How to Lay Luxury Vinyl Flooring

We’re proud to offer an external professional fitting service that is approved by industry experts. Our recommended fitters have all passed the rigorous assessment process to become a recognised Which? Trusted Trader.

By choosing to have your new LVT fitted professionally by our recommended fitters, you’ll be able to enjoy it without the hassle.

It’s just one less thing for you to worry about.

Find out what you can expect from our recommended fitting service here.

From measuring a room to getting the perfect finish, our expert guide covers everything you need to know:

1. How to measure a room for LVT

2. Tools you’ll need when fitting LVT

3. Preparing a sub floor for LVT flooring

4. Laying LVT underlay

5. Fitting vinyl in difficult areas

6. Fitting a door bar

As is the case with all DIY jobs, preparation is key when it comes to laying luxury vinyl tiles, and getting the correct measurements is the most important element of all. If you start with the wrong dimensions, you could end up buying too many or too few.

A good way to start is to draw a simple diagram of the rooms that are being fitted with LVT. For square or rectangular rooms, simply multiply the width by the height. For example, a room that is 5m x 2m will need 10m² of vinyl.

• If your room includes recesses or chimney breasts, it helps to draw a diagram of the room complete with any alcoves, fireplaces, nooks and crannies.
• Measure each individual area and write the measurement in the relevant space on the diagram.
• Break the room down into smaller rectangles that you can add together to get the total area of the room. Then add an all-important 5% for waste.
• Measure your lengths more than once to make sure they’re right – remember to measure to the back of any door frames or room trims that you want the laminate to go under when it is fitted.
• When it comes to stairs or steps, the process is similar. Measure the height and depth and of each stair to give you then length before multiplying by the width. This will give you the area of each step. Again, don’t forget to allow 10% for waste and to allow for any margin of error as staircases can be tricky.
• When you buy luxury vinyl flooring, bear in mind it is usually sold in packs that are labelled by their size in meters squared. For example, one pack might include 5m² of Luxury Vinyl Tiles.
• Watch our step-by-step video guides to measuring different room shapes from a simple room to a room with a join or extra space.

Having the right floor installation tools for the job is crucial. You may already have many of these at home, but if you don’t, most DIY outlets sell fitting kits.

You’ll need the following tools to install luxury vinyl tiles:

• Mitre saw

• Hammer

• Square

• Flooring kit (including spacers and pull bar)

• Stanley knife

• Tape measure

• Pencil

• Safety goggles and face mask

• Masking tape

• Vacuum cleaner

One of the great things about vinyl is that it can be laid on to a variety of different surfaces, as long it is flat and clean.

1. Remove all furniture and any fixtures or fittings that might get in your way.
2. Do not lay over recently treated wood or concrete that is too moist – make sure both are fully dried out.
3. It is recommended that any existing floor tiles or coverings are removed if possible.
4. Most LVT’s are suitable to work with underfloor heating up to 27⁰C, but check with the manufacturer.
5. Always wear knee pads when working on flooring.
6. You’ll find it cheaper and easier to pull up floorboards if a lot of them are damaged, and to start again. Tongue-and-groove chipboard flooring boards are great to use as base, as are hardboard sheets.
7. Prepare existing floorboards by ensuring no nails are sticking out above the surface and nailing down any boards that are loose. You can sand down any boards that are at a higher level than the rest.
8. Make sure you use nails that are not too long as there is a risk of piercing through the floorboard into pipes or cables. 19mm nails should be about right.
9. If you are using hardboard sheets as your base, lay them texture-side up as you’ll need something for any adhesive to stick to.
10. Start in a corner of the room and set the nails about 13mm in from the edges of the sheet in a pyramid pattern. It’s a good idea to use something as a spacer like a piece of wood.
11. Space the nails about 150mm apart around the edges but in the centre 225mm apart. It’s a good idea to start in the centre of one edge and work across the board to the other side.
12. Push the sheets together and nail the edges where the sheets meet first. When you finish the first row of boards the last one will need to be cut to size.
13. Use this off-cut from the last sheet in the first row to start the second row and carry on in the same way. This reduces waste and helps by ensuring the joints are staggered.

Underlay is not an optional extra – it’s an integral component that shapes how Luxury Vinyl Flooring feels, wears and looks.

The right underlay will add comfort underfoot, absorb shock and noise effectively, and act as an insulator, meaning you could save money on your energy bills.

1. Lay the underlay over the entire floor and trim to size, cutting a 16mm gap around any pipes.

2. Lay lengths parallel and stick together with masking tape.

Unsure about what kind of underlay to fit under your luxury vinyl flooring? Why not read through our guide to buying underlay or pop into a local store for more expert advice?

Storing your tiles in the relevant room for 24-48 hours prior to fitting is important as it will bring it to the temperature of the room. If the room is particularly cold, it can be worth putting the heating on to bring the temperature up. The best temperature for fitting LVT is between 18 – 30 degrees centigrade.

1. Sweep or vacuum your sub-floor.

2. Click systems allow the LVT panels to be clicked into place with ease. We suggest you begin in a corner, working from left to right.

3. Put the head ends together in the first row.

4. Push the short side joint down gently with your thumb, moving from the inner corner towards the outside until you hear a “click” or use your rubber mallet to secure the joints together if you need to.

5. Ensure the short side ends are closed by knocking gently on the short side click connection with your wrist.

6. Follow this system for the second row and then join the two rows together once finished.

7. Continue to do this until you fill the area as desired.

Now you’ve fitted your new luxury vinyl tiles, there’s just one more thing left to install to ensure you achieve that perfect finish – door bars. Door bars serve to join different flooring types across door thresholds neatly, and can really make a difference.

How to fit a door bar

1. Firstly, make sure you have the right door bar as there are a few to choose from, depending on your flooring types and heights.

2. The correct position for a door bar is central across the threshold so it cannot be seen on either side when the door is closed.

3. Once you have positioned your door bar centrally, cut the bar to the right length with a hack saw.

4. Ensure there any no pipes or cables under the floor.

5. For a concrete floor, drill the holes with a power drill using a masonry bit and insert wall plugs.

6. You can now fit your door bar.