of the vinyl strip and the bottom of your wall and make cleaning easier. It will also add elegance to the final result.

There are several types of plinths:

• Self-adhesive flexible PVC skirting boards. They come in several colors and are very easy to install; with their foam backing, they adapt to irregular surfaces without preparation.
• Double-sided self-adhesive PVC flexible skirting boards into which you can insert a flooring piece for a continuity effect.
• Classic rigid plinths made of wood or MDF can be glued or screwed to the walls.

Overall, installing vinyl is pretty straightforward. Here are the six things you need to remember:

• The substrate must be level, clean, and dry.
• Don’t rush – the soil should acclimate for a minimum of 24 hours.
• Leave an excess of vinyl for safety around the room to ensure it does not fall too short with the floor.

How to Install Vinyl Flooring

The vinyl flooring is resistant to traffic and very durable. They come in various finishes, so you will surely be able to find one that fits what you are looking for, and that goes with the decoration of your home.

It is also a perfect option for households with pets or people with allergies since pollen, dust, and animal hair can be easily cleaned.

Sketch the room

Even if you are not an experienced draftsman, this first step will allow you to calculate the room’s measurements and verify how many cuts you will have to make from each strip or tile. That way, you will know exactly how much to buy.

You can also take that drawing to the floor’s seller, and he can help you calculate the amount more accurately, considering the appropriate cuts. Remember that, even if it is a square and simple room, you will have to add 10% of the surface for cuts and waste. In other words, if the room has 50 square meters, the right thing to do is buy 55 meters of floor.

Present and cut the vinyl

Present the vinyl flooring in the room and mark the area where the excesses will be cut. To cut, you can use a very sharp knife or a heavy-duty cutter or knife. If you want, you can save your vinyl floor clippings to put in a closet, laundry room, or small bathroom.

Prepare the floor

Now you have to ensure that the floor you will put the vinyl on is in good condition. It has to be flat and completely smooth.

To do this, you will have to use a product known as a leveling mass, which will help you cover pores or imperfections in concrete floors and level the joints of ceramic or porcelain feet.

Learn More: Ceramic Floor Tile

Remove baseboards and clean.

While the leveling compound is drying, you can take the opportunity to remove the baseboards from the room and perform a cleaning, making sure that the surface of the floor is spotless.

Learn More: How To Remove Porcelain Floor Tiles Without Breaking Them

Sand the leveling compound

You must apply fine sandpaper, very gently, to the entire treated surface to correct any level imperfections. Once this step is completed, you will have to remove all the dust generated when sanding and leave the place clean.

Place the adhesive

I opened the can of adhesive material and, using a finely notched trowel, spread a band of glue along the wall approximately 25 centimeters wide.

If this is the first time you will do a job of this type, the idea is that you work with a water-based adhesive since it allows you to correct on the fly if you make a mistake when laying the floor.

Lay the floor

Then I put the vinyl back in position and, using a manual roller or a block of wood wrapped in a clean cloth, you have to unfold and press the vinyl on the surface.

Using the wood wrapped in a cloth will save you money, since you will not have to buy a new tool.

Baseboards and cleaning

Once the installation is complete, you must let it dry for at least 24 hours. Then you can proceed to place the baseboards that you had removed.

Finally, you can clean the floor usually. The maintenance of this type of coating is straightforward. It is enough to sweep it up and use a damp mop with a no-rinse cleaner.

Clarification: if the type of flooring you chose is recessed or self-adhesive, you can skip the glue placement step. In any case, you should always ensure that the surface is well leveled and clean.

Advantages of Vinyl Flooring

Strength

Vinyl is chosen for its durability and durability. It is plastic, not afraid of loads, heels, impacts, and friction does not paint or crack. It is essential that fragments damaged during operation can be removed and replaced. In this regard, tile material is more profitable than sheet material.

Moisture Resistance

Quartz vinyl tiles are impervious to water, and the threat of leaks is minimal. This allows you to use vinyl flooring in the bathroom, toilet, and kitchen.

Easy Maintenance

Maintenance of such a floor is not difficult. It is enough to sweep away the debris and then wash with a wet mop. To remove dirt, use appropriate detergent compositions.

