Just looking for other perspectives on a flooring installation in case there's anything I'm overlooking. I'm almost ready to install the flooring in my cabin. I'm putting down 7"x48" LVP click-lock planks with attached underlayment. It's going in over OSB subfloor.

There is one section of subfloor that was replaced and is about 1/16" higher than the rest, so I'll get after that with some 50-grit to smooth out the edges to make it less pronounced and take stress off the joints. The rest of the original floor has adhesive residue from the self-adhesive vinyl tiles that were on it before, so that will also have to be sanded off. I'm considering adding a 6-mil vapor barrier, but I don't know that it's really necessary with the attached underlayment.

The cabin is 12x16. I might consider installing the planks parallel to the 12' side to lend the illusion of it being wider, but going parallel to the 16' side means fewer cuts.

Any thoughts? Things I'm overlooking? Things you'd do differently?

It's kind of fun to install. Definitely good to take into account the leveling of the subfloor.

I also have the planks with the backer on them, so I didn't add anything else underneath them. For most of the house I just ran it directly on top of the old very crappy sheet vinyl. In the rooms, I had to rip out old carpet and I placed the LVP directly on the subfloor. The flooring has worked just fine in both instances, but there are definitely spots where I could have done better at with making sure the subfloor was level. I put transitions between the rooms and the common area flooring, but you don't need to worry about that!

You might also do a spot check on the dimensions. Is it truly 12'x16' when measured in multiple spots? Or does it range 11 7/8 - 12 1/4 x 15 3/4 - 16 1/2? I had some unparalleled walls when doing mine, so in spots the flooring underneath the molding runs almost all the way to the wall and in others it ends right at the molding.

For only one room I wouldn't worry too much about limiting the cuts. The LVP is super easy to work with in trimming.

Do you just have one door to the room?

The entire building is just one room. The exterior dimensions are 12x16.

Yea I knew it was just 1 room I was more just curious if there was more than 1 way in and out. I was going to say be mindful of the transition area(s). I've got reducer strips to cover the ends at the transitions and if I could do it over again I would choose a different way to do my transition. I should have done a transition cover that did not step it down at all.

Chipotlemonger said:

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Yea I knew it was just 1 room I was more just curious if there was more than 1 way in and out. I was going to say be mindful of the transition area(s). I've got reducer strips to cover the ends at the transitions and if I could do it over again I would choose a different way to do my transition. I should have done a transition cover that did not step it down at all.

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There is an inswing door and sliding glass doors. I will most likely install a threshold transition at each, since there would not be wall trim over the edge of the planks.

Ryan the Temp said:

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Chipotlemonger said:

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Yea I knew it was just 1 room I was more just curious if there was more than 1 way in and out. I was going to say be mindful of the transition area(s). I've got reducer strips to cover the ends at the transitions and if I could do it over again I would choose a different way to do my transition. I should have done a transition cover that did not step it down at all.

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There is an inswing door and sliding glass doors. I will most likely install a threshold transition at each, since there would not be wall trim over the edge of the planks.

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Right, just get a good look at your options beforehand if you care about aesthetics and functionality. My thresholds have this weird dust trap crack between them and the door frames that I do not care for.

I'm going to build my own out of some 1x4 white oak I have lying around.

Ryan, read the instructions for the plank. Virtually all click-lock floating LVP products now require a 6mil poly underlayment over all types of subfloors. Without the poly, it typically voids any potential warranty. More importantly, the planks tend to cup on the edges due to moisture absorption.

AgLawman said:

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Ryan, read the instructions for the plank. Virtually all click-lock floating LVP products now require a 6mil poly underlayment over all types of subfloors. Without the poly, it typically voids any potential warranty. More importantly, the planks tend to cup on the edges due to moisture absorption.

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This product does not require it, but it explicitly gives the installer a choice to do it.

as someone with LVP, I absolutely hate it and its a terrible floor material.

As someone that has installed several thousand feet of it, floating LVP is a terrible product.

Always glue down LVP if at all possible.

The new 5mm gluedown planks are a great product.

Ihatefallscounty said:

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as someone with LVP, I absolutely hate it and its a terrible floor material.

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Why do you hate it?

I installed about 1,500sf of cheap Lowe's variety LVP on a concrete slab. I did use an underlayment of the plastic type with little polystyrene beads embedded in it.

