20 Tips for a Great Vinyl Plank Flooring Installation 

See our other vinyl plank flooring videos: Installing Vinyl Plank Flooring for Beginners - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6KEthELQfro.html 10 Mistakes Installing Vinyl Plank Flooring - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kvo-n2AYZnA.html Installing Vinyl Plank in a Bathroom - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LrdWvtgOEFg.html

By far the easiest way to remove all those carpet staples is to hand a pair of pliers to my kids at tell them to go to town. If they are unmotivated, I offer them a nickel for each staple. And the best way to find ones they missed it just take your socks and shoes off and walk around. Like legos, even if there's only one, you'll find it quickly enough.

Bro, that’s the best install video I’ve seen touching on all the major points and stuff you might come across concisely and recapping love it!

Additional tip: don’t use a tap block. You can damage the locking mechanism and ruin pieces of your floor. Use an off cut of the same flooring bc it fits the locking mechanism perfectly and won’t damage anything.

Very good video. Couple things I’d like to mention. When you use that many starter shims on a wall that isn’t straight it can make it difficult to get the first couple rows locked in. Secondly, if you continuously use the cutoff from the previous row you will have a constant stair step in your seams. I like to do 4-5 rows at a time and make the seams look more random. Feels less commercial to me. Side note, HD just started carrying life proof wall spacers that function similar to the ones you used. Not as tall but work for most installs. Thank you for the content. One of the best I’ve seen on vinyl plank.

Hi there! I am so happy to have found your channel ! I am a 71 yr old lady still in reasonably good working order so I have been watching your how to install vinyl plank flooring. I have had several price quotes from the usual flooring companies, (Empire, LL Flooring, plus one from Lowes. The first two nearly gave me a heart attack, the price quotation was two pages long! I think they had charges on there for each move they would make to install. Lowes was ok on the installation price $2.09 per square ft, but the flooring they had I looked up and read hours of comments from the homeowners and came to the obvious conclusion that I was not going to buy the flooring from Lowes. I don't want to put Lowes down, but the comment section was not happy with Lowes at all. So, there I was, still no flooring bought, still no installer to do it. I went out to the mailbox and there was a flyer in the box from Ollies Bargain Outlet near me. For the first time I ever saw in their flyers, they had a huge ad for Vinyl Plank rigid core waterproof flooring.....$1.79 per sq ft and it is ALL Armstrong in several color availability. I had previously looked to see what brands of this type of flooring were the better bets for quality and longevity. Armstrong reviews were encouraging. I started to look to buy some.....most places selling to the public it was $6.99 per sq ft. So, I have decided to go tomorrow to Ollies Bargain Outlet to see what colors they have of the Armstrong Vinyl Plank rigid core. If they have a color I like and enough (they might have to call their other stores if they don't have the number of boxes I need in stock) I think I am going to take the plunge and buy it. I will save hundreds of bucks! I have done click laminate before all by myself but not so sure I want to take on the project so watching your how to videos, I think I have convinced my brother who is mechanically inclined and who does have some of the tools needed, to work with me to put in the vinyl plank ourselves. I know how to miter and have a miter box for use with a hand saw, I know how to put cove or quarter round in, I know how to undercut the mouldings the door jams but watching your videos I sure have picked up some great tips and a good "revisit" to days past when I put laminate floor in all by myself. I have already ripped out the wall to wall carpet and padding, pulled all the base off which was making me CURSE because it was put on with HUGE and I mean HUGE staples so ya, I will have to get taller base to cover what those cursed staples did getting pulled out. My subfloor is good, I do need to check for level and fix per your advice and I am going to put very thin underlay as I don't want the floor to be COLD as it is my bedroom, so I read that one CAN use underlay even if the planks already have a pad. So all that to say I love watching you and when I get my floor all done I will see if I can post a picture and hopefully I won't be in a wheelchair at the end of it all. OH the wonderful satisfaction of doing something for ones self. I grew up with a father who was a custom home builder and I followed him around like a puppy dog. Later I managed his bookeeping and his payroll and his kept his subs in line. I wanted so badly to take over the business, but in those days a woman in the building business was taboo and my parents wouldn't hear of it, so off to a useless college I went and by the time I left college there were actually TWO WOMEN not even 90 miles from where we lived that had taken over their family building business and were featured on the local news quite a bit. I love everything about construction and have remodel just about every home I have ever had. I talked my various boyfriends into helping...(I had lots of different boyfriends and they were either mechanics or in the building trades ....I like men that are men and can work with their hands. So thank you for your informative videos and I have enjoyed over four hours this evening watching them and intend to watch all that you have on your channel.....my master bath room is calling for me to help it, and I need a walk in show with bench and all the safety grabs etc so when I get to need those it will already be installed. I am single and live with my younger brother and his adult disabled son and between the three of us, we will get it done with the exception of plumbing, which we will get a pro in for that. God bless and keep sharing your talent with the world on U tube.