Fast Styling

Vinyl flooring is even placed on top of the old floor – concrete, wood, tiled. The main thing is that there are no significant differences in height and protruding nails.

Durability

A correctly assembled vinyl floor lasts 10-20 years; the service life directly depends on the material’s quality, the method of installation, and the room’s characteristics.

Aesthetics

The decorative properties of the material are excellent. Vinyl floors create exquisite, beautiful, and rich colors and patterns; they have no equal. Among the demand, models have printed tiles with wood, marble, granite, terracotta, and other materials with various shades, textures, and textures.

Comfort

Regardless of the type of surface (it can be smooth or rough, matte or glossy), the vinyl appears soft and resilient. It is pleasant to walk on such flooring; besides, they remain warm in winter.

Disadvantages of Vinyl Floors

Despite an impressive list of advantages, vinyl flooring is not 100% flawless. Robust, affordable, and beautiful, it still has certain drawbacks. And the most obvious one relates to the impact on the environment. Plasticizers and stabilizers in the composition do not make vinyl floors eco-friendly and 100% natural materials. Vinyl does not rot, and it takes a long time for its natural destruction. Moreover, it is rarely recycled.

Other features:

• Insulation: Thin vinyl tiles are almost often in additional insulation, which increases costs.
• Softness: Vinyl can wear out a lot if laid on top of a defective sub-floor. It is better to level the base to avoid scuffs and damage to the coating.
• Toxicity:  The materials in quartz vinyl tiles sometimes release toxic compounds. This can irritate the eyes and respiratory system. The main degassing takes place immediately after the deck is assembled.
• Color: Vinyl is susceptible to chemical pigmentation and can change color – for example, by reacting with rubber. Rugs and soles can trigger a chemical reaction over time, resulting in discoloration of some floor regions.  Poor-quality material can turn yellow under the influence of sunlight and pollution. To avoid such surprises, it is worth choosing high-quality products.

How to Install Vinyl Plank Flooring Over Tile

Vinyl plank flooring is one of the best flooring options. You can use it in any room in the house and not suffer from some of the other floors’ limitations. It can be installed in damp areas, does not scratch as easily as wood, and is softer underfoot. One of the best things about vinyl planks is installing them on top of many other floors. You can also install the planks on tile floors. These allow you to avoid taking tokens, which can save you a lot of time and money. Here are the basics on how to install vinyl plank flooring over tile.

Step 1 – Determine the number of floors needed.

The first thing to do is to determine precisely how much vinyl you need. Since the flooring comes in planks, you only need to choose the room’s square footage and add 10 percent. Take your tape measure and get the dimensions of the room. Multiply the room’s length and width to get the square footage, then accept 10 percent waste.

Step 2 – Order the materials.

Go to your preferred flooring store and request supplies. You will need to order the vinyl planks you prefer and the appropriate adhesive for the job. Many vinyl boards are now installed with a pressure-sensitive adhesive that is specific to each brand of vinyl. Therefore, you will most likely have to make a particular order for the flooring and adhesive.

Step 3 – Acclimate the planks.

Once your vinyl arrives, you should pick it up and bring it home at least one day before installing. Vinyl can expand and contract a bit temperature specific and needs to acclimate to the environment in which it will be installed. Otherwise, you may find some gaps in the floor after it has been installed.

Step 4 – Prepare the tile floor.

You will need to level the tile floor to apply the vinyl to it. Using a floor patch and trowel, you can fill in the leaks’ gaps and level everything out. Cover the entire floor with this leveling compound for a clean slate to work and allow it to dry sufficiently before installing the boards.

Step 5: Apply the adhesive.

If you have a pressure-sensitive adhesive, you should be able to roll it on the floor with a paint roller. If you are using a different type of glue, you may need to throw it on the floor.

Step 6 – Install the planks.

Apply the boards one at a time, starting from one corner of the room and exercising. Cut the panels using the ruler and utility knife to fit the space.

