Vinyl Flooring Ideas

When its time for a make over of your home, budget is one factor that affects the decision making. Flooring can be the priciest of the materials that you want to upgrade in your home. Some people would rather focus their money on furniture or paintings to upgrade the look in their home. With today’s floors their is a solution to this challenge. Luxury vinyl is becoming a popular choice for people. Not only will it help out with that budget, it will still maintain the impressive look of a well chosen floor. Before you choose to pick a vinyl floor it is important to balance the pro’s and con’s of vinyl flooring.

Pros

Pricing- As stated before, vinyl and vinyl tiles are priced fairly to accommodate the tightest budgets. You will be able to focus your budget on other parts of interior design. As you read on you will see how selecting a vinyl floor will save you some money

Installation- One of the great things about vinyl sheet flooring is that it can be installed anywhere. Vinyl sheet and tiles, in most cases, can be installed over the existing floor. This will save you money on installation fees that can add up. Any repairs to level a sub-floor and the cost of tearing out your existing floor would no longer come into play.

Sturdiness- Even in bathrooms or kitchens, where their is a ton of moisture, vinyl sheet performs at a high level. Only in bathrooms you might want to avoid installing vinyl tiles, but anywhere else the floor will be sturdy and last a long time. Because vinyl is softer than real tile or wood, it is ideal for people with young children and pets of any size.

Appearance- Each year the craftsmen that design floors get better and better. The vinyl tiles that simulate tile or stone look identical to the real version. A flooring professional will have a hard time distinguishing the difference when trying to identify which floor is vinyl. Recently added to the flooring industry is vinyl planks, when installed, that look very similar to wood flooring. Vinyl appearance will improve more and more each year.

Cons

Real Feel- Even with all the new improvements of the vinyl flooring design, the material is still not the same as the real thing. The feeling of the floor may be too plastic or sticky for some. This may turn away people who enjoy walking around their home bare footed.

Tiles and Solid Pieces- Vinyl sheet will perform well in any room in your home. Vinyl tile is great looking but will not be a good choice for your bathroom. With all the moisture that comes with the territory, the water may slip through the cracks of a tile floor. The moisture may cause the floor to discolor or swell.

Home Value- Vinyl may in some cases lower the value of your home. As stated before the material is not the same as real hardwood, tile or stone. As a result the value increase that comes with an authentic floor will not with a vinyl floor.

This week we took on a small two day job. We spent the day laying vinyl flooring over vinyl flooring. Which can be tricky to get right but with the right information and procedures, any do-it-yourself-er and home owner can take on a job like this with confidence. As always I will list all tools and materials you will need to lay vinyl flooring over vinyl flooring.

Materials:

Your new vinyl flooring
Vinyl flooring adhesive (we used a releasable pressure sensitive adhesive from Chap-co)
Skim coat
Finish nails
caulking(try and match the color of your flooring)
Blue painters tape
If not reusing old baseboard and thresholds your will need to purchase new

Tools:

Razor blade (hook blade and standard blade)
Hammer & flat bar
Masonry Trowel
Vacuum
Finish nail gun(hammer and nail set will also work)
Miter Saw(not necessary if reusing old moulding)
Paint brush & roller(if using releasable pressure sensitive adhesive, with some adhesives you will need a 1/8 notched tile trowel to spread your glue, always make sure to read and follow the manufacturers instructions on container)
Caulking gun
2×4 wrapped in carpet or a towel

Being a homeowner you will most likely own these tools. If not, you can pick them up at your local hardware store and not have to worry as you will be able to use any of these listed tools time and time again.

1. Firstly and most obviously you will need to clear out the area. If its your kitchen it is always best to remove your refrigerator and stove to run the flooring under them.

2. Using your hammer and flat bar, it’s time to remove any base board moulding or quarter round trim from around the edges of your floor. If you are going to simply reuse your old moulding make sure not to break any of your pieces as your removing them. Seeing as your going with a brand new floor I would suggest replacing all the moulding. It depends how beat up the old moulding is and your budget.

3. Inspect your floor. Look for bubbles and loose areas. Using your razor blade, w/ a standard blade, cut out and remove these bad areas.

4. Vacuum the floor of all dirt and debris to keep it out of your skim coat.

5. Now it’s time to skim coat the floor. We used a Henry 547 Universal Patch & Skim Coat. This skim coat simply gets mixed with water. Follow the instructions on the package of whatever skim coat you choose to use. If you are filling in areas where it will be thicker you will want to fill those areas with a thicker mix. Using your masonry trowel, spread the skim coat across the entire floor. This will fill in the areas you needed to remove as well as any texture in the existing vinyl. Even if you don’t need to cut any areas out, your new vinyl will suck up tight to the old flooring so much that you will see the texture of the old floor come through to your new floor. This is a necessary step and is what makes laying vinyl flooring over vinyl flooring possible.

