Install Plywood Underlayment for Vinyl Flooring. There are plenty of reasons to install sheet vinyl flooring, not the least of which is cost savings over other flooring materials.

Vinyl flooring is available in a huge number of patterns and colors, is easy to clean and is softer to walk on than most other hard surfaces. Because you can install sheet vinyl over existing vinyl, it offers the option of changing design without breaking the bank.

Vinyl flooring is usually not installed directly over the subfloor in residential applications. In most cases 4- by- 8- foot sheets of particle board or plywood must be installed in preparation for the vinyl floor install. One of the big considerations when installing different types of flooring in the home is getting the finished elevations to match. Cement board, thinset and tile add up to about 5/8 inch. Traditional hardwood flooring is 3/4- inch thick and carpet with pad is usually between 5/8 and 1 inch, depending on the type. Sheet vinyl, however is only about 1/1. It needs to be built up to the same elevation of the other flooring types in the house.

Ferma Flooring provides the very concrete installation procedures for inexpensive and visually stunning luxury vinyl products.

The thinness and softness of sheet vinyl requires that it be installed on a surface that is very flat and smooth. Installing underlayment in the vinyl areas supplies the elevation, smoothness and levelness necessary for the proper installation of vinyl floors. Particle Board. One common underlayment for vinyl floors is 1/2- inch particle board. It’s inexpensive, flat, smooth and bonds well to the vinyl adhesives. On the downside, particle board underlayment has very little structural strength.

In fact it must be supported by a strong subfloor with limited gaps and it can bridge only small holes. Another weakness of particleboard underlayment is that it really doesn’t like water. It soaks in water like a sponge. Water makes it swell unevenly, which causes bubble- like irregularities in the surface. Add enough water and the particle board will fall apart. So, in areas prone to water exposure, don’t use particle board.

Plywood. Another common underlayment material is plywood, which has an advantage over particle board in structural strength and water resistance. One concern with plywood, as a walked- on surface, is that voids in the interior veneer layers may allow a depression in the flooring if weight were concentrated in one spot, such as a big ol’ girl wearing high heel shoes.

I suppose that could happen, but it’s not likely. If this is a concern, marine- grade and underlayment- grade plywoods will avoid the voids. Plywood used as underlayment for sheet vinyl flooring should also have a sanded, smooth surface on the topside. Avoid using materials with distinct raised grain patterns, which can affect the finish texture of the sheet vinyl. We use a stiff- bristle hand brush to get debris out from under the drywall. Clean Sweep. Don’t overlook the importance of cleaning the subfloor before installing underlayment. Debris left on the subfloor can cause problems with the underlayment down the road.

My tips on installing vinyl plank flooring, a beautiful and affordable alternative to hardwood and laminate. Better than carpet if you have allergies. Raised Floor Tile, Max Tile Modular Floor, Basement Flooring, Tiles for Dance Floors and Athletic. How to Install Peel and Stick Vinyl Tile (that you can grout!). Have a DIY flooring project? Learn how to install luxury vinyl flooring and get step-by-step instructions to help install luxury vinyl flooring.

How to Install Vinyl Flooring. Vinyl flooring is a great way to change the appearance of a room without spending too much money. The application is fairly simple and. We here at Country Custom Tile are asked frequently by Do-It-Yourselfers, Can I install tile over vinyl? There is no simple yes or no answer. Want to install basement flooring over a concrete surface? Check out these best basement flooring options. Flooring Installation ? Experienced DIY'er? Use our professionally written guides to help make installation easy.

Whether your project is new construction or a remodel, the odds are pretty good some drywall joint compound (aka mud), construction adhesive or plaster is present on the subfloor from the wall finishing process. An uneven surface is not the only concern. These materials can break down over time, leaving a void between the underlayment and the subfloor. This void can allow noticeable movement, floor squeaks or cause fasteners to poke through.

Just got back from the D where I asked the guy in flooring about this. He said sure you can and sold me some stuff to go over the vinyl plus adhesive.

Typical constuction debris on the subfloor includes drywall compound, bits of insulation, expanding foam and drill debris from plumbing and electrical operations. We use a hand brush with stiff bristles around the entire perimeter to rake debris from under the drywall that could cause problems during the install. A thorough sweeping follows.

Whoever does the sweeping should watch for nail and screw heads sticking up, as well as holes, large cracks, dry rot and other issues that may warrant subfloor repairs. Like many of our home improvement projects, proper preparation is important to the success of an underlayment install. Some subfloor materials will soak in water and swell along the edges. Watch for this if your project experienced a lot of rain during the framing stage.

The swelling results in ridges where the subfloor sheets come together. These ridges can create noticeable humps and bumps in the underlayment. They can also create voids between the underlayment and the subfloor, which can develop movement, floor squeaks and nail pops later. We usually handle ridges in the subfloor by setting nail heads with a large punch and grinding, power planing or sanding the ridges closer to flat.

A hardwood floor sander works great for this task. Download Papa Games. We load our sheets of underlayment material on sawhorses for easy layout and cutting. Vapor Barriers. Moisture content in the subfloor should be low before installing underlayment. In some cases a vapor barrier should be used between the subfloor and the underlayment, particularly for first- floor applications when using particle board underlayment over a subfloor other than exterior- grade plywood. If a vapor barrier is not required by code, you need to decide if the subfloor provides protection against moisture. If it’s car decking (tongue- and- groove dimensional lumber) with gaps and knot holes, a vapor barrier is a good idea. Vapor barriers are usually polyethylene sheets (4 mil or thicker) or asphalt- layered kraft paper.

Determining the floor break in kitchen areas often requires a careful examination of the cabinet plan. Floor Breaks. OK, your subfloor is ready, the material’s been selected and protected with the proper vapor barrier and now you’re ready to start running that new circular saw, right? Hold on there, Sawyer—you gotta figure out your floor breaks next.

We use a T- square to mark underlayment sheets for cutting. Look in the drywall tool area to find a good T- square for your underlayment install. Floor breaks are where the vinyl meets the carpet (or whatever other flooring is adjacent to the flooring you are preparing to install on your underlayment). The edge of your underlayment is the place where the vinyl and the carpet meet. If, for example, you are installing vinyl in a bathroom, you will want to make the floor break under the door going into the bathroom. Set the depth of your circular saw to about 1/4. If the door swings out of the bathroom (such as into an adjacent walk- in closet), then you’ll extend the underlayment into the door opening until it is about an inch toward the bathroom from the inside face of the wall of the adjacent room.

In other words, figure out where the door is and place the edge of the underlayment right under the center of the door panel. We use Porter Cable’s new 1. Lithium 6- 1/2. One is in the case of bifold or bypass doors where there is vinyl on one side and carpet on the other. Because bifold doors tend to be a bit higher off the floor and bypass doors do not line up with each other, it’s often preferable to have the floor break on the inside of the closet area where it is unlikely to be seen when the doors are closed.

Just imagine the flooring behind the doors peeking out into the living area and you’ll make the right call. After notching the sheet so the floor break extends into the door opening, you can then layout other cuts as measured inside the walls. When the floor break is in an open area such as a transition between a nook area and the living room, you’ll have to decide how to make that happen so it looks best. If there is an archway or half wall on either side, it’s generally preferable to split the flooring types in the middle of the dividing wall or arch or cased opening where there is no door. The preferred method for carrying a sheet of underlayment is one hand under and one over. This gives you good control to negotiate hallways and door openings. In the case of a kitchen or bar area, you need to know the cabinet layout so you can make the floor break at the edge of the outside cabinet box.