Tips Laying the Plywood on a Wooden Floor

Tip-1:

Make a correct and high-quality cut of the sheets, preferably 60 by 60 cm, and arrange them with an offset of 30 cm in each subsequent row. All sheets prone to delamination after cutting with a jigsaw should be replaced with solid ones or glued with special quick-drying construction glue. In such cases, the floor will need to be slightly postponed until it dries completely.

Tip-2:

We carry out the preliminary laying of the plywood on the floor, pre-numbing the sheets. If everything converges, there are no errors and further adaptation of the material, then we remove everything and begin to take care of the wood siding.

Tip-3:

Clean the wooden planks from pollution, dust, condensation, check all cracks, remove deep cracks. Ensure you eliminate all types of warps and scratching on the board. Likewise, remove all unsuitable boards and fix the loose ones with nails. After a thorough check, we pass along the surface with a vacuum cleaner, removing residual debris and dirt.

Tip-4:

Prepared squares of plywood are laid out on a wooden floor, taking into account the temperature seams. The distance between sheets should not be more than 10 mm, and between the plywood and the wall – up to 20 mm.

Tip-5:

Now the sheets need reliable and robust fastening. To perform this, pre-drill the holes with a screwdriver and screw. The screws so that the cap does not remain on the surface but is well embedded in the material. For a 12mm plywood sheet, 40mm long self-tapping screws will be best suited.

Tip-6:

After laying and fixing with a self-tapping screw or adhesive, the plywood sheet’s edge should be wiped with an emery sheet so that there are no bulges and irregularities.

Tip-7:

After fixing the plywood to the wooden floor, the surface can be painted for a more aesthetic look. Such plywood will serve as a final option for flooring.

Choosing the Right Flooring for your Basement

You have finished the plans or even started the work, but the question remains: which floor should I choose for my basement? First of all, as a matter of taste, your floor choice also raises the challenges encountered in the basement arrangement, such as insulation, humidity, or room use. And with so many options available, choosing a basement flooring can become a much more complicated step than you might think. With concrete foundations, basements tend to see moisture or water seep much more quickly.

These are the most crucial features in your basement layout and require a specific approach, unlike the rest of the house. Humidity can cause swelling and deformation of the floor and can even lead to mold formation, which is harmful to health and materials.

If the basement tends to be particularly humid, we will counter this effect by installing moisture barrier materials such as plastic, felt, adhesives, or specific paints. Different options can help prevent moisture from entering the home. The best insulation will be selected based on the material chosen for the flooring.

Another solution to counter humidity is to raise your floor covering above the concrete floor. By allowing air to pass between the floor and the ground, moisture can dissipate and not infiltrate the top layers. For this option, you can choose to use membranes placed directly on the concrete floor or to buy tiles, including a plastic base that will work in the same way and allow the removal and washing. Get tiles as needed.

Learn More: How To Remove Slate Floor Tiles

Equalize the Surface

Another issue encountered when fitting out a basement is the unevenness of the soil. Rarely perfect, concrete floors often tend to be uneven, with dents or holes in spots. Before placing the chosen floor covering, we will seek to level the surface with pockets of cement, for example, which will act as a “sub-floor.” Depending on the material chosen for this step, you must be careful to adopt the appropriate technique.

Watch out for Flooding

By their very nature, basements, as tight and protected as they are, are not immune to flooding. If we know that the foundations tend to let water through, we will be doubly careful to keep the space tight by installing a drainage system, for example. The choice of floor covering will also be made accordingly: we will opt for a floor that can be wet, such as tiling.

Decide on the use

Once the humidity, surface, and flood issues have been resolved, we will look at our basement’s planned use. For a game room, an extra bedroom, or a cinema room, the carpet option is ideal. In a gym or workshop, a concrete or linoleum floor will be perfect. For a second kitchen, we will choose tiling.

Usually thought of as an extra room, the basement can often be built after the house rest. There is an advantage that allows you to take your time to choose the right materials and ensure their best possible use. Do not hesitate to call on professionals to have an expert view of your situation and thus take advantage of this space to its full potential.

Last Words

We believe this article has impacted a lot into our lives on lay vinyl flooring, vinyl flooring on board, the recommended tool people use to lay vinyl flooring on floorboards, and other relevant topics discussed in the articles.

Read More: How to Get Stain Off Vinyl Siding