This video is so much better than all the other ones man. Good job and thank you!

My installation made a lot of cut offs. Rather than tossing out a pile of waste that will live forever, I used the scraps to make coasters. Reduced my scrap pile from an overflowing bushel basket to a shoe box sized pile. Made about 100 nice coasters for gifts and sale at craft shows.

Great overall video. I did my whole home over a long weekend. I took off all my base board at the same time. If reinstalling the same baseboard I would recommend marking the back sides of the boards and the part of the wall that will be covered with a code like 1-1, 1-2 where the first # is the room number and the second is the location in the room. I used nipper plyers to pull stubborn nails. If you have a sub floor while it's exposed is a good time to fix those squeaky floors by screwing deck screws over the areas that have flexed over time at high traffic areas. Just screw them into the floor joists. I bought one of those laminate cutters for the job. The best $100 I ever spent on a single function tool!

Great video and valuable infornation for the diy'ers. You only forgot to mention one tool which is shown in your video: a board pusher (you used it to push that plank under the trims for the first door shown, towards the hall way). THAT pusher (not the block, but the Z-shape metal pusher) is very essential for this type of job as you need it for every single row to tighten in all the boards on the short seams, all across the span. Again, great info and awesome job you've done. It looks like mine: great!

Perfect timing as usual. Going to start a project like this soon! Thanks so much!

I am in the middle of a vinyl flooring project, I agree the cutter is totally worth the cost. I also wish I knew about the better spacers earlier! Those are a great idea

Great advice taking the skirtings off. Who likes those like scotia moulds

Lots of great tips here. We did most of our first floor with engineered hard wood, but used LVP in the kitchen. Planning on doing LVP in the basement, so will keep this one in mind. Those wall shims looks spectecularly 3D-printable. 🤔 Thanks for sharing!

I appreciate this video so much! Thank you for showing us examples of what not to do or how things go wrong! I wanted to hit the like button 5 times throughout the video every time you shared an awesome tip but I already did that at the beginning of the video lol

Nice video. One thing I would add is that if you leave one of your cuts of carpet open (in the hallway or in another room) you can put all of your tackless strips into it and roll it up. That stuff is so nasty. The carpet makes a good wrapper for it and keeps you safe when you go to throw it out.

Love this! I wish I’d seen this video before my first flooring change. Another awesome video. Thanks Brad

This is just what I needed. Very detailed. Thank you for this video.

Great video bro. Question, when do you remove the spacers? Also, how do keep the floor from shifting after removing the spacers? Thanks.

This is perfect Brad! Finishing my new basement right now and picking up the LVP this weekend. Thanks!

