LVT - DIY fitting

lawred2

Hi,

Was looking at some LVT flooring. Some are simply beautiful and very hard wearing.

Laminate floor at home sickens me.

Was thinking of replacing it throughout the ground floor.

I'm handy enough so wouldn't fear the job but wonder has anyone done it here? Did they take up the existing floor or put it down over the existing floor?

Any first hand experience would be appreciated!

hesker

I bought a load of it on discount but haven’t laid it yet. There are some posts on here if you search. Your floor has to be level before laying so might need floor levelling compound.

I spoke with a local shop who were pretty honest about it. They said

1. All LVT will fade over time so not really suitable if you have strong sunlight coming in. The LVT on the shop floor was quite noticeably faded near the glass entrance doors

2. They do not recommend gluing the LVT down as it needs to be able to move a bit with expansion & contraction

The latter point contradicts the usual installation advice

lawred2

hesker wrote: »

I bought a load of it on discount but haven’t laid it yet. There are some posts on here if you search. Your floor has to be level before laying so might need floor levelling compound.

I spoke with a local shop who were pretty honest about it. They said

1. All LVT will fade over time so not really suitable if you have strong sunlight coming in. The LVT on the shop floor was quite noticeably faded near the glass entrance doors

2. They do not recommend gluing the LVT down as it needs to be able to move a bit with expansion & contraction

The latter point contradicts the usual installation advice

possible to easily replace faded tiles if you over bought and kept them in the attic?

hesker

lawred2 wrote: »

possible to easily replace faded tiles if you over bought and kept them in the attic?

I guess so. Most of the systems are a click system so should be easy enough to take up, especially if not glued down. You may get a certain level of fading on all tiles so the ones in the attic may be darker. While I’ve no direct experience of this I wouldn’t be shocked to see this.

Have read reports of some of the cheaper click systems not clicking properly and being a pain to fit.


If I was in your shoes I think I would try to freshen up the laminate you have before replacing provided it’s not worn to bits. You may be limited in what you can achieve but it’s worth considering

The prices of the more expensive LVT are a bit eye watering when you consider it is just vinyl after all.

lawred2

hesker wrote: »

I guess so. Most of the systems are a click system so should be easy enough to take up, especially if not glued down. You may get a certain level of fading on all tiles so the ones in the attic may be darker. While I’ve no direct experience of this I wouldn’t be shocked to see this.

Have read reports of some of the cheaper click systems not clicking properly and being a pain to fit.


If I was in your shoes I think I would try to freshen up the laminate you have before replacing provided it’s not worn to bits. You may be limited in what you can achieve but it’s worth considering

The prices of the more expensive LVT are a bit eye watering when you consider it is just vinyl after all.

good to know - thanks

Up Donegal

lawred2 wrote: »

possible to easily replace faded tiles if you over bought and kept them in the attic?

But then there's the chance that the replacement tile you use might be very noticeable due to all the originally laid tiles having faded to some degree?