Loose Lay Vinyl Installation
A loose lay vinyl installation may be the easiest on the market! You may not believe the instructions once you read them – it’s that easy!
Pre-Installation
The temperature in the room should be consistent, between 65ºF and 85ºF. Remove the material from the packaging and allow it to acclimatize in the room for 48 hours prior to installation.
Subfloor
Loose Lay Vinyl can be installed over a variety of subfloors. Each subfloor should be solid, clean and level, with no cracks and a moisture reading of less than 82% RH.
Acceptable Subfloors:
- Plywood, OSB and Concrete
- Quarry Tiles/Mosaics/Terrazzo/Ceramics: Level any grout lines with a cement based patching or leveling compound and make the floor sound.
- Timber floors: These should be solid with little flexibility. All loose boards must be firmly fastened.
- Linoleum/Thermoplastic/Vinyl/Cork Floors: Make sure these floors are solid; fix any loose tiles.
- Metal and Painted Floors: Remove any loose paint or other finishes.
Installation
With no locking systems, these floors just need to be laid, side by side. If you’re installing in a commercial setting, a perimeter of adhesive is recommended.
Begin to lay planks side by side. These should fit wall to wall with no expansion gap. Use a utility knife to cut planks to size and around objects.
In high traffic transition areas, please follow the instructions below as they relate to extreme conditions. In areas of extreme conditions (e.g. entrances), high temperature variations, transitions from Loose Lay to another floor covering or if there are concerns with the subfloor conditions, please follow the following guidelines when installing the Loose Lay flooring:
- Spread a 4” wide band of adhesive around the perimeter of the area designated as an extreme condition area.
- An additional 4” band should be spread at approximately 10’ intervals.
- Place some pieces of double-sided tape around the four edges, or put a “X” with double-sided tape to reinforce.
- Do not shove or slide heavy furniture on the finished planks, always lift and move, or use plywood to “walk” item into position.
- For transitional areas, from Loose Lay to another floor covering of a different height, a 4” band of adhesive should be spread across the length of the transition.
- Add moldings to finish the look of the room.
- Wait 24 hours for adhesive to set before walking or placing furniture onto the vinyl.
And that’s it! You can have a brand new floor in no time.