There are a lot of qualities and features which make vinyl flooring one of the most wanted flooring options today. They are easy to clean and maintain, are durable,
extremely versatile and can be easily installed. Additionally it provides a soft cushiony feel underfoot making it ideal for use in workplaces like the kitchen, studio, study etc. and other high traffic areas.
Types of vinyl flooring
This waterproof option is also available for installation in many different types like:
- Tiles: Ceramic tiles are precision cut and come in a variety of design patterns, textures and colours. They are also manufactured to exact thickness thereby imparting the finishes floor with a uniform appearance after installation.
- Planks: Economic and durable, the vinyl planks are normally manufactured to be 4 to 6 inches wide and 3 to 4 feet long. However, the plank joints need to be sealed with a grout to make this flooring option completely waterproof.
- Sheets:They generally come in widths of 6 to 12 feet which can be cut as per the measurements of the room or in previously prepared rolls thereby enabling their seamlessly installation.
Installation of vinyl plank flooring
The installation of vinyl planks is a relatively easy process which involves the following steps:
- Vinyl plank preparation: In order to prepare the vinyl planks for installation, they need to be placed for atleast 48hours in the room where they are to be installed, for acclimatisation.
- Floor preparation: After the planks have been acclimatised, they need to be installed using the following steps:
- For floors undergoing remodelling, the baseboards need to be properly removed.
- The subfloor needs to be prepped so that it is absolutely clean and dry and levelled using a leveller. Care must be taken to ensure that the leveller cannot be used on a vinyl floor since it might contain asbestos. Also when using self-leveller, work need to be done quickly since it tends to dry very fast.
- Floor planning:Due to the possibility of the presence of bowed walls, it is important to create the starting line to be absolutely square to the room. The steps involved are:
- The centre of each wall needs to be marked and lines snapped between them.
- The distance between the centre and the starting wall needs to be measured and marked with a chalk after allowing an expansion gap of about 5/16 inch.
- The width of the last row needs to be calculated. In case the same is even less than 1/3rd the length of the plank, the same width needs to be cut off from the starting plank so as to ensure that the starting and finishing rows are evenly laid.
- Plank placement: Then the planks of the first row need to be placed on the starting line after maintaining the expansion gap. Subsequent planks need to be held at an angle to snap it into place. From the second row onwards, the planks too need to be installed in a similar way but after staggering the joints by atleast 6 inches.
The trims need to be nailed in place and trim pieces like the shoe-moulding can be optionally added to increase the beauty of the floor installed. However, care must be taken to nail the show-mounding to the wall and not on the floor planks.
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