Mike and I began prepping our floors a few days prior to laying the first planks down. Prepping the floors entailed taking up the carpet (section by section so we still had livable space for the kids) and removing the tack boards. We were most disgusted with how much dirt and sand we found between the carpet and the padding. It was very obvious the contractors who built our home didn’t do a very good job cleaning the floors prior installing any of it. Along with the dirt, we found multiple nails, screws, rocks, washers and razor blades underneath the carpeting. We are so glad we removed all of it!
The kids enjoyed helping us. Kensi and Finn took turns vacuuming and they loved helping us with the tools and picking out the next plank.
When we began this project we laid three rows of planks starting in our playroom which has the furthest left corner of the house. This starting point made the most sense because we were able to lay the planks through the kitchen, then into the dining room all while working our way down the playroom walls and into our entryway, which then leads to our living room that flows into the dining room. It sounds confusing, but it was the best way for the flow of the floors and it only left us with a small section in the dining room of working backwards. Mike and I had a little bit of pushing to do when it finally came time to meet our floors together in the middle. Everything lined up for the most part, but the slightest mis-measurement can make a big difference. We were able to snap everything together and it’s all cohesive, but there is a slight squeak near where we met. I think it makes it more authentic.
We ended up laying the floating floor over our vinyl flooring. The thickness was so minimal we didn’t think it was worth the extra time and energy to take it up.
Now, we could have avoided having to flow our floors into each room, but we chose to install our flooring without any transitions. Mike was adamant about not having them as he wanted all the floors to flow into each other. Apparently, this is the harder way to do install, but I didn’t know that and the process of cutting each board to go around all our nooks, crannies and notches wasn’t bad at all. It just took patience and a little more time. Measuring twice and hopefully only cutting once, or maybe twice.
The most difficult space for installation was the kitchen. This room took the most time and gave us the biggest headache because we had to move all the appliances out, measure the corners, cut all the planks, install the planks, add pads under each appliance and then move them all back into place. Trying to prep meals was a little difficult this day which left us ordering pizza instead 😉.
Trying to work while the kids were up was no joke, hard. One of us was constantly trying to keep them entertained when they grew bored of movies and playing on their own.
We ended up laying the floating floor over our vinyl flooring. The thickness was so minimal we didn’t think it was worth the extra time and energy to take it up.
A lot of our friends and family were surprised how quickly we finished the project. We did most of the work after the kids went to bed so we had limited interruptions and stayed up late, 8pm - 2:30am for two nights. After those few nights working into the wee hours of the morning we spent a couple hours working the next couple days. All in all, after totaling up our hours worked, it took us approximately 4 days and like I said at the beginning of this post we still have the finishing touches (base boards + quarter round) to install this weekend.
For anyone considering installing new flooring we highly suggest making sure you have the right tools and go into the project with a lot of patience. One of our friends saw we had started and asked her neighbor who use to install flooring for a living if we could borrow his tools, he very graciously obliged. Mike and I were so excited to have all the fixings, but for the most part we used two tools (large tapping block + weighted mallet) that we thankfully didn’t have to purchase ourselves. We did end up purchasing a flooring kit that included a small tapping block and spacers for the wall. About half way through our install we came across a large scab in our concrete that our builder tried to fix, but half of it was over filled and the other half was too low. Our plank wasn’t laying flat so we bought an angle grinder to grind down the concrete. We did learn a quick lesson afterwards as our entire kitchen was filled with a concrete dust....spritz the concrete area down with water before grinding; it helps eliminate the absurds amounts of dust!
We chose not use transitions between each doorway or room opening, but instead notched each board around the framing and door jambs and slid them underneath. This gives the whole house a cleaner and more cohesive design.
//SOURCES + TOOLS//
Ryobi Angle Grinder (used to grind down the concrete)
Jig Saw
Weighted Mallet
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