Boy - that went way better than my first (& last, according to my mom, who helped) try a few years ago. The tongues & grooves on our (allegedly) "top-of-the-line" floor planks kept breaking & chipping off, basically making those planks useless. And yes, we did let the flooring acclimate for actually a few weeks before we began. At first, whenever I was tapping one plank into the previous row along the long edge, I'd get one end in place, & it would pop out as I worked my way down. Finally got a tip from a local flooring company to tape the top along the seam with pieces of painter's tape as I went to prevent that. That, at least, worked like a charm! While we didn't work on it every day, the "few days long" job turned into a few MONTHS long job. Mostly due to trying to figure out problems and having to buy more flooring to replace the planks that had the tongues/grooves break, which new flooring then had to sit & acclimate. Blew through my "waste" allowance even before the job was done, with the chipping/breaking issue! Plus, having to work around lower cabinets that protruded into the room (making the perimeter "jagged"), since this was in part of our kitchen. NOT a fun job! I don't know if I'd trust flooring from Home Depot or Lowe's again. I had previously installed engineered wood flooring - went much more easily. I may give vinyl a try again someday. We'll see.... Thanks for the tips, anyway. Really like your videos - mild humor ("me" nails), no hype, no huge rushing through things, & no loud voice. Have an awesome day!

Great job, Brad. Another tip is to make sure you have enough material to do the entire job and they are all the same lot number. I had an instance where I bought an extra box and the pieces were slightly thicker. Bill

Great tips for the DIYer! Thank you

I used a shovel to pull all the staples from the flooring. Saves my back!

Excellent video.... Fast and to the point.....

Use lineman pliers to pull staples just don’t squeeze the handle to hard and cut the staples. The Japanese jamb saw works good if you don’t have a multi tool. Open a few boxes and mix your floor together to help with variations in pattern. Run your seams away from natural light ( windows ). Careful if you are filling seams with filler as it will cause high spots if done incorrectly. Also, be careful what filler you use because it can swell over time.

Pretty good video with solid info for non pros.

I use a roofing shingle removing tool/shovel. It's great for removing both the tack strip and the the underlayment staples reducing the need for individual staple removal.

Hi Brad. Brad here haha, I've been a flooring installer for 16 years and all the advice you gave in this video is great. This would definitely give people the confidence to do the vinyl planks themselves. I wouldn't mind getting some of that droplock system here in New Zealand all of ours seems to be click system products. Keep up the good work.

Always so satisfying to see the transformation of a room when the new flooring is in! To pry up those brads I always use a screwdriver and a block of wood to keep it off the floor and create leverage.

Nicely done, Brad! The room looks fantastic! 😃 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

I could not agree more with all these tips. I just went through installing new flooring in 3 rooms and learned these tips along the way. Those blue spacers are new to me so I will looking into those soon. Thicker baseboards really make a huge difference in how the room looks.

When removing staples, I used an ice scraper, normally used to chop ice on pavement, very easy!

Awesome video. I use a grinder it get the tough staples. Takes minutes.

Fantastic tips as always

I lay floor for a living, what you’re laying is hybrid! Use floor scraper to clean floor (even takes up staples), even if not smacking them into the floor with a hammer is way more efficient, same with nails in wall. Have never had a problem shooting skirting back in after as well. When cutting gap filler cut on wall as opposed to skirt so you can easily clean filler off skirting rather than wall.

I love these videos! So helpful! Two more tips to add are that with concrete you always need an underlayment because concrete is porous and the underlayment that comes on the flooring only protects from above, not from below! The other is that I noticed using the tapping block can damage that tongue for the tongue and groove system. So we used an off cut to lock into the pieces and then hammer the off cut so we don't damage the tongue!

My dad always says the more you learn the more you earn, Great Video!!! 💯 🔥 👌👀👍

The putty knife trick is nice!

Once you've cleaned up the subfloor, that's a good time to walk around the room and fix any squeaky floors.

I love fencing pliers for staples. Cab grab and pull or hook under and pry and even light hammering.

I've been using a flat head shovel for removing the staples and carpet tacks. It really makes the demolition easy. Just shove the head of the shovel under the carpet tacks and it will pull them right up without any trouble. You can then rub the flat part of the shovel head over the floor and dig up the staples. If you use a magnet, you can pick up all the staples and loose nails/screws. if you have any stragglers, you can pound them into the wood or pull them out individually, depending on how they've been pounded/bent into the wood by the original installers.

