We have created a free Luxury Vinyl DIY Guide PDF with step by step instructions and a combined version of the three blog posts in this series. Click here to get a copy of the 8 page PDF.
Not ready to DIY your flooring? We offer professional installation backed by a lifetime installation warranty!
What Makes Luxury Vinyl DIY Friendly?
Advances in flooring technology have made some types of floors much easier to install than in years past, vinyl included. Read on to find out why luxury vinyl is the perfect floor for DIY.
1. Click Together Planks
Most luxury vinyl planks have a click together construction that makes installation easy, even for those with little to no flooring installation experience. You may have also heard this type of floor referred to as snap-together flooring, click-lock flooring, or interlocking flooring. During installation, all you need to do is slightly angle the plank that you are trying to attach to the plank on the floor. As you lower down, make sure that the tongue and groove are aligned. It's as simple as that!
2. Minimal Tools Needed
Unlike carpet and hardwood, luxury vinyl doesn't take expensive, specialty tools to ensure installation is done right. Most of the tools needed can be found in the average homeowner's garage. A tape measure and pencil to mark cuts, a utility knife to score length cuts, and a table saw for width cuts are the most important tools. Tapping blocks and spacers are needed and are unique to luxury vinyl but can be purchased or rented at affordable prices.
3. Easy To Cut Planks
Luxury vinyl is extremely durable but is also easy to cut. We recommend a flooring "chopper" with a blade that makes clean cuts. Cuts can also be made by scoring the top of the floor with a utility knife and snapping the plank. Move across a room quickly with easy to cut planks.
4. Can Install Over Most Floors
Luxury vinyl for residential areas does not require any sort of glue and "floats" over the existing floor. Luxury vinyl is suitable for installation over many different types of floors including wood subfloor, concrete, ceramic tile, resilient tile, and sheet vinyl. This versatility makes it a good option for most rooms in your home. No matter the type of floor, the most important thing is to ensure that the floor is flat prior to installation. Most manufacturers recommend that the floor be flat to within 3/16 inch within a 10 feet radius. Floors that luxury vinyl should not be installed over include floating floors, carpet, cushion-backed vinyl, and hardwood installed directly over concrete.
Interested in purchasing luxury vinyl? We carry luxury vinyl from today's top manufacturers such as Shaw, COREtec, Audacity, AquaLok, Mohawk, Casabella, and Mannington. Our locations in Clayton, Ohio and Springboro, Ohio have thousands of square feet of luxury vinyl in-stock and ready for pick-up today. We have found that our in-stock prices are less than the prices on comparable products at big box stores!
Contact or visit us today to get started on new floors for your home.
