Vinyl laminate flooring project

[cgrutt]

Pulled out carpeting and installed vinyl plank flooring for NYGF member who just bought new house. Ran into some issues along the way including having to fill in some low spots in hallway, pulling out thousands of staples the former carpet guy used to hold down padding, pulling apart some sections and reinstalling after some sections came apart overnight and replacing some 3-1/2" molding that was installed too high with 5-1/4" so project took much longer than expected but turned out pretty nice at end of the day. My knees are glad project is finally done!

Kids playroom



Hallway





Bedroom



And living room

 

[Criticalt]

This flooring can be a pain if the floor isnt PERFECTLY smooth.
But if you get it flat enough and have no binding on the walls, it will be ok.
I had a similar issue in my parents home.
As long as the floor is floating it stays put.

 

[cgrutt]

Yeah no binding on walls but floor has some waves in it. Think house was built in 40s. We got a good deal on some HD flooring its actually pretty nice stuff but I think trade off is it didnt lock together easily had to whack the crap out of it lol...

 

[FRB]

I like, good work!

 

[Big Mike]

The floor looks good. I'm doing a vinyl plank as well (my first time with the product). Pretty heavy compared to the laminate but it seems to fit together with less effort.

 

[Saltwater60]

Pulling staples is the worst. I refinished all the hardwoods in my old house and oh my it was terrible. 600 square foot of pulling staples and I was 23-24 back then.

 

[kev74]

I kind of liked pulling the staples when I did the floors in my house. Its nice, mindless work and I felt like I accomplished something when I was done.

I just finished tiling the floors in my basement. That was a pain in the ass! My hands still aren't right after wringing out that damn grout sponge a few thousand times.

 

[cgrutt]

I kind of liked pulling the staples when I did the floors in my house. Its nice, mindless work and I felt like I accomplished something when I was done.

I just finished tiling the floors in my basement. That was a pain in the ass! My hands still aren't right after wringing out that damn grout sponge a few thousand times.

Damn if I'd only known I would have called...

I swear the pads were put down better than the carpet!!! Only saving grace was they used standard staples and not the 3/16 upholstery staples.

 

[kev74]

Damn if I'd only known I would have called...

I swear the pads were put down better than the carpet!!! Only saving grace was they used standard staples and not the 3/16 upholstery staples.

Over the last couple of months I did about 400 sq.ft. upstairs and 600 sq.ft downstairs. I'm getting good at popping out staples and nail strips!

If the kung flu doesn't kill me, all the home improvements might!

 

[cgrutt]

Used a small cat's paw with really sharp point and a pair of dykes worked good enough just there were so damn many took several hours...

 

[kev74]

Used a small cat's paw with really sharp point and a pair of dykes worked good enough just there were so damn many took several hours...

Its a lot less frustrating if you're not trying to make money doing it.

 

[Saltwater60]

Used a small cat's paw with really sharp point and a pair of dykes worked good enough just there were so damn many took several hours...

I always used vice grips to pull staples.

 

[Saltwater60]

I kind of liked pulling the staples when I did the floors in my house. Its nice, mindless work and I felt like I accomplished something when I was done.

I just finished tiling the floors in my basement. That was a pain in the ass! My hands still aren't right after wringing out that damn grout sponge a few thousand times.

Tiling the basement floor should be daily easy. It’s just the cuts that suck. Not much prep work of floors were bare concrete. How level was the floor?

yes wringing out the grout sponge is tough on the hands and all grounding should be done at the same time.

 

[kev74]

Tiling the basement floor should be easy. It’s just the cuts that suck. Not much prep work of floors were bare concrete. How level was the floor?

The floor wasn't bad. A couple of high spots I had to hammer down.

The hard part is that I haven't had a job doing physical work in almost a decade. Most of what I do is driving and standing. Doing real work is hard!

 

[cgrutt]

I always used vice grips to pull staples.

Issue was there was really nice wood flooring under the carpet that I didn't want to damage. Owner has a few young kids so opted to do vinyl now rather than refinishing the existing floors. He actually plans to pull out vinyl and refinish wood after kids grow up...

 

[cgrutt]

That tile looks great btw @kev74 nice job!