Thank you all your tips

Really enjoyed this video

Amazing video thank you

How do you know which direction to run planks if your installing throughout the whole house?

ROLL HEADS are very good for getting the 18 gauge staples

Thanks for the tips 👍👍👍

Removing carpet I suggest to roll, like brad did, and use a longish (2.5-3”) screw to secure it to itself. You might have to make sure carpet is on outside vs padding that wouldn’t be strong enough to hold the screw head 😮 works great, is super quick and for me didn’t fail.

Thanks dude, Iearned a lot!

Prybar is a helpful one too.

Super video! Thanks!

Awesome job ❤

I’ve had good luck with fence pliers! Sharp claw to dig under, narrow tips on the pilers end, and a hammer for when you’re fed up and want to just pound the staple in! Haha

You made this seem so easy. Two questions: 1. If you are doing a kitchen is it a good idea to put down flooring around kitchen cabinets or rip the cabinets out and then put down flooring before you replace the cabinets? 2. Do you have any videos showing flooring onto concrete slabs?

Nice job and thanks for the great advice

Thank you for the video!

When i was an installer i either used a 6-12 inch scraper blade with adjustable handle or just the pry bar. The scape made quick work of the staples but if the plywood was in bad shape it could get caught on divots, dips, nails or edges that were higher. That's why i liked using the pry bar more. I was already gonna use it for the tack strip. Oh n my tip on using pry bar on tack strip is too hot them at the nail. If you do it correctly you can bring it out in one piece making clean up easier

Get the Arrow Staple puller. Sold at the Orange Big Box store. I used it to pull hundreds of staple when I did my floors. They pop out so easy.

A five in one tool perfect for popping staples right out use the sharp triangle portion of the 5 n 1 tool

Great video sir!!!

Great video! Wish I could hire you guys.

Nice tips bro.. but I wonder the cutter tool.. my was 7mm thick.. can it cut good..?? Thanks bro...

Great details!

When leveling small area of floors, I will use tarpaper, you can cut it in larger to smaller strips and slowly build it up. I like your wall shims, typically I cut pieces of flooring and screw them down on the ends and at the joints. Remember to check your cut off piece, you may need to cut off some to make sure you have enough space for 8+ inches and you are a few rows away from a similar joint. I use a scrap piece of flooring to mark where to cut around doorways.

Thank you man 🙏

My husband and I just installed vynl floor in the bathroom. It wasn't hard because its small bathroom but I definitely should have watched your video first.

Great video and great tips thanks for sharing

Great video, one question. I am still a bit confused about the temporary row when starting, what is the purpose of that since all the planks are the same width?

Great tips!!!

Good vid, I am still confused about the installing backward thing - Do one of those! (Smile)

Awesome, tips 👌

Looks like Lifeproof Dusk Cherry to me! Doing the exact same floor here

I use an 8in adjustable Floor scapper. It can dig into the plywood. So duller blades work better on wooden subfloor. You could also use 7in end nipper plier w the hammer head. I found that gets better grip than adjustable pliers

Awesome well explained video ,,, you're a professional bro,,,how much will you charge for a room like that,,,I'm about to start my adventure installing that kind of vinyl flooring,,, thanks for all the great tips they're gonna be really helpful for this rookie,,,

What about having to use a moisture barrier if you are putting it over concrete? When and if should you use it.

The best tip I can give anyone about LVP is don't install cheap LVP. It is a headache to work with. It doesn't lock together well, and it's a battle. I almost exclusively run stuff like NUCORE performance series. It's hard to cut, but locks together like a dream. 👍👍👍

After your old flooring is up, now is a good time to walk around looking for squeeks. Now is the time to try and put some screws into the floor to fix them. Use a stud finder to find the joists and put a 2 inch screw near the squeek. Good luck!

