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How to lay luxury vinyl flooring

You’ve chosen the perfect luxury vinyl for your home, now all you need to do is get it installed.

We advise leaving it to the experts and using a professional flooring fitter to get the best possible results, but if you’re a DIY pro and feel up to the challenge, we’re here to lend a hand. 

Here are our experts’ best tips and tricks to get a flawless finish from your luxury vinyl.

Carpetright's fitting arrangement service

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We’re proud to arrange a professional fitting service that’s approved, meaning the fitters have all passed a rigorous assessment process and demonstrated suitable skill and depth of knowledge.

Letting us arrange the fitting service for you means you get to enjoy your room transformation with much less hassle. Just select fitting at our online checkout, or ask one of our friendly advisors, if you’re buying in-store.

As well as a standard fitting service, fitters also offer an uplift and disposal service. For a small fee, the fitters will not only fit your new floor, they will also get rid of the old one too.

It’s just one less thing for you to worry about.

Find out what you can expect from our professional fitting arrangement service by clicking here.

Our step-by-step guide to fitting luxury vinyl tiles

Before getting stuck into your new home renovation project, it’s important to have everything you need. This easy-to-follow guide will take you through each step on installing luxury vinyl tiles in your home, which includes:

  1. Carpetright's fitting arrangement service
  2. How to measure a room for luxury vinyl tiles
  3. Tools for fitting luxury vinyl tiles
  4. Preparing your floor for luxury vinyl tiles
  5. How to fit underlay for luxury vinyl tiles
  6. How to lay luxury vinyl tiles
  7. How to achieve the perfect finish
  8. Luxury vinyl aftercare and inspiration

How to measure a room for luxury vinyl tiles

Preparation is key when it comes to setting your project up for success. Getting the right measurements can be make or break, as well as making sure you don’t overspend and buy too much luxury vinyl.

A good way to start is to draw a simple diagram of the rooms that are being fitted with luxury vinyl. For square or rectangular rooms, simply multiply the width by the height. For example, a room that is 5m x 2m will need 10m2 of vinyl.

  • If your room includes recesses or chimney breasts, it helps to draw a diagram of the room complete with any alcoves, fireplaces, nooks and crannies.
  • Measure each individual area and write the measurement in the relevant space on the diagram.
  • Break the room down into smaller rectangles that you can add together to get the total area of the room. Then add an all-important 5% for waste.
  • Measure your lengths more than once to make sure they’re right.
  • Remember to measure to the back of any door frames or room trims that you want the luxury vinyl tiles to go under when it is fitted.
  • When it comes to stairs or steps, the process is similar. Measure the height and depth and of each stair to give you then length before multiplying by the width. This will give you the area of each step. Again, don’t forget to allow 10% for waste and to allow for any margin of error as staircases can be tricky.
  • When you buy luxury vinyl, bear in mind it is usually sold in packs that are labelled by their size in meters squared. For example, one pack might include 5m² of luxury vinyl.

How to measure a simple room accurately

Watch our step-by-step guide to accurately measuring a simple room. This shows you what equipment you need and how to calculate the correct area. It's never been easier to get a perfect fit.

How to measure a room with extra areas

Learn the basic steps to accurately measure a room with extra areas and understand how much carpet you'll need by watching our helpful video.

How to measure a room which needs a join

If your room is wider than the 4m or 5m widths that carpets come in, then you'll need to join two rolls together. Learn how to accurately measure a room that requires a join with our step-by-step guide.

Tools for fitting luxury vinyl tiles

Having the right floor installation tools for the job is crucial. You may already have many of these at home, but if you don’t, most DIY outlets sell fitting kits. You’ll need the following tools to install luxury vinyl tiles:

  • Mitre saw
  • Hammer
  • Square
  • Flooring kit (including spacers and pull bar)
  • Stanley knife
  • Tape measure
  • Pencil
  • Safety goggles and face mask
  • Masking tape
  • Vacuum cleaner

Preparing your floor for luxury vinyl tiles

One of the great things about vinyl is that it can be laid on to a variety of different surfaces, as long it is flat and clean.

