Many years ago, when engineered hardwood flooring was a fairly new option for wood flooring, I used it to replace the vinyl flooring in our kitchen, dinette, and foyer. It was 3/8-inch-thick and had a thin layer of pre-finished oak veneer and a plywood base. This wood flooring had to be glued down.
The manufacturer would allow the flooring to be installed on existing flooring as along as it was in good shape and not loose. Prior to gluing down the flooring, I prepped the floor by screwing down the plywood overlay under the vinyl flooring to remove the squeaks. I rented a tool designed specifically for undercutting the door jambs. The floor was ready.
A project that I would start from the outside wall in the dinette, I made my way until I completed the dinette and connecting foyer/hallway. All the planks were 4 inches wide and 48 inches long. I laid the planks in a random pattern, that was not random. Every 6 rows, the pattern would repeat.
The tricky part of the installation was lining up the kitchen with the attached dinette. There was a peninsula cabinet between the two rooms. I would need to start from the cabinet closest to the outside wall and hope that the rows of flooring would line up. After dry fitting the flooring in the kitchen, I was confident I had made the right measurements to match the flooring in the dinette.
Over several weekends, this project went well. I installed the nosing for the step to the family room and mudroom without issues. I made some termination edges from the planks for the other entry ways. I was very happy with the installation and the floor (to date).
