DIY change carpet to vinyl floor

[Sonia2806]

Hi, 😊

For our new born baby in 2.5 months, me and my husband decided to do Change the carpet to Vinyl Floor. We asked for quotes, but its too high for us that due to Covid, we are experiencing reduce the hours of jobs per week, which means we also do have more of our own time to learn and do self DIY.

So, My questions are,

1. is it possible to put the vinyl floor on this timber? No damage to the original timber ? that on the other side, we already removed the carpet and sanding the original timber floor and it looks great and fine, but during the winter, its very cold. 

So we want to do the vinyl floor in the baby's room and living room. 

2. And, if its possible to put the vinyl floor, do i need to put anything else underneath of vinyl floor or just put the vinyl floor after removing the carpets? 

3. To fix the vinyl floor, do i need to glue everywhere or just side corner? i am trying to reduce the damages to orinal timber... 

Look forward for experts recommendation !! 😊carpetunderneath of carpetsanded timberunderneath of original timber  

[MitchellMc · Accepted solution]

Welcome to the Workshop community @Sonia2806. I'd be happy to assist with your question.

It is recommended to glue the entire sheet of vinyl down to the timber floor to stop it bunching up and moving. This will obviously create the issue that the glue needing to be removed if you ever take the vinyl flooring up again.

You could consider vinyl plank flooring as an alternative which doesn't need to be glued down in place and comes with an underlay attached. Here's a step-by-step tutorial on How to install vinyl plank flooring.

Is it too cold in winter due to the surface being timber or perhaps because it is drafty and cold under the house? You could pull up the carpet and install Expol 1240 x 410 x 60mm Polystyrene Insulation Panels under the floorboards. This would dramatically reduce the amount of draft and stop heat escaping.

I look forward to seeing what other community members have done is such a situation. If you have any questions about these products or need further assistance please let me know.

Mitchell

[MrFreeze]

I would look at adding underfloor insulation first and then decide on the vinyl flooring later.

Recently I installed (well started but not completed)  Earthwool R2.5 Insulating batts https://www.bunnings.com.au/earthwool-r-2-5-90-x-420mm-2-92m-floorshield-underfloor-batt-6-pack_p011... and it has made a noticeable difference.

My floor is a combination of carpet and thin vinyl over timber flooring with about 500mm of space under the house and when cold there was a very noticeable chill in the rooms and the previous cold feel to the floor  is not as noticeable now and the the heaters are on the rooms are a more even temperature.

As to laying vinyl flooring depending on the product selected you can use double sided tape along the edges.

[Jason]

Great contribution, many thanks for joining in the discussion @MrFreeze. I'm sure @Sonia2806 and the many other community members and visitors that come to the discussion will appreciate the feedback.

Jason