Any pointers on prepping a subfloor that has glue on it? I can’t seem to sand it off very well. Replacing a floor that was glued down thanks so much

Dykes work great for pulling staples, the tapered side lets you get close to the floor to the pull, or you can clip and hammer if they wont come out

Can you post a full shopping list to be able to do this please? Thank you!

I use the Channel Lock long nose plier and angle cutters to pull staples. If it's a deep one, I use the angle cutters to dig it out and the long nose pliers as leverage. If the long nose will fit in the gap, I go with it and the angle cutters as leverage. Easy and consistent way to pop staples quickly.

For the tack stripes you can use a hammer and prybar and use a scrapper for the staples

Thanks!

Great video do any of your videos as much details as this one does for all the prep work if you have a slab floor like I do removeing carpet, levling the floor I have never done this befor & I need as much detals as posible.

Great video! Question... why to you do the first row as a temporary row? I know you said it's to make sure everything fits and locks into place, but how does the temporary row help with that? Just trying to understand so I don't misunderstand a cool tip! Thanks!

I used my WonderBar for the molding and strips,Painters Scraper, 280 Screws ,some sanding,and alot of cussing,after 2 gallons of Clear sealer for my master bedroom.Used Depots LifeProof wide planks 22mil,went in smooth and so far looks great.Wife was a bit embarrassed as I took a knife to the displays to see scratch resistance😂Also a Oscillating tool is much quicker and helps when you need to notch the jambs

A pair or more of flat crowbars will hold the floor from moving also. Just lay the short end on the edge of the flooring and the long end on top. It will bump the wall and keep the floor in place at the correct spacing. And always check spacing as you install. After a few rows it should resist more

When you put the tapered spacers just use hot glue to hold them to the wall then knock them off with a hammer when you are done. Make sure to keep them below the top of the base so the damage from the hot glue will normally show.

Crescent makes a great pair of nail puller pliers, I've used them to take nails out of semi trailer floors. If you're removing a whole house full of carpet it's worth it to pick up a shingle shovel, the kind with teeth on it, it'll pry those tack strips right up! Plus you get to work standing up like a person versus hunched over grinding your knees into plywood all day lol

Loved it

I use a long handle scraper to check for staples and nails on the floor. Also, sometimes the padding underneath the carpet has a million staples and won’t roll up easily. I use a D handle shingle remover. It has flat teeth that drive the staples out. Keep the head perpendicular to the floor so it doesn’t gouge the base floor!

at the end of the video, do you caulk between the trim and the floor? i know you mentioned caulk the trim and the wall.

Another thing to consider is the direction of placement with regards to light entering the room. I placed my planks with the short side of the plank toward the window. Since my planks had a wood grained pattern, the incoming light highlights the grain in interesting ways. Also, if the floor is not sturdy, it might be better to mount the planks perpendicular to the floor joists.

I don’t know what it’s called but I saw another video of removing staples and used a long handled scraper, like broom handle long. Did that took the staples right out.

Diagonal cutting pliers. Lightly grab the staples and leverage them out. Can cut pieces flush if need be as well. The other way I do it is a 7” grinder with a concrete grinding wheel. I use it for the seams and it walks right through staples too. No belt sander required and the wheel lasts forever

Using the off cut for the next row works but you will start to create a stairstep pattern that doesn't look good. You need to change it up a bit. Use the off cut for the start of the second row then use a full board for the third row. Start the fourth row with the second off cut. The fifth row starts with a shortened board, maybe half, then continue with full boards. The six of seventh row is the third of off cut or whatever. I promise you, this looks better. Just keep an eye on the seems don't line up behind you. Yes you do create about 3% more waste but you'll appreciate (the look), the work for years. O and sometimes start a row with a full plank and not an off cut. It's the a random off cut in the opposite end.

On the last tip about getting a bigger baseboard, you could also get 1/4 round and use it to hide the gap. It's cheaper than getting new baseboard

I used vice grips to pull small nails and big staples so the grip is there so I can wiggle them out without loosing grip on the staples as much.

Is it industry standard to level the slab/foundation after total reconstruction before putting in a new floor?