The install was easy enough but it became evident pretty quickly that any imperfection in the substrate would telegraph through the flooring. If any unlevel areas were near a seam in the flooring it was all but guaranteed to fail there. We kept the floors for about 4 years before moving to tile. My material cost at the time was about $2/sf and since it was DIY I wasn't too heartbroken about only getting 4 years out of them. That was what I got quoted for demo cost initially and they only took me an afternoon to rip out again myself when it was time to install the tile.

By failure, you mean cracks? Delamination? Both?

The only uneven part of my floor is where I replaced a section of subfloor. it's about 3/32" higher than the rest of the floor, so I'll have to sand it down. The stuff I bought is 5mm planks that, according to the manufacturers instructions, must not be glued. My understanding is the vinyl plank can separate from the pre-attached underlayment.

The total area I'm installing is roughly 174 SF in a space I will only use ~30 days a year. I have all the material already, but I have decided to postpone installation in favor of some exterior work due the nice weather.

I am open to suggestions on better performing products, but they need to be something I can do myself and cost effective.

Ryan the Temp said:

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By failure, you mean cracks? Delamination? Both?

The only uneven part of my floor is where I replaced a section of subfloor. it's about 3/32" higher than the rest of the floor, so I'll have to sand it down. The stuff I bought is 5mm planks that, according to the manufacturers instructions, must not be glued. My understanding is the vinyl plank can separate from the pre-attached underlayment.

The total area I'm installing is roughly 174 SF in a space I will only use ~30 days a year. I have all the material already, but I have decided to postpone installation in favor of some exterior work due the nice weather.

I am open to suggestions on better performing products, but they need to be something I can do myself and cost effective.

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I had failures where the ends butted together. Basically the up/down movement at an unlevel spot eventually would crack the vinyl under the top layer. Most of the areas I had issues were where I had a joint close to some unlevel spot. If you step on them and feel the planks give, that amount of movement might eventually be a problem.

Found a few pics of my install. Biggest issue I had was a 50yo slab with foundation repair and 3 different kinds of flooring installed. Hard to get and maintain a level subgrade unless you are good with self-leveler, which I eventually got really good at, but not before I had 2/3 of the house done.


I started in our kitchen/dining room. Had ceramic tile there which meant a ton of prep work to get all the old grout out.

Looked ok when it was done.

The living room was glued down engineered wood floors. These made the tile seem easy to get up, and completely wrecked any leveling that was done prior to install the floors. The areas that had the most issues were any place that there was a transition from one flooring type to another just because of how hard it is to get those level on an old house like this.

The things I liked about the floors were that I couldn't tell that getting them wet hurt them. Had a black lab that spilled as much as he drank and the floors in that area were fine. The durability of mine, which were granted cheap floors, weren't as great as advertised. Lots of small scratches from everyday life, and some big gouges from scooting furniture or dropping a plate or something on them.

All in all, I would probably use them for your application. The will probably last and look great for 20 years for that level of usage. Will be much nicer than any cabin I camped in during my boy scout career!

Thanks for the thorough feedback. I definitely feel less apprehensive now, but thinking about the condition of the existing floor, I am now considering putting down 1/4" OSB over what is there now. It's not in bad shape, but it is covered with dirt that is stuck to the old self-stick tile adhesive, there are a couple of 2" holes that were patched, and of course, the section that was replaced. I think an OSB underlayment would definitely save me the trouble of having to sand the entire floor and would help smooth out the replaced section. My time is worth the $60 it would cost me.

Ryan

What product specifically are you wanting to install ?

Nm just saw link

That is a lower grade lvp that i have never used. Have installed some of the Home Depot lvp producrs but have never been a fan. Have installed 1000's of sq ft of smartcore from Lowe's and it has held up great under many different environments.


If you are wanting a more durable lvp it will run $3-4 psf.

JP76 said:

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Ryan

What product specifically are you wanting to install ?

Nm just saw link

That is a lower grade lvp that i have never used. Have installed some of the Home Depot lvp producrs but have never been a fan. Have installed 1000's of sq ft of smartcore from Lowe's and it has held up great under many different environments.


If you are wanting a more durable lvp it will run $3-4 psf.

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Thanks for the recommendation. This product has a similar look, and at $3.19/SF the cost difference is pretty small.