How To Install Stainmaster Vinyl Plank Flooring

Before we dive all in, here's a little backstory with how this project came to be. When I attended the Oasis Conference in the summertime of 2022, I went running to toss my business card in a bowl of hundreds with 5 minutes to spare. During the closing ceremony, the cards were mixed upwards and pulled for prizes—the first prize to win: STAINMASTER® flooring. And guess what!? My carte was picked out of a basin of hundreds, and I won STAINMASTER® floor! I couldn't believe it!

Fast forward, we picked out luxury vinyl flooring for three rooms and asked to exit 1 room for Ryan and me to DIY. Nosotros wanted to feel both the process of getting the floors installed by someone else and installing the flooring on our own. You tin can meet how it went with the pros here (spoiler: it was amazing). Equally for this post, we're sharing how you can install your own ST AINMASTER® PetProtect™ luxury vinyl floor after we successfully installed ours.

Type of Floor

For all 3 bedrooms, we decided to become with the STAINMASTER® PetProtect™ luxury vinyl flooring in Tall. It's a floating flooring with a click to lock system, making information technology very doable as a DIY. Our color is no longer available but there are enough to choose from! Nosotros ultimately decided on this STAINMASTER® PetProtect™ flooring because it resists odors from pet accidents, resistant to scratching, and it's easier for u.s. to keep clean in our Florida abode.

Materials for Install

STAINMASTER® PetProtect™ Luxury Vinyl Flooring
six mil underlayment
Shop vac / broom
Leveling concrete
Scissure flex sealant
Pencil
Laminate flooring cutter
Rubber hammer
Spacers
Tape measure out
Borer cake
Jigsaw
Tabular array saw
Pull bar
Construction adhesive
Hot glue gun + gum
Transition piece (sold separately from flooring)

Baseboards

Let'due south conversation nigh baseboards for a infinitesimal. We had the selection to either remove or keep the existing baseboards. Yous can certainly keep them, but you'll take to identify a shoe molding along the base of your baseboards for a finished look. Information technology will too help hide the luxury vinyl not meeting up to the baseboards. More on this in a second! We removed all of the quondam baseboards considering nosotros wanted to avoid the shoe molding and installed new baseboards once the flooring was installed.

Removal of Quondam Flooring

Depending on your existing floor, this step could expect different for you lot. Our sometime flooring was a laminate flooring that we could easily remove since it was a floating floor equally well with a click and lock organisation. We started in a corner and popped all the old floor pieces out. Brand sure to remove the old underlayment as well. It may accept taken ten minutes to clear out the entire room. You'll want to take the time to inquiry the best fashion to remove your old floor depending on what you have.

Floor Prep

Prepping the floor for the new flooring is a footstep that you want to accept your time with and not skip. One time all the erstwhile flooring is removed, remove all the dirt and dust from the entire room. I found it best to use a store vac to run information technology forth every inch of the floor and the baseboard area.

Check to make sure the flooring is level in all areas. If not, yous risk your flooring messing up over time because of it dipping down in areas when stepped on. We used a 4-foot level to run along the floor. We were looking for any areas that dipped when the level went over it. Luckily for us, our floor was level. If your flooring is non level, it's a must to make it level. I of the easiest ways is using a leveling physical that spreads across unlevel surfaces filling in low spots, which so creates a level surface.

Y'all'll also want to check for any cracks in your foundation. We had a few cracks where I could use a cleft flex sealant to seal them. If cracks are left exposed and not sealed, it allows for moisture to seep underneath the newly installed flooring.

Installing the Luxury Vinyl Flooring

It's time to get the flooring installed. STAINMASTER® brand does non recommend whatsoever type of bulwark or underlayment. Nosotros went ahead and placed one down as a precaution since we alive in Florida. We used a vi mil liner to prevent wet from getting to the luxury vinyl by spreading it beyond the floor. Don't worry about it being completely apartment right at present. You can smooth information technology out and cut any excess that you need to as you become.

Typically you lot want to first in a 90-degree corner with your commencement slice of luxury vinyl and take into consideration what mode you want your floor to go. A skillful rule of pollex to follow is to lay them parallel to the longest run of the room. We got lucky and the corner we started in was pretty much polish sailing. The opposite side had a lot of time-consuming cuts with three dissimilar door frames, which immune united states of america to get into a groove before getting to those trickier areas.

Nosotros placed a total-length vinyl plank in the corner we were starting in and placed spacers between the plank and wall. The spacers leave an expansion gap so that the vinyl can expand and contract, which happens with a floating floor. You'll do this with all the planks that meet the walls. If baseboards were removed prior, the new baseboards volition cover the gap. If baseboards are left on for the floor install, shoe olding will need to be installed to comprehend the gap. It all comes down to personal preference.

Flooring Design

The goal is to stagger the planks so that the ends aren't lining up with each other. To achieve this, we used a flooring cutter (the best investment for this project) to trim the luxury vinyl planks. We cut 14 inches off the next slice of luxury vinyl and installed information technology as the showtime piece in the second row directly below the commencement plank. Nosotros followed this aforementioned method for the 3rd and fourth row, where each vinyl piece was cutting 14 inches shorter than the previous slice installed above information technology. This pattern will repeat every 4 rows.

