Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring: One Room Challenge Week 4
When it came to choosing the flooring for our Master Bathroom we were pretty confident that we wanted Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring. We know that the more common choice for a bathroom might be ceramic tile, and while we also love the look of that, it would have added a lot to our budget and timeline. Several of our friends have luxury vinyl plank flooring installed in their homes and we were quite impressed with it. After doing some research and looking at a lot of samples we selected a pattern and absolutely love it!
For this week's update for the One Room Challenge I thought I would share our experience with the Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring along with some tips for installation. If you are looking at flooring options, this one is definitely one to consider!
Why LVP Flooring?
We went with Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring for a few different reasons...
- It's waterproof - which is not only perfect for a bathroom but even better for us with two young kids coming and going from our bathroom all of the time as well.
- It's so easy! When I say easy, I mean it; no underlayment or floor prep work whatsoever!
- Pattern and color were exactly what we were looking for!
Which flooring did we use?
We used LifeProof Flooring in the Woodacres Oak Pattern. This was a special order from Home Depot.
Note - they have a similar pattern and color available in the store BUT it was a multi-width plank. The trouble with the multi-width plank is that it has 2-3 prints of boards per plank which honestly does not look as natural at the seams if you are trying to achieve a real wood look.
Tips and Tricks for Installation...
Have the right tools...
- A laminate/plank floor installation kit is a lifesaver! Be sure to pick one up at any home improvement store before you start an install.
- Oscillating tool for cutting bottom of door moldings - this will help so you can slide the floor under door jambs without removing them.
- Laminate floor blade for miter saw - this makes the job of cutting floor pieces so much easier and you will have a much cleaner cut. Note that this happens to be the same 96-tooth blade as the Non-Ferrous metal blade used last week to cut the shower tile edging; it is recommended for both.
- The flooring instructions will recommend a score and snap method for cutting floor pieces, but we highly recommend using the saw to make the cuts.
- Table saw - used to rip planks for the last (and possibly first row). No need to use a special blade here because the number of cuts will be minimal, so it shouldn't screw up your wood blade too much.
Plan ahead...
- Since this was our first time using this flooring my husband watched some videos on YouTube ahead of time to compare methods people used and to pick up any tips.
- Plan your layout ahead of time - you will start in the upper left corner of the install and work to the lower right. Depending on which corner of the room you select to be the "upper left", you will want to measure from the top to bottom to determine the number of rows of planks that will be required. Try to end up with more than a half plank on the bottom row. If you don't, you can rip the first row to end up with more than half at the top and bottom.
- Do the floor install before putting baseboard mouldings up. My husband hates quarter round in front of baseboards. You do not need a lot of space around the edges (1/4" is typical) so your standard 1/2" baseboard should cover the gap.
Flooring is all Finished!
This was definitely one of the easiest projects in our entire remodel! The entire flooring installation only took half of a day!
It looks so nice and just like real wood flooring! We love it!
Thank you so much for continuing to follow along with our One Room Challenge Master Bathroom Renovation. Only a couple more weeks until the big reveal! To check out all of the great things that other participants are working on be sure to check out the One Room Challenge blog!
