My first thought was then to write about how people in the trades suck and never get things done when they say they will. But... that would just make me annoyed again and I don't have any use for being annoyed.
So instead we're going to talk flooring today.
There are so many options for flooring now. You can go hardwood, engineered hardwood, laminate, fiber floor, tile, vinyl, vinyl planking to look like tile or hardwood. Each have their benefits and draw backs.
YIKES! Is your head spinning yet?!!
Here are some things that we knew: we wanted hardwood floors. However, we cannot afford hardwood floors in the look we want and they stratch easily. So that left us with engineered, laminate or vinyl planking. Well, engineered hardwood was still too expensive and scratched and we've had bad experiences with laminate, so vinyl planking it is. Vinyl plank is also water resistant (great for snowy boots, swimming parties and sippy cups), scratch resistent, semi-soft beneath your feet and if a plank did scratch then we can heat up the glue with a blow dryer, peel it up and stick a new one down.
This stuff is awesome. After looking around for awhile at all the different looks and options for vinyl, we went to one of my brother's friend at McNamara's Flooring Studio and found some really great options. We went with Mannington's Adura Dockside Pier. I loved how it had that old cottage/barnwood feel and we both loved the colour. The other bonus for this flooring is that we could install it ourselves.
So here it is:
Or, better yet:
Here's the finished project. Just so you know, I did help in the kitchen and the main area of the kitchen is stuff I laid personally...you're welcome!
What you will need:
- Plank flooring
- Bucket of glue: just ask the guys at your local flooring store for what they recommend
- 1/16 inch spiked trowel
- Utility knife
- Wet rag (for wiping up excess glue)
- 100 lb roller
You may also want a semi-willing husband and an awesome brother!
Yep, Matt rocks!
There is actually a really good instruction sheet that comes with the boxes of vinyl planks. I'd suggest you read the one that comes with your flooring.
But here's how we monkeyed our way through it. (Disclaimer: we are not claiming to have done it all perfectly but this is what did. Read the installation instructions for your specific flooring)
Step 1: Acclimatize your flooring to your room. (allow your boxes of flooring to sit out for 24 hours in your house)
Step 2: Open up at least three boxes of planks so that you get a good mix of the pattern. We found that there were 8 different variations of planks. Some were just subtly different while others were quite noticeably different. We grouped each different pattern together so we could avoid putting two of the same pattern too close together.
Step 3: Set up your stagger by cutting the vinyl planks with your utility knife. You don't want the flooring to look like steps going through the flooring. Jason could explain it better, but the general idea is to split the planks that are 2 and 4 planks before it.
Using the picture below: to place plank #6, we just split the different between plank #2 and #4.
I didn't have to worry my pretty little head about that. I let Jason and Matt figure it out! And they did GREAT!! We laid out the stagger for about 6 rows before glueing anything down.
Step 4: Glue. With your 1/16 inch trowel, spread out the glue. We used a rainbow spreading pattern because we couldn't find anything that said whether to make the groves follow the length of the plank or the width. The rainbow kind of covered both. Then let the glue set up for about 5-10 minutes.
Step 5: Place your planks. You want to lay the planks down and pull them firmly so they butt up with the surrounding planks. If glue seeps through the cracks then just wipe it up with the rag REALLY WELL! (we didn't do a very good of this and when I washed the floors the other day I could see glue streaks while it was wet. It went away when it was dry though so it doesn't bother me too much!)
Step 6: After it has sat for about 30 minutes, take your 100 lb roller and gently roll over all the laid planks to push down the cracks and get everything good and glued down.
Step 7: Stay off of them for 24 hours and then enjoy. Have a dance party, allow your kids to run around like a bunch of lunatics and drive their little cars all over them.
We did the living room area first and then waited to finish the dining room and kitchen until after the cabinets were in place.
It was fun to have the kids there for a portion of it.
Do you like our makeshift table?
"Pay attention to me and get me out of here!!!"
We're loving our new floors! We'll let you know how the hold up.
Has anyone else tried vinyl plank flooring? What do you think of it? How's it holding up for you?
Hopefully tomorrow I can show you some counter tops (and some new thrift store finds that my mom snatched up for me today! My favorite is white and says "neigh"!! Eeek!!! So excited!!!!!)
Sorry for all the exclamation marks...I may need some self imposed exclamation intervention again.
Until tomorrow (or the next day)...Go tickle hug your kids!
Love,
Kat
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We're thinking about doing this with our bathroom floor...it's over a garage, so it's really cold, and we're thinking vinyl would be warmer than tile. Yours looks great! And I'm glad to see it's not impossible to put it in yourself :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Gretchen! We are loving it and it's totally easy to lay. I wonder if you could put it over in floor heating to make it even warmer on the toes in a bathroom. Let me know how yours turns out!
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