20 Tips for a Great Vinyl Plank Flooring Installation

I use a grinder , much ezer for staples ❤

Im confused 😂 what holds them down? No glue?

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

So when do you have to takeoff the spacers or how long are you supposed to leave them on

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.

Great tips!!!

Who is that?

What type of nail gun did you use and what brand?

The last thing you want to do is remove and replace baseboard always try to stay away from that just put shoemold or quarter round it's way faster then taking of baseboards some are very old and rip off in pieces and crumble and the customer will blame you since you suggested it then you got yourself in trouble. You also never know what the guy before you did for all you know you could pull off a piece of baseboard that was liquid nailed to the dry wall now you have a huge problem. Leave baseboards alone unless they ask or put new ones but my advice is stay away from baseboards and suggest quarter round or shoe

Which brand is non toxic,which do you recommend

Use a flathead screwdriver to remove staples. It’s smaller.

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

I would have just left the baseboards and just installed bottom trim. It looks good with vinyl

Thank you for the video!

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

Drop, pop and lock it.

Thanks dude, Iearned a lot!

Thank you man 🙏

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.

Loved it

Vice grips help when you have to remove those staples one at a time. The rounded shape gives a nice, rolling lever as you pull them out. I have no idea how to make it faster...

Thanks for the tips 👍👍👍

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

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.

Where are you located?

I use an oscillating tool and a metal cutting blade and just cut all the staples flush. So much faster and easier.

Awesome, tips 👌

I had such a hard time removing my baseboards. Is it normal for baseboards to have two sets of nails (one at the top, one at the bottom)? I would run into the same issue—I would score the caulk and pry the top with my pry bar. The top part would come off easily, but the bottom part would get wedged into the wall because of the second set of nails. It took me a lot of elbow grease to pull them off. Is that normal, or am I doing something wrong? One of the shorter baseboards was only held by one set of nails, and it came out so easily! When I put on new baseboards, I plan on using less nails. I’m redoing my second floor one room at a time, and I’m already dreading taking out more baseboards.

Thank you all your tips

I use an oscillating tool with a metal tip and go along the entire floor to get the staples cut flat

I used a square shovel to take all of the staples out of a hardwood floor that had carpet padding stapled to it , about every two feet , Start with the shovel upside down and push in short strokes from the side of staples , Then flip the shovel over and push along the line of staples . Some won't come up , go back with pliers . Most come up with shovel

Can you install keeping the wall trim on?

Fantastic tips as always

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

Hammer them down so you don’t pull them up and have to clean them too

Why do you remove the first planks you installed then push the other rows up? I didn't quite understand why I'm attempting this tomorrow lol

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

Why not paint before putting on the trim? No cutting in needed? Just caulk? Paint the trim separately as well? No fiddly trimming, or drips just zip, zip you’re done. 😊

Nice video, educational and concise, on such a broad topic.

Only one observation: it seems to me that you did not understand the use of (black) shims/wedges very well.

You placed it single, vertically against the wall, which is not correct.

That sort of shims/wedges are always used in pairs, with the thinner tip against each other, the longer side near the floor, so that the grooves are parallel.
(the grooves serve to fix the chosen thickness)



By moving the shims one over the other, different thicknesses are obtained, which serve to make the first row of laminate, which is completely straight, perfectly rest against the wall, which is always more or less wavy.

This means that the minimum distance from the floor to the wall is equal to the maximum thickness of the wedge/shim (necessary due to the expansion of the floor), but you can increase this distance by adding a second shim over the first one, and precisely adjust the distance by moving it left-right.



The blue shims what you recommended have only two main spacers, smaller and larger, which is insufficiently precise for the larger number of necessary distances.

*
btw, I assume you already know all of this, but I'm commenting for the sake of others who probably don't know ;)))

I feel dumb. I don't consistently watch this channel, but I've been half heartedly wondering what a me nail was for months. It literally had to be spelled out for me. Brad nail🤦🏻‍♀️

Man you should really wear one of those P100 respirators when doing all this stuff. Its all going no where but your lungs.

Also I prefer a heft needle nose pliers for removing those nails.

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 have 2 ways to pull staples.
I use a flat ending pair of plyer and twist out the staples.
Second I use a pair of side cutters this time flat on the floor and rolling them over.

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

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.

I run a long handle. Sledge to find and knock down.

Way too much work. Follow the manufacturers instructions. I will say the shims are cool

When the staples don't come out. Smack it with a hammer into the wood.

Best tip for installing vinyl plank flooring: DON'T! It's ugly af.