Luxury vinyl plank flooring is quickly becoming a popular flooring option, and that is partly due to it being so easy to install. Here are some tips that will help ensure that you are preparing the floors correctly.
Let The Flooring Material Acclimate
One of the key things that you need to do before you even set the first piece of flooring down on the ground is to let the planks acclimate. It is important that you bring the flooring into the room where it will be installed and let the flooring acclimate to the room for a couple days. The planks will adjust to the local temperature and humidity, and will likely change slightly in shape because of that. This will help prevent you from installing the flooring tightly, and then having it expand, with boards moving upward and no longer laying flat.
Clean And Level Your Subfloor
You'll want to make sure that your subfloor is completely level and clear of debris before you begin placing the boards down. You can do this with a six foot level to determine if there are low spots of the floor that could be fixed. You can fill in those dips with leveling concrete, which will raise the floor just enough to make it flat.
Undercut Door Frames
You'll want your flooring to be installed tightly against the walls and door frames, and this involves a little bit of prep work. While moldings can be removed and installed on top of the new flooring to hide the small gap at the corner, door frames are a bit different. You'll actually need to undercut door frames so that a portion of the board can slide underneath it. This will help hide the gap well instead of having it stick out.
Mix The Planks From Multiple Boxes
It's possible that there are variances in color between different boxes of flooring material, even if they are from the same manufacturer. It is worth mixing up the material so that you are not installing planks from the same box next to each other. Mixing them up will help hide any minor differences in color so there is not a sudden shift in the floor color.
Decide On The Plank Direction
You need to decide on which direction the planks are going to flow. There is no right or wrong way to do it, but you may want to make a decision based on the direction that will require the fewest cuts by going in the direction of the longest length of the room. Alternatively, some people prefer the planks flow in the direction of traffic that flows through the room so that you're always walking with the direction of the floorboards.
For more information on installation of luxury vinyl planks or other flooring, contact a flooring company.