Luxury Vinyl Plank Installation

Installing Luxury Vinyl Plank or just Vinyl Plank Flooring

This is a great product and when installed correctly can give you years of great looks and durability for pennies on the dollar. When looking to install this product you have to be aware that in today’s flooring market there are generally two different type of this product. Although similar, each one has its own installation technique. In this product category, you will encounter direct glue down vinyl plank and locking vinyl plank. The second type of vinyl plank is very similar to laminate flooring that has been so popular for the last decade. Let us take a quick look at the first type of vinyl plank first.

Direct Glue-Down Vinyl Plank

Direct glue down vinyl plank is very good looking and durable. However, it is a bit more labor intensive when installing. The last thing you want to have is poorly prepared subflooring that will show through in the final flooring result. In order to prepare your subfloor properly for glue down installation vinyl plank floors, you must consider will be whether you are installing this floor over a wood subfloor or will this be over concrete?

Here’s why:

1. Concrete subfloors must be flat; dry; free of dust, powder or flaking; and free of any residual curing compounds or adhesives from the previous floor.
2. Wood subfloors should have a finished thickness of at least 1” and should have, at a minimum, 18” of well ventilated airspace underneath. You do not want to install glue down vinyl tile flooring over plywood that is laid directly on top of a concrete slab.

Subfloors

Once you have your subfloor situation taken care of, next is the decision on lay out. How do you want this product to be in the area you are putting it? Will the planks run the length or width of the area? Place the packages vinyl plank in the area where it will be installed in for 48-72 hours so it can acclimate to the temperature of that particular area. It is a best practice recommendation to make sure your area is heated or cooled to normal living conditions before, during, and after installation. This will insure your flooring and adhesive are at optimal working temperature and that the adhesive sets properly.

Read the Instructions

After this decision, you will need to read and follow the manufactures installation instructions. These instructions will tell you what type of adhesive you will need and most importantly, they will also tell you what size of trowel you will need to spread the adhesive across your subfloor. So..you guessed it…read your manufacturer’s installation instructions! If you do not have the type of Vinyl Plank Flooring that requires being glued down you are well on your way to finishing this job quickly. Depending on the type of locking mechanism your particular flooring choice has you will need to follow a few specific techniques. How will you know what those are? Yes, you guessed it, you will have to read your manufacturer’s installation instructions!

Manufacturer’s Installation Instructions

 

Mannington Adura Installation Instructions

 

Adura Max Installation Instructions