Why We Chose LifeProof VInyl Plank Flooring and How We Installed It 

Next time use the remaining vinyl plank boxes as weights for the first row, stack them on top of each other in order for the first row to remain within place while installing the second row...trust me I learned the hard way until a neighbor of mine gave me the hint on how the keep the first row in place, while installing my second row of vinyl planks. i also removed all of my baseboards, and made sure to leave 1/4 in gap throughout the perimeter of the flooring, then afterward I reinstalled them without any quarter round which ended up giving the baseboards and flooring a much cleaner look....compliments continue to come about the installation of our flooring....in-conclusion I did also installed moisture barer underlayment underneath the new flooring, due to previous flooring having white mold throughout the entire previous flooring when we removed it, which in turn caused a lot allergy issue for both my wife and I, even though both flooring stated very clearly on the box that they came with an attached moisture underlayment...I did't wanted to take another chance again, we also sprayed the entire first floor concrete with mold remover and let it dry completely prior to installation of the new flooring....You and I used the sameeeee exact same tools and brand...luvvvv rigid

I would suggest having a spare box or two just in case that specific product is decomissioned, you wont have any problem with repairs.

Great job. Got the same flooring; Loved the Sterling Oak but decided on Chiffon lace for my kitchen. Found this video helpful. Thanks for sharing.

I also have a lot of warm wood tones in my condo and have been looking more at the warmer vinyl planks. Never thought about going with gray. Thank you!

You were very encouraging after watching you I am motivated to start doing my own happy home improvement ,thank you.

Guy at home depot sold us on the lifeproof stuff as well, he did contracting and was being very honest comparing to other brands - superior in every way and doesnt require the underlayment and really does not show wear so we opted for it - brilliant cost saver right there. Will be doing ours this week and your vid helped making sure we didnt miss anything :)

Women must love this style and color because my wife just had me install this color in our home. 💁

One caution in regards to the installation; make sure the surface being covered, be it concrete or wood, is as flat as possible. Installed this with a friend over an existing wood floor that we didn’t know wasn’t flat; it had subtle hills and valleys, like widespread swells on the ocean, that weren’t noticed until part way into the install. Given the flexibility of the new flooring, it made trying to align and click the planks together more difficult. We managed to finish the installation, but it took more than twice as long as comparative sized areas in her house. But I recommend LifeProof, and plan to use it in my own house.

What a cozy little home. I love it!

Vinyl floating floors are great. They are simple to install and very durable. We will be replacing our mismatched hard woods within the year and we’ll definitely be checking out the life proof brand. Thanks for the video.

You’ve inspired me...I have this same project coming up!!!

Shara I love your projects and your presentation. Simple and straight forward, great work on all your videos. Get ready I'm sure your channel will explode in 2020. Not explode but you know what I mean.

You did a great job on this floor. It looks nice and really improves the look of your apartment.

Nice work Shara, the floor looks great! 😃👌🏻👍🏻👊🏻

This inspired me and makes me want the sterling oak

I love that you used the primed quarter round molding, rather than removing the baseboards

Sterling gray is where it's at. I just did 2 levels of my new house last month. And its waterproof put it in bathrooms also.

I lived in California most of my life, but moved to Phoenix for a few years to be closer to my parents who retired there. My whole house was tile except the bedrooms which were carpeted. The carpet was always a challenge to keep up with two small dogs who were only semi-house trained, so I took out the carpet in my master bedroom and office which was the smallest bedroom, and replaced it with laminate myself which I loved, and only had one dog accident afterwards. I then moved back to a condo in San Diego which was completely upgraded with Life Proof laminate which looks great and is not as hard as the product I used in Arizona. My only complaint with Life Proof is that it has a softer more vinyl surface which scratches easier when you move furniture over it, and the surface itself is dull, but textured which makes it slightly harder to clean if your dog makes a #2 on it, and believe me my new floor is like a test bed for Life Proof. Overall it is a great product, and has more cushion give than most laminate products I have seen, but it has a softer surface which scratches easier.

Like the Murray State shirt!! We live about 40 minutes away. Great informative video.

Wow! Great job. Lovely finish. Thanks for sharing, very good. 😂🙏💕

Door thresholds can be glued to the adjacent pieces to avoid using a cap also

I did this in our laundry room and it was easy to do. But at Home RenoVision Jeff makes a good case for using underlayment from Global Floorings. I installed over a floor of old peel and stick vinyl tiles. I tried to remove them but they were so difficult to remove that I replaced the one tile I did remove and just put the new floor on top of that. I did this about two years ago and it has held up well and looks beautiful. I choose the Sterling Oak as well but Home Depot did have a nice selection of colors.