**TIP: So you don't waste whatsoever pieces of your luxury vinyl, save the ends of the vinyl planks you don't use as the offset slice of a row. Use these where you can when starting a new row. They don't all have to be cut to the exact size as long as the boards are staggered. Keep in mind the joints of adjoining rows need to exist at least 6 inches apart or more for stability.

**TIP: Cutting a slice of cardboard at 14 inches so you do not have to measure out fourteen inches on every first piece of a row. But line up the cardboard piece with the end of the blank and mark where information technology ends. There are your 14 inches!

How to Install the Luxury Vinyl Planks

To connect and install the STAINMASTER® PetProtect™ luxury vinyl pieces, a click and lock system is used. There's a locking mechanism on the bottom of the vinyl piece in the upper row and the correct side of the piece in the same row. The adjacent piece to exist installed will be clicking into this locking mechanism.

Nosotros plant it all-time to hold the vinyl slice at a 20-degree angle, connecting the click and lock pieces and pushing down on the edges until we heard the pop sound. In that location still exist a little adjusting to practice.

Fixing Gaps Between Planks

One time a plank was secured, nosotros checked for any gaps between the boards. You don't desire to see even the slightest gap because information technology will permit any moisture or liquids to go between the planks. To fix it, we first hit the top side of the edges of the plank with a non-mark safe mallet to make the edges flush with the previously installed planks.

Using a tapping block, we placed it along the edge of the long side of the plank. Be very careful to place information technology forth the upper border and not on the locking mechanism. It volition intermission the locking system preventing the adjoining slice from locking properly. Lightly tap the borer cake with the safe hammer until you come across the gap close. Repeat this on the short terminate every bit well to close the other gap. Y'all'll practise this for all of the interlocking sides.

Reaching the End of a Row

When reaching the end of the row, we tried to utilize a scrap slice of vinyl with the locking mechanism along the left side, height, and bottom. If we needed to trim the scrap piece down to fit appropriately, I turned it upside down to measure information technology. I lined information technology up with the finish of the pinnacle board and marked where the lath to the left ends on the flake piece. Using the floor cutter, I cutting forth the line I just marked. The concluding slice of the row is set to be installed.

TIP: Since the tapping block won't fit on the cease of a row to shut the gap, use a pull bar by attaching information technology to the end of the plank. A rubber hammer will however be used to hit the other end of the pull bar to shut the gap.

Working Around Door Frames + Angles

I idea working effectually a door frame was going to be tricker than what it was. I have a little pull a fast one on for you that makes it very simple to effigy out how much and where to cut the vinyl plank. I push the short edge of the plank to the spot where it needs to go, placing it on the inner side of the door frame to push information technology up. I then marked a horizontal line on the board that aligns with the edge of the wall and trim.

Next, I slide the plank next to the slice it will be attaching to and mark the vertical line of the door frame and/or wall. This connects the vertical and horizontal lines and shows the line that needs to be cut along with a jigsaw. This will cut the piece off to allow the plank to beautifully hug effectually the doorframe like a puzzle piece and install similar all the other pieces.

If the flooring is transitioning into a dissimilar type of floor with a connecting room, an inch gap was left between the vinyl and the flooring the vinyl is meeting. This volition permit for enough room to install the transition piece for a make clean and finished look.

Installing the Last Row

Getting to the last row of installing the luxury vinyl was the best feeling! Nosotros were in the home stretch. If y'all're lucky, the last row volition fit perfectly without whatsoever cuts needed. But if you're like us, you'll take to trim the boards downward if they're as well wide. We measured and marked where we needed to cutting and used a table saw to cut the vinyl planks down to size. Don't forget to figure in the gap needed between the plank and the wall.

Transition Slice in Doorway

**My transition was practical over concrete slab.

To ensure the transition piece would accept a firm and secure hold, I vacuumed out the gap first to start with a clean foundation. Using construction adhesive, I applied information technology directly to the physical slab going the length of the doorway. Using a hot glue gun, I applied hot mucilage in a few spots. The construction adhesive takes a picayune bit to fully dry, so the hot glue secures the transition piece while the adhesive dries.

Slide one side of the bottom piece of the transition piece under the vinyl flooring and firmly press down. Snap the top slice into identify and embrace with painter's tape over the entire length of the transition piece. Do not take off for 24 hours to allow the structure agglutinative to fully dry without moving. That'south it!

Whew! Installing the STAINMASTER® PetProtect™ luxury vinyl floor was a fun experience and project to complete in our dwelling. It was honestly easier than what I was expecting to install. It's the perfect DIY projection to tackle yourself when replacing floor in your home if you're upwardly for the challenge.

If installing throughout nearly of your home, information technology will save you lot a lot of money to DIY, but in commutation, it may take a little longer compared to hiring information technology out. You can't go wrong either mode! I hope this helps give y'all the confidence to try installing STAINMASTER® PetProtect™ luxury vinyl floor in your ain habitation. If you desire to meet the procedure of hiring out your flooring install, I shared all about that in this postal service.

** And since this DIY project, we now take STAINMASTER® PetProtect™ luxury vinyl flooring throughout our entire home. Cheque out the huge before and later on transformation of our home.