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I want to lay vinyl flooring in my kitchen?

I am rubbish at DIY and need to repair a large tear in the vinyl flooring or, alternatively, replace it. I thought self adhesive vinyl tiles might be the easiest way, is this correct? I want minimum effort and diy skill required methods please!

Public Comments

  1. Keep in mind here. oh saying, get what you pay for. minimum effort, last as long as minimum effort. Do it correct the first time. Be done with it for years...
  2. I would say self adhesive tiles are more time consuming i managed to fit my own lino in the kitchen and bathroom with good results for first attempts just make sure you dont cut too much off and take bit off at a time around cupboards etc much easier doing one large area i would say but thats my opinion good luck
  3. Tiles eventually will peel up because they have an edge. You will need to re-lay your floor. I've done all floor types and your best bet is to call an installer. They may tear up old floor or just lay over it. If you lay over it yourself you will want to replace the vinyl. First lay down 1/8 inch plywood or Lu an. Nail with 1 inch shank nails, if don't have a compresser and staple gun. Flash coat all the seams with flashing compund. Let dry then sand. Clean up area Totally and use a vaccum in corners and get up everything.Now you need to make a template of the area, and then convert and cut shape to the vinyl your going to lay. Now laydown floor and make sure it fits area. This is called a dry lay. Once its layed in place, pull back 1/2 the room and spread glue on the floor with small notch trowel. Lay 1/2 the floor on the glued area. Now peel back other 1/2 and glue and lay. You will also need to rent a roller to roll out air pockets under vinyl. But your best bet is call an installer. You also don't have to go with vinyl.
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  5. I completely agree with answer number one, and preach it often. I've installed thousands of sq. ft. of flooring, and know one thing. The customer is always right,,, even when they aren't. If asked to do a vinyl tile job, I have two choices. A simple NO!,,, or bid the job so high as to have the customer say "NO!" Initially it may sound the the easy fix, but you'd have to patch the "Tear" allowing a smooth surface over all. Then you'd have to clean the existing floor to a point where NO residue remained, especially in the form of grease buildup,,, or particles of any size, on the floor. Example regarding particles: Consider window tint, and no matter what, a speck of something gets between the tint material and the glass. That same issue even if small will keep the vinyl tile from adhering in those places. Beyond that the adhesive that backs vinyl tile,,, if you purchase that type,,, is weak at best, and eventually the tiles can curl, shift, etc. Certainly one might apply contact cement to an entire floor, and tile backs, working toward an exit, but you state "Minimum effort" No matter where this might be, in the house,,,and I'll assume a kitchen or bath, it's a FLOOR, and takes more abuse than any other surface in a house. With respect to you admitting your being DIY challenged, you might, in the end, SAVE money, by securing the services of a flooring contractor,,,even if you go the cheap route. My final thought is,,, Consider the "Value" to you, now, while you occupy the house, and/or any sales value should you decide to move on. Steven Wolf The Rev.
  6. First consider the age of your house and the number of layers of flooring that may exist underneath your vinyl. My husband has installed both vinyl and tile flooring as a do it yourselfer with no prior experience. Both have worked fairly well but the tiles are in a very small bathroom. I would not advice tiles to be used for a kitchen or large area! As for installing vinyl flooring yourself, you can run into MANY problems! My husaband did our other bathroom and had to buy double the vinyl because he messed up the first time. You must have the surface perfectly clean of residue and bumps (which is impossible as a do it yourselfer if you have an older home) If you measure wrong or cut a tad bit off (which is VERY easy) you pretty much have to start all over. You have to be very good and precise with your measurements too. To me, its just not worth the effort! PAy the money to have it done right the first time and get a few estimates or referals from friends. The main pricyness comes from the tear out of the old flooring because that is a pain in the neck especially if its gluey/tar used from the 50's. Also think about asbestos in old tiles, or if you have many layers that need to be removed. Sometimes it takes less elbow grease to just replace the floor boards than it does to remove all the gluey gunk and old vinyl. (Yes, we have experienced all the headaches of trying to do it yourself) I say pay the money and forget the headache! good luck!
  7. If you do some research you should be able to repair the flooring correctly. This site might give you some help with repairing the floor. http://www.free-flooring.com/