6. Wrap it up, you’re done for about 14-18 hours depending on how long your skim coat product needs to set and dry.

7. Now that your skim coat has dried. Inspect the surface. Using your trowel scrape off any drips or any lines you left. The key to the skim coat is to get it perfectly flat as possible.

8. Vacuum the entire floor very thoroughly. Any debris you leave on your floor will be seen through the new vinyl.

9. Now it is time to cut out your new vinyl flooring. There are a couple ways you might want to tackle this. You can simply take measurements and draw a diagram for yourself to follow. Another way is to get a roll of construction paper, lay it out and cut yourself a pattern. Either way you choose to do this you need to make sure to leave a good 2 inches all the way around. The hook blade works great for cutting out your new floor. If you are using a felt backed vinyl you will need to make relief cuts in the inside corners of your new flooring. You will also need to tape these corners with blue painters tape to reinforce them. Felt backed vinyl is brittle. It will crack and tear on you especially in those corners. If you are using a sheet vinyl product you will not have to worry about this.

10. Carry your new flooring into the area and carefully spread it and lay it down where it goes. Using your standard blade push the excess you left into the corners and cut off the excess around the entire floor. If you are using a floor that has straight lines running through it you will want to make sure you have those lines lined up how you want them before you cut your floor. You may need to shift it over and if you have already cut it you might not be big enough to fit up to the wall.

11. Once you have your floor all cut out and ready to go, it’s time for glue. with the releasable pressure sensitive adhesive you will be able to simply paint it on the floor. Other glues may require a notched trowel. Read and follow the directions on the glue you are using. The releasable adhesive is recommended, by the manufacturer, for sheet vinyl product. Fold back one side of your flooring about halfway back. Spread your glue. If you want a permanent bond with the releasable adhesive you won’t want to let it dry completely. Once the glue is ready, carefully lay your vinyl back where it was on the floor. Using a length of 2×4 covered in carpet(or wrapped in a towel) press and slide out the flooring towards the outside edges. This is going to force out bubbles and wrinkles, ensuring a tight bond. Repeat this for the other side of your floor.

12. Now you can replace your old moulding and thresholds. If you choose to replace your moulding, make sure your measurements are correct and angles are correct. If you try using the old pieces as templates they will all run slightly larger and won’t fit in their places. If you weren’t able to get your floor perfect and there are some areas that aren’t completely covered, either by the base board or new flooring (i.e. around doorways and their trim), you can use caulking to fill in these areas.

13. Some glues require waiting a while to dry, before moving any furniture or appliances on top of it. A good rule of thumb would be to wait a couple hours before moving things back, but just see what the product your using recommends and follow that.

It is a fairly simple process for any homeowner or do-it-yourself-er. The key is your skim coat. This is what makes laying vinyl flooring over vinyl flooring possible. The texture of your old floor WILL show through on your new vinyl if you do not skim coat it.

I mentioned felt back/paper back vinyl and whats called sheet vinyl. Vinyl itself is a very inexpensive material for a great looking brand new floor. The price range between your cheaper(felt backed, cracks and tears VERY easily) and your higher quality(sheet vinyl, won’t crack, tear or crease) vinyls isn’t a big difference. Sheet vinyl is so much easier to work with and lay. The difference in price will be well worth the frustration of installing it. Not to mention if you buy the cheaper vinyl and it tears, your going to need to either purchase a vinyl seam bonding product or go out and buy another piece of vinyl. We highly recommend using a sheet vinyl product with a releasable pressure sensitive adhesive for best results.

Laying vinyl flooring over vinyl flooring is a great weekend project that will leave you with a beautiful new floor as well as increase the value of your home. Good luck on your next home improvement project, and make sure to check back with us for new and updated information on DIY and home improvements.

A person who decides to change their flooring may be looking into several options. There are many kinds of flooring available, including tile, hardwood flooring, and plank vinyl flooring. When it comes time to make a decision, a person should have information about each one so a wise, educated decision can be made. Is plank vinyl flooring the best kind to choose from? What are the pros and cons of this kind of flooring? Here is more information on whether plank vinyl flooring will fulfill all the needs of someone who is changing the floors in their home.

The biggest reason to considering buying plank vinyl is the fact that it is pretty inexpensive. Not everyone can afford to pay a huge amount of money just to get their flooring done, so being able to afford to get a new floor at a reasonable price is always a plus. Wood floors are beautiful, and with plank vinyl flooring, a homeowner can get the look of wood without the huge cost that comes with a wooden floor. Everyone will admire the beauty of the wood floor, and the fact it is vinyl will be a secret only the homeowner can tell.