  1. Remove all furniture and any fixtures or fittings that might get in your way.
  2. Do not lay over recently treated wood or concrete that is too moist – make sure both are fully dried out.
  3. It is recommended that any existing floor tiles or coverings are removed if possible.
  4. Most LVT’s are suitable to work with underfloor heating up to 27⁰C, but check with the manufacturer.
  5. Always wear knee pads when working on flooring.
  6. You’ll find it cheaper and easier to pull up floorboards if a lot of them are damaged, and to start again. Tongue-and-groove chipboard flooring boards are great to use as base, as are hardboard sheets.
  7. Prepare existing floorboards by ensuring no nails are sticking out above the surface and nailing down any boards that are loose. You can sand down any boards that are at a higher level than the rest.
  8. Make sure you use nails that are not too long as there is a risk of piercing through the floorboard into pipes or cables. 19mm nails should be about right.
  9. If you are using hardboard sheets as your base, lay them texture-side up as you’ll need something for any adhesive to stick to.
  10. Start in a corner of the room and set the nails about 13mm in from the edges of the sheet in a pyramid pattern. It’s a good idea to use something as a spacer like a piece of wood.
  11. Space the nails about 150mm apart around the edges but in the centre 225mm apart. It’s a good idea to start in the centre of one edge and work across the board to the other side.
  12. Push the sheets together and nail the edges where the sheets meet first. When you finish the first row of boards the last one will need to be cut to size.
  13. Use this off-cut from the last sheet in the first row to start the second row and carry on in the same way. This reduces waste and helps by ensuring the joints are staggered.

How to fit underlay for luxury vinyl tiles

Underlay is not an optional extra – it’s an integral component that shapes how luxury vinyl flooring feels, wears and looks.

The right underlay will add comfort underfoot, absorb shock and noise effectively, and act as an insulator, meaning you could save money on your energy bills.

 

  1. Lay the underlay over the entire floor and trim to size, cutting a 16mm gap around any pipes.
  2. Lay lengths parallel and stick together with masking tape.

 

If you’re not sure which underlay is best for your luxury vinyl, have a read through our guide to buying underlay or pop into a local store for more expert advice.

How to lay luxury vinyl tiles

Storing your tiles in the relevant room for 24-48 hours prior to fitting is important as it will bring it to the temperature of the room. If the room is particularly cold, it can be worth putting the heating on to bring the temperature up. The best temperature for fitting LVT is between 18 – 30 degrees centigrade.

  1. Sweep or vacuum your sub-floor.
  2. Click systems allow the luxury vinyl panels to be clicked into place with ease. We suggest you begin in a corner, working from left to right.
  3. Put the head ends together in the first row.
  4. Push the short side joint down gently with your thumb, moving from the inner corner towards the outside until you hear a “click” or use your rubber mallet to secure the joints together if you need to.
  5. Ensure the short side ends are closed by knocking gently on the short side click connection with your wrist.
  6. Follow this system for the second row and then join the two rows together once finished.
  7. Continue to do this until you fill the area.

How to achieve the perfect finish

Now you’ve fitted your new luxury vinyl, there’s just one more thing left to install to ensure you achieve that perfect finish – door bars. Door bars join different flooring types across door thresholds neatly and can really make a difference to your final look.

How to fit a door bar

  1. Firstly, make sure you have the right door bar as there are a few to choose from, depending on your flooring types and heights.
  2. The correct position for a door bar is central across the threshold so it cannot be seen on either side when the door is closed.
  3. Once you have positioned your door bar centrally, cut the bar to the right length with a hack saw.
  4. Ensure there any no pipes or cables under the floor.
  5. For a concrete floor, drill the holes with a power drill using a masonry bit and insert wall plugs.
  6. You can now fit your door bar.

Luxury vinyl aftercare and inspiration