 

[kev74]

That tile looks great btw @kev74 nice job!

Thanks!

This is what was under the carpet upstairs. I don't know why someone would cover these up?!?

 

[cgrutt]

Thanks!

This is what was under the carpet upstairs. I don't know why someone would cover these up?!?

View attachment 105222 View attachment 105224 View attachment 105225

Very nice. Very similar to this project although yours looks like red oak I think there was some sort of pine or fir under this project circa 1940s still very nice flooring. I can understand not wanting to refinishing them with young kids.

 

[Saltwater60]

The floor wasn't bad. A couple of high spots I had to hammer down.

The hard part is that I haven't had a job doing physical work in almost a decade. Most of what I do is driving and standing. Doing real work is hard!
View attachment 105201

Looks great. I did the same in my kitchen and it was very physically difficult as well. I went with 8”x48” tiles so lots of mortar to lay down to level it out. I laid it over a 120 year old subfloor. It was flat but wasn’t level and I just said screw it.

 

[Saltwater60]

Issue was there was really nice wood flooring under the carpet that I didn't want to damage. Owner has a few young kids so opted to do vinyl now rather than refinishing the existing floors. He actually plans to pull out vinyl and refinish wood after kids grow up...

Got you. In that case I put a putty knife below it to prevent damage or just pull straight up. Most staples come out very easily.

 

[kev74]

Got you. In that case I put a putty knife below it to prevent damage or just pull straight up. Most staples come out very easily.

I used a paint stirring stick as a pad under a small pry bar. Pliers if it didn't pop out easy.

 

[cgrutt]

Got you. In that case I put a putty knife below it to prevent damage or just pull straight up. Most staples come out very easily.

These must have been exception lol the vast majority were either flush with the flooring or slightly embedded there was nothing to grab they had to be pried up first.

 

[Saltwater60]

These must have been exception lol the vast majority were either flush with the flooring or slightly embedded there was nothing to grab they had to be pried up first.

If they were flush yes that’s a bitch. Sorry you had to go through that.

 

[phatfarmerbob]

My parents house circa 1900 had Doug fir flooring (probably old growth) covered with 70s vinyl, we tore that up and refinished the Doug fir it looks awesome next time I get a chance I’ll grab a pic

 

[Different Drummer]

These must have been exception lol the vast majority were either flush with the flooring or slightly embedded there was nothing to grab they had to be pried up first.

Dental extractors You know a lot of people cgrutt, ask around if anyone knows of a dentist with some old dental equipment. Or maybe fleabay or Etsy. I have a couple and they are perfect for what you were doing. They have a very strong thin edge that when you squeeze will slip under the staple. They have a tenacious grip and are shaped so that you can roll to one side or the other and leverage the fastener out. My dentist gave me a couple of old ones and I cannot begin to remember how many times I have put them to use for various tasks. Removing staples is number one on the list.

 

[Blimey]

You said you filled in low spots--what with? I've personally used henry's feather finish, which is a cementitious compound that can be spread very thin, adhers to subflooring, and worked out extremely well. Also is flexible to some minimal degree. But I think most people don't bother, though they should, so glad yo hear you did!

 

[cgrutt]

Sakrete trowel grade leveler and underlayment with Sika surface bonding agent.

 

[libertysnake]

I think once the bathroom situation is settled this year, anywhere I have to replace regular laminate is going to be vinyl. Less bullshit issues. I should've listened to the contractor who told me vinyl would've been better when I moved in.

 

[whauburger]

My apologies @cgrutt for never posting in this.

This is not the first time I had Chris work on a project for me and I hope not the last. My wife and I ended up purchasing a house at the beginning of Jan. and the existing floors were terrible, we needed them replaced before moving in. I reached out to Chris about doing the vinyl through out the entire first level. To say this flooring was a headache is a massive understatement. As always he was meticulous and made sure he did every thing the right way. There were many unforeseen problems and this guy handles them like a pro, all while dealing with my kids at times asking him questions or running around and most likely being in his way as well as my wife being impatient and in a rush. About 6 months later I can say these still look great and are holding up to the abuse my kids put everything through.

As always if you are looking for someone to tackle a job I would recommend giving him a call!