Viewing 17 posts - 1 through 17 (of 17 total)
  • Idiots guide to laying vinyl flooring
  • funkmasterp
    Full Member

    We currently have wood effect laminate in our bathroom. This was put down by the previous owner and isn’t mouisture resistant. It’s starting to curl like an old toenail in places. I’m planning on replacing it with vinyl flooring.

    Now for the stupid question! Can I just take up the laminate and lay the vinyl straight on whatever resides underneath?

    Our house is old and rickety, so there’s definitely some sort of base to level out the floor under the laminate. As you can guess by now I an a master of DIY and have done this before 😐

    Any insight or general piss taking welcomed

    perchypanther
    Free Member

    If you are an idiot, do it yourself,.

    Otherwise, pay someone to make it look easy. It’s not.

    You get one chance to get it right and hundreds of chances to bollocks it up.

    mattyfez
    Full Member

    Laminate normally sits on top of some sort of underlay to help it stay level. I’d guess you’d have to pull that up too and see what the actual floor looks like. If it’s uneven you might need level it by sanding floorboards.

    That’s about as far as my expertise on the subject goes.

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    funkmasterp
    Full Member

    Any idea on rough cost? I’m skint (and from Yorkshire)

    nickjb
    Free Member

    Depends on the vinyl and how good a finish you want. You can’t just lay onto floorboards, it needs a smooth, flat surface so you may need to over board with thin plywood or similar. Not too tricky a job for a DIYer in a small room.

    project
    Free Member

    use oil bonded hardboard, get it cut to 4 foot x 2 foot sheets out of an 8 x 4 sheet, easier to handle,lift the old laminate, and brush clean then mop with mild bleach, allow to dry overnight, resecure any loose boards ,check for any pipes before you bung loads of screws in, lay hardboard, dimple side up ,cut around toilet pan, etc, use 3/4 or 1 inch annualar ring nails,use knee pads, then make a tenplate out of thick paper to fit round toilet pan, lay vinyl, use a cover strip at doors, short screws about 3/4 inch, seal around base of bath with silicon and around toilet pan to stop water leaking underneath.
    youll need a sharp stanley knife, a first aid kit,lots of towels for when you slice into your fingers, and its a difficult job, and expensive if you rip the vinyl.

    Never cut towards yourself always away, a carpet fitter told me of a lad who cut the new carpet towards him knife came out of carpet, up his leg from knee to groin as he was kneeling down, huge mess and a new carpet required, not to mention a lot of stitches and a large cost to the firm.

    Vinyl Tiles are easier, thats what i used.

    mattyfez
    Full Member

    Well vinyl is reletivley cheap, it’s the labour for prepping and fitting that costs.

    trout
    Free Member

    Where about in Yorkshire .

    If near Skipton then I can help .

    Floor layer for the last 43 years .

    Forget Hardboard it’s shite.

    Minimum 6 mm plywood to smooth out floorboards.
    And of course there are good and bad cushion floorings available .

    Do it once and do it right

    funkmasterp
    Full Member

    Cheers all. I’ll take up a bit of laminate, see what’s underneath. I’m hoping that there might already be board down. That would make life much easier. I’ll rope in the FIL as he’s a proper grown up and handy at this sort of thing.

    Where about in Yorkshire

    Really appreciate the offer, but I’ve moved away from the homelands and now reside in Macclesfield. The weather and scenery are similar though.

    kormoran
    Free Member

    Mate of mine is incredibly handy, built their own house, plastered, etc etc etc.

    When it came to laying the vinyl they got a pro in.

    tjagain
    Full Member

    One thing I would say is remove the toilet and sink – it makes for a much better finish than cutting round them

    I’ve laid my own – took a while and not as good as a pro.

    mattyfez
    Full Member

    Surely if you are surgical with the Stanley knife you could cut around the bog, or other obstacles if you leave material to cut back, then some sealent should take care of the hopefully small imperfections.

    tjagain
    Full Member

    Aye – but removing the bog means its much easier and no possibility of leaks / gaps around it. Its not difficult to remove a bog. Probably easier than trying to cut vinyl around it

    funkmasterp
    Full Member

    It’s a really small space. Roughly 2.5 x 1.5 metres. I might buy some super cheap vinyl and give it a go. If it’s a disaster I’ll get some pros in to do the job with better quality flooring.

    Thanks again everyone

    newrobdob
    Free Member

    It cost me about £130 to have my bathroom done in nice vinyl after I’d covered the floor in 9mm ply screwed at 200mm centres. Not worth doing it yourself it’s so cheap.

    Remove toilet and sink before fitting, it looks crap cutting the vinyl around them.

    sharkbait
    Free Member

    Not worth doing it yourself it’s so cheap.

    Yep. I’m paying £140 + materials to fit the ply and then ‘fairly expensive’ vinyl tiles to our en suite which is a bit bigger than yours.

    Not worth the risk of me messing it up!

    deadlydarcy
    Free Member

    TBH, the skill with vinyl isn’t really with the cutting, it’s getting a level sub-floor underneath. Even if it’s acrewed down ply, you need to make sure every screw is countersunk below level of ply – and then spread a little compound over all the depressions left by the screws.

    IANAVFF but I have a few buddies who are good ones.

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