Want Easy to Install Flooring? Try Installing Vinyl Floor Planks
There are only a few types of flooring that are both easy to install and offer an attractive alternative to hardwood flooring and ceramic tile. Both of these types of flooring are very labor intensive and require the services of a professional contractor. Vinyl floor planks, however, are both cheaper and cost less to install than both hardwood flooring and ceramic tile. Let’s face it, in today’s economy, saving money any way you can is an added benefit to any home improvement project.
Installing a hardwood floor often takes a considerable amount of patience as well as a workshop full of tools and equipment. For one thing, you will need either a pneumatic or manual floor nailing gun to secure the hardwood flooring to the subfloor. You will also have to perform the cuts for hardwood flooring using a power saw, usually a miter box or table saw or some combination of the two will be required.
Ceramic tile is equally difficult and time consuming to install and will therefore cost more to install than vinyl floor planks. Tile flooring is the most labor intensive out of all the flooring products available on the market today. Not only does it take time to prep the sub floor prior to the installation but the cutting the tile to fit around doors and plumbing fixtures requires the greatest amount of time. Installing a ceramic tile floor also requires the extra step of grouting the floor as well. Grouting tile floors are also time consuming not to mention quite strenuous on the installer’s back as well. As of this wasn’t enough, to ensure a long and useful life for your tile floor you will have to apply a grout and tile sealer. This sealer prevents dirt and debris from infiltrating the porous grout lines which subsequently causes stains. The use of a sealer becomes increasingly important if you’re installing a porous tile as well.
It doesn’t get much easier than installing vinyl floor planks for your home when compared to other flooring products. These floors can even be installed over existing floors provided the conditions are conducive to this procedure. The first step in the installation procedure is to install the underlayment before proceeding to the flooring. Vinyl flooring underlayment serves two purposes; the first is to act as a vapor barrier between the subfloor and vinyl floor. Excessive moisture will eventually cause the vinyl plank floor to warp and the seams to separate. The second purpose that underlayment serves is to act a sound barrier between the vinyl floor and the sub floor. This sound barrier helps to provide cushion between the vinyl floor and subfloor.
The second step of installing the vinyl plank flooring requires no glue or nails to fasten the individual floor planks together. Each plank has an interlocking seam along the leading edges that allows each one to snap into each other. The process requires no power tools or messy glues to complete the installation. The interlocking seams give the sense of a seamless floor installation.
Vinyl flooring planks are not only easy to install, they provide the look of much more expensive hardwood floors at a fraction of the cost. These flooring planks are also available in ceramic and porcelain tile styles, allowing for the look of a tile floor that can be installed in considerably less time. No matter what style you choose, homeowners will love the fantastic look these floors can bring to any room.
If you’re looking for flooring that is both easy to install and offers an attractive alternative to higher priced alternatives than these floors are for you. There are several different types of vinyl flooring are available at your local home improvement retailer for the homeowner to choose from. Any homeowner that’s looking for an easy to install, do-it-yourself project need look no further than vinyl flooring planks.
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