I've seem this on my suggestions about 50 times and i though it said why we chase life I finally realized what it really said

Great Video, nicely done! I'm looking at the Lifeproof 8.6" x 72" Product. Alys Oak is the color, 8mm thick, and has a 22 mil wear layer. I do like the color of Sterling Oak, but it's only in available 48" Planks, and only has a 6 mil wear layer.

I learned something new today. I have never heard of a “garage apartment.“ I didn’t even know those existed.

We installed the same brand and color throughout our New England home while we wait for lumber to go down ! Might take a year might take 5 who knows

Thank you I did! I goin going to try it. All I can do it mess up right!

Ok pro tip not so much with concert floor but with sub floor in your first row once it's down screw it in place for the rest of the floor make sure you do it as close to the edge so it will be covered up with the quarter round make sure at the end to remove those screws to allow for expansion.

Nice job. I would have removed and reinstalled the baseboards (not crazy about the quarter round look). Also, while click floors are really easy to install they can be a real pain if you ever need to replace a damaged board.

Omg I just made a miscut and seeing it in this video was really nice, I don’t feel like such a dummy now

I used the same exact rigid oscillating saw, when cutting into the lower door frames and closet door frames as well, luvvvvvved it..matter fact i purchase more rigid cordless tools..which I'm really enjoying.

Very nice job

your place is cool,the only thing that would make it better would be a loft bedroom. Love your projects,going to try the big ass cabinet build this summer.

I did my living room with real wood and the rest vinyl... not easy but messy fun when using glue...lol. Awesome work.

Thanks for sharing looks great 👍

Pretty cool apartment regardless. Nice job.

Joli travail bravo salut à bientôt Jeannot 🛠😉

I always enjoy your videos!

I looked and couldn't find anywhere this was said so I will... everything I've found online says to install wood flooring style floors perpendicular to the front door to give the house "length". Looks good anyway. Everybody's a critic, eh?

Good Work!

Wow, you did an excellent job with this flooring. It looks gorgeous & you make it look so easy💕. Just wondering, how many boxes did you use for your space. Thank you...definitely a thumbs up👍👍!

Excited my floor will be installed tomorrow same color 🙋‍♀️

Great job!

Im going with a almost white color from life prood. Can’t wait to not feel like I live in garage!

I know it says leave 1/4 space but no acclimation says it doesn't move like wood or at all they go in fast and look good though

Do not use a piece of wood as a taping block, just use a scrap piece of flooring. This way you dont damage the edge.

I live in a camper I done mine last year

Talent

Just installed this and my biggest problem was the floor kept moving no matter how well I secured my spacer pieces. What a pain. Even 5 rows in with the weight of all the other flooring boxes on it, every time I tapped in a piece the whole floor shifted.

Love this flooring. When you got to the threshold what did you use to cover the 1/4 gap?

Hey Shara... did you ever post a video of you guys building your garage studio apartment? I really like the layout. Would you be willing to share the overall dimensions of the building and what portion is dedicated to living space? My guess is 30 x 50 with half for living space. Thanks for your time and attention on my behalf... Matt

Looks great!

With a cement floor, you really need a moisture barrier under the planks to control the temperature. Without a moisture barrier, you could have problems with the some of the planks coming up.

I wonder why you didn't use sealant afterwards to protect and seal the joints

I hate this flooring my Landlord just installed this exact floor, I’m trying to get inspo for liking it lol

Did you have any dips and high spots on the concrete? I am doing my basement now and see some spots where there is a 1/4 inch dip. But mostly about half of that. If i put a 4 ft level on the floor i can slide a cardboard underneath in the middle. So now debating if i should ignore it and go ahead or use a floor self leveling mix which can be messy and time consuming. I became aware of the problem after i did almost half the room and noticed that when i bounce a tennis ball on the floor some places the ball does not come up and stays low. Then i realized it was where the level was off. I was using a similar LVP product with built in underlayment padding. May be after sometime with weight on it and walking on it the vinyl conforms to the contour better.

Great job! Lifeproof is great. Just don’t install it in a non-temperature controlled environment :D

how long did it take you?

I'd love this without the quarter round look. Do you have advice for getting around this? I guess it would work if you removed existing trim and reinstalled lower after flooring but that's not worth the extra work... Thanks for the detailed video!!

i always cut my peices 3ft 2ft 1ft that way every seem lines up perfect

Nice job, looks really good. Just went out and bought the same ones as you after seeing this video. I am not handy in the least, but I am determined to try this and hopefully save some money by not paying someone to do it. My question is...Do I need to put the spacers around the whole perimeter of the floor, including up against the staircase leading up to the main floor? We are installing this in our basement.