A con with the vinyl is that because it is designed to resemble wood, the options for the colors may be limited. Something like tile comes in thousands of colors and styles, but there really is a limit to what the plank vinyl comes in, but the floor is still beautiful despite limited options for color and design.

Another pro to plank flooring is that it is very easy to install. Hiring a professional to put a floor in can cost a lot of money, but with this type of flooring, a homeowner can easily do the job on their own. However, one drawback to self-installing is that a mistake can be made. Unless the person putting down the flooring is an expert at it, it would be possible to do something wrong. The decision to use a professional or not is a difficult one to make, and a person may not be able to afford it.

The decision to get a new floor can be a big one that the homeowner has to consider very carefully. Weighing the pros and cons of plank vinyl can make it much easier to decide whether or not to redo the floor. Though no matter if it is with plank vinyl or another kind, a new floor will really breathe new life into a home.

Choosing the correct floor type for your home is indeed a difficult task. Hence, before you go for vinyl plank flooring take into account the pros and cons of installing one.

The biggest review of its type discovers that more than 50 percent of the flooring surfaces examined included one or more dangerous material preservatives.

Certain flooring components could put your family members wellness at danger.

Many of us are really trying to put our best foot forward when it comes to living better, eco-friendly lives. But if you’re not focusing on what you’re actually walking on, you could be neglecting a major source of inside air contamination and toxic-chemical visibility. The consumer-health-protection company HealthyStuff.org recently released a review finding that a popular type of flooring surfaces contains unpleasant ingredients connected to everything from autism to sterility, melanoma, and low IQ in kids.

THE DETAILS: Scientists examined more than 3,300 home-improvement items, such as 1,000-plus examples of flooring surfaces and more than 2,300 examples of wallpapers. Flooring including vinyl (PVC) types, along with real lino (vinyl sometimes impersonates itself as linoleum), bamboo bedding, clay floor tiles, real wood, and cork. Previous studies have discovered that dangerous ingredients wick off and stay air born contaminates that are worse than outdoor contamination and have found it embedded in the household dust that we ingesting every day.

PVC components, namely, vinyl floors and wall surface coverings like wallpapers, were seven times more likely to contain dangerous preservatives when compared to non plastic flooring surfaces choices. Wallpaper was particularly harmful because 96 percent examined included a PVC covering.

Researchers also discovered pollutants like cadmium and lead in vinyl floors and wallpapers, along with fire retardants. These ingredients are connected to bronchial asthma, infertility issues, studying impairment, hormone-related illnesses, and melanoma. Non-vinyl flooring surfaces were 50 percent less likely to contain dangerous material preservatives. Linoleum, cork, bamboo hardwood and real wood all examined free of lead, cadmium, mercury, and other dangerous materials.

WHAT IT MEANS: Remodeling? You may want to take a note to this fact: There are no effective rules that require companies to test for pollutants in construction materials or to reveal them to customers. Remarkably, some of the dangerous phthalates discovered in soft floors in this review have been prohibited from kid’s toys and games. Which suggests some little kids will learn to spider face-first in the same harmful toxins that are risky for their toys and games. Missing any warnings, it’s hard to collect information on these ingredients, or even to be certain how many of us are exposed to them.

The President’s Cancer Board advised to avoid phthalates, a common dangerous material contained in vinyl based products.

Here’s how to protect against harmful flooring surfaces in your home:

Look for for safe, green alternatives. Check your current Interior
building materials and replace with less invasive ones. Try searching websites like HealthyStuff.org’s for healthy home Improvement alternatives. seek ideas on ways to start removing toxins: Change out vinyl shower drapes for non-PVC choices. Choose natural materials for your kid’s school bags. (Shy away from bright stickers on book bags… these are likely PVC.)

If you’re looking to begin a more natural flooring choice, don’t even consider vinyl floors. Actually, remove vinyl items of any type whenever possible. It’s dangerous for you, and its by-products are contamination hotbeds for areas around production plants & factories. Instead, look for eco-friendly choices like cork, bamboo hardwood.

For a more healthy school Environment, Contact your child’s school directors and ask them to stop purchasing building materials associated with asthma and learning suppression issues. Some school children across the country spend their days in classes with chemical-laden vinyl floors. Vinyl flooring surfaces in educational institutions and houses pollutes the air our kids take in and endangers their wellness.

We’re not trying to tell everyone to rip out all there flooring and replace them. We realize this is not always economically doable for schools or property owners.

Knowing that some flooring choices are better than others is a great start in clearing the air when planning your next flooring project.