Installing Vinyl Flooring
Vinyl flooring is really cheap. And I mean really cheap. It typically costs 5-10 pounds per square metre, and with my kitchen only needed 6 sqaure metres of the stuff my floor cost me a grand total of 38 pounds.
The only drawback was that I decided to ensure that the flooring stayed cheap by fitting it myself!
So how do you fit Vinyl flooring?
It isn't an easy job as you generally only get one shot at cutting the whole sheet correctly. However I discovered a few pointers that should help.
First of all make sure the entire kitchen is cleared out. That means taking out all the appliances you can (I only left the cooker as that was connected to the gas supply) and then giving the floor a good clean. Any lumps or bumps will easily show through the Vinyl flooring. I was lucky enough to be covering over some old plastic style tiles, they looked horrible but they were flat and undamaged.
Measuring out the Vinyl Floor.
Again I was rather lucky as my kitchen only had one edge that was visible (i.e had a skirting board rather than a kitchen appliance or a cupboard unit). Therefore I simply squared the Vinyl flooring up to this edge and rolled the carpet out as much as I could.
The flooring unrolled until it hit the cooker, where I needed to cut out a significant portion. However I made sure that I could tuck the Vinyl flooring UNDERNEATH the cooker after it was cut.
The Vinyl flooring then just had to be trimmed to fit underneath the cupboards and to get around the cupboards. My kitchen has a removable plinth that runs along the bottom of all the cupboards, so this hid all the rough cuts that I had made.
Not enough Vinyl?
Unfortunately I had measured incorrectly and for one small section of the kitchen the Vinyl flooring was not wide enough. No matter I just took out a roll of paper and traced out the size of the piece I needed. Then placed it over a Vinyl off-cut and cut the section to size, using a heavy flat surface to cut against to ensure a good straight edge.
I glued the area around this join down with some 'No more nails' glue, available from all DIY stores. Luckily the section in question is usually hidden by a bin anyway:.
Making the Vinyl lie properly
After I had the sections cut properly I needed to make some final 'subtle' adjustments to the lie of the flooring. This involved putting my shoes on (for grip) and then jumping and pushing on the Vinyl flooring until it was square against the wall, and all wrinkles had come out of it.
Putting the Appliances back with damaging the floor
I didn't realise it, but this was the hard part! Vinyl flooring is cheap, and it is easily damaged, and so dragging a heavy washing machine over the top of it would just rip it to shreds.
To help prevent any damage to the Vinyl flooring I took some thin hardboard and then cut it to the same size as the appliances. I then borrowed an extra pair of arms and lifted the appliances close to their final positions (using an old carpet underneath to prevent scratches on the floor). Then simply mounted them onto the hardboard and slid them into place.
I then placed an extra bit of hardboard to the side of the washing machine, to lay down incase I ever have to pull it out in a hurry. I don't want a ripped Vinyl floor!
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Date Added: Sunday 8th March 2009
"thank you for the tip about how to move the w.machine without ripping the vinyl. It was very useful."
Z.Rahman
Date Added: Tuesday 27th January 2009
"Can I lay vinyl on top of laminate floor"
D
Date Added: Wednesday 13th August 2008
"Has anyone used a 'paste' or filler around the edges of vinyl to give it a neat finish. If so what do you recommend?"
CM
Date Added: Tuesday 12th August 2008
"I always use F44 made by F. Ball Adhesives but I'm sure there are other good adhesives if you check your local DIY store.. In a small area such as a bathroom.. you can get away with just glueing the edges but a larger area such as a kitchen where you might have to move apliances or chairs etc... it is always better to glue total area. You can do this after rough cutting the vinyl then fold back half and apply glue to floor. Unfold to glue then fit vinyl..repeat for second half. With vinyl total area glued the vinyl will always stay flat and you will get no bubbles or rips when moving heavy objects on the floor. Good luck!! Bob "
Bob
Date Added: Monday 4th August 2008
"Thanks for the tip Bob! What sort of glue would you recommend? And do you just paste it over the whole floor or just around the edges?"
Admin
Date Added: Saturday 2nd August 2008
"As a vinyl fitter for many years.. you would get much better results if you had glued the total area. This would stop the vinyl from moving when fitting. Also expanding and creating bumps or bubbles in summer or when room temperature is higher. It would also reduce the risk of damage to the vinyl when moving appliances. "
Bob
Date Added: Tuesday 1st July 2008
"well thank you very much o.t.e. I actually throughly enjoyed fitting my own vinyl flooring and every time I visit the kitchen I have the satisfaction of a good job well done. Maybe my article pointed out a few of the common mistakes that a DIY fitter might make, but at least I chose to share those mistakes with people rather than come up with some sarcastic comments that help no one"
aDMIN
Date Added: Tuesday 1st July 2008
"o.t.e. - Good to know there is someone in this world that hasn't tried to do a job DIY and then regretted not getting some in to do it. Congratulations Sir, you are literally one in a million"
Righteous
Date Added: Saturday 28th June 2008
"amazing you sound like a total (edit: nice person)
its like listening to a child that has had his first meal and how it went all over you.if you cant cut then dont cut,
fitters only charge around the £2.50 m2
m,ay of gone up abit but hey not that much to bugger a floor up"
o.t.e.
Date Added: Tuesday 3rd June 2008
"Many thanks for the tip on how to avoid damaging flooring with washing machine. New vinyl flooring being instaled tomorrow and i have been wondering what the best way would be to protect it"
gaynor
Date Added: Thursday 31st January 2008
" i am going to attempt to lay vinyl,so reading this has eased my worries some what.thanks for the information"
jamie