Thanks for making this video! Something I've always wondered is how does the vinyl stay in place/not shift once it's installed? Once you remove the spacers from the edges, does that not give it room to slide/shift?

What is the name of the paint you used on the walls? It blends very nice with the floor, great job 👍

So impessive taking it on like that, nice job! DId you use the ultra line? Debating between this and LL COrelux Ultra. uggh decisions.

Looks great. What are you nailing the quarter inch into the old or the floor that you had before?

This is a lot different than the Home Depot lifeproof porcelain tile that requires quikset to lay down

Question please? Since you have had this flooring now for approx a year ( as it looks from the date you posted this video) are still pleased with it? Any problems with scratching? Would you do it all again. I will not be installing it myself, but looking at having LifeProof installed. Thank you in advance for feedback.

Has your dog scratched to floor? We have a 60 pound American Bulldog that gets the zoomies. We are not sure what kind of floor to get. She has destroyed our engineered hard wood that came with the house. Your floor looks great!

Did you put it under your fridge and range? Or did you leave your fridge and range directly on the concrete? I’m trying to figure out the best way to deal with heavy appliances and the floating floor.

Yes because everybody has a table saw handy !

You are amazing .

Great job!!! We're ordering the exact same flooring, it's at $3.19 per sqft right now, not sure if that's a sale price, do you remember how much you paid per sqft? Thanks

no moisture barrier?

This looks awesome, congrats! One question for you, did you have to remove all appliances like washer/dryer, dishwasher, stove and fridge? Or did you play around them? I’m just so scared to have to have to remove them and mess all the wires and what not... Thanks ;) Celine

Thanks Shara! Do you think these can be installed as an accent wall in a room? If so whats the best method to attach them?

you not leaving the correct spacing between joints, depending on the manufacturer, you need to leave 6-8" space between joints , this could cause problems down the road

What size base boards did you go with floor looks great thank you.

How long did it take you to install the flooring not counting the quarter round trim work? We are wanting to install it in our house and I was wanting to estimate how much time it will take. I’m not sure if I want to do a whole house or hire it done.

Lulu is a beauty.

Did you have any issues with the interlock part breaking? I have worked with two other brands, and the interlock part of the planks were super easy to crack. I had to be very careful laying them because once that breaks, it’s impossible to get the planks to lock together. It was very frustrating.

Those turned out well, I’m getting ready to do the floors in my basement and wanted to try these but I’m nervous I not sure if I will be happy with them. Do they move up and down when you walk on them or do they feel solid?

On Homedepots site Under Q&A Several people mentioned that it scratches easily. Shara have you found that to be accurate?

Looks great. Did you have to level your concrete floor first?

EXCELLENT VIDEO!!! at 7:57 ... what is the name of the nail gun you are using?? Thank you so much for sharing this great great video.

looking to do this in our home soon, so great timing! Question, does your floor seem pretty flat? i know there are comments about uneven flooring issues when laying it. i havent seen the slab that ours will go on, it still has carpet, but im concerned with it being a little wavy. thanks for the video!

Were there any dips in the concrete? Was it leveled before installing the floor? If there were dips, how has the floor performed over the dips? I have concrete floors also. Just wondering thanks.

Could we get an update about how well this has held up after a year?

you were suppose to remove the baseboards and install 1/4 inch from the actual wall.

Hi, so pretty! How did you figure out what length to cut the pieces for the staggering? Thanks!

Was your floor completely level? I wanted to install laminate plank in our kitchen but I have a feeling when I remove the worn and chipped linoleum, it's not going to be level.

Pull a base off no cord around RI cut the length easily put back on

No underlayment?

Hey. Great video. Did you lay this under the cabinets or just cut up to it ?

Did you install the lvp floor under your big kitchen appliances or can the flooring be installed against the front of them??

Thanks :-)

Why the torn jeans? Did you pay for those? My jeans are torn cause I worked for the holes.

Do you put quarter inch spacers on all the walls. I noticed you out it on the first row but not at the end? I am assuming you’re leaving 1/4 space on all the walls and not just the starting wall

So how do you like the flooring now? Had it held up well? Dents, scratches?

Lucy...what a sweet heart.....oh I'm sorry this is a woodworking vid.......sorry I love dogs!!!!! WoW... you read the instructions????? wait where is your husband.....hahahahaha! Do we need a sheep, dog toy and rawhide role to do this???????????hahahaha!

Hi! Love your video and I am inspired to do my floors, however I'm afraid what might be under that nasty carpet. Can you share a link to the laser measure and oscillating saw? Thanks.