Home Flooring Guide

With over 300 vinyl flooring styles to choose from, you certainly won’t be stumped for choice when re-doing you floor.  The best place to make your decision about your vinyl flooring is by visiting a manufacturer’s showroom or a vinyl flooring retail store.  Here you should get some great advice on what product is most likely to suit your project.  They can also help you calculate how much flooring you’re going to need to purchase.  Most manufacturers will also let you take samples home to help you decide. 

Vinyl flooring can meet almost any budget, with prices starting from as low as 50c a square foot.  Manufacturers also cater for those with bigger budgets with flooring at around $5-$6 per square foot.  Most vinyl floorings are installed in kitchens and bathrooms that are subject to moisture. 

To help you with your installation, we’ve set out a few guidelines to make the process run smoothly.

Tools and Materials Required

Vinyl tiles with self-adhesive backings
Heavy Duty Scissors
Tape measure
Permanent Marker
A chalk line
Small Towel

Preparing the Sub-Floor

Check that the sub-floor is completely smooth and flat and free from dust and dirt.  If you are installing your vinyl flooring over the top of old flooring, make sure that it is not peeling or cracked.  If you do find any areas that are damaged it is important that you fill the gaps with a floor filling compound.  This also applies to concrete sub-floors. You can purchase a patching compound mix from most good hardware stores.  Mix the compound according to the instructions, and using a small trowel spread the mix over any offending holes.  Let it dry for at least an hour.
 
Click here for information on removing old vinyl flooring

Middle-Out Installation

Firstly you need to measure a line from the middle of the room that is parallel to both walls.  We do this because we want to install the tiles from the middle of the room and work to the walls.  Starting from the middle of the room ensures that the most visible tiles (the ones in the middle) will be correctly aligned.  If you have started slightly askew, this slight mistake will get more exaggerated as you go along. 

It is important to note that you don’t always need to lay the flooring parallel to the walls.  Many home owners choose to lay their flooring diagonally across which gives a greatly enhanced visual effect.  Although it requires more cutting at the walls, it does look great.

Quick Tips

When you’ve finished installing your tiles it is important to keep the remaining tiles.  It’s good to have spares on hand just incase any come loose over time. 

It is easier to install vinyl tiles when they are warm.  Leaving the tiles outside on a hot day makes them softer and more malleable and also makes the tiles stick better.