Since Efiwym, my wife and I decided to replace the upstairs carpet with LVP flooring, I have been in the planning mode. Planning has taken over my life. Mostly because of the unknown. Even though I am a just-okay DIYer, I am a notorious planner. I do not want to run into a problem in the middle of the project that requires me to restart it over or I make the wrong decision and I have a glowing error that I cannot hide. I researched the Installation of Lifeproof® LVP flooring. I watched YouTube® videos. A lot of videos. I even watched a live webinar by the store where doers get more done.
Allow me to critique this webinar. It was a canned presentation. Questions were messaged to the site where the presenters did not address. Some random person would send you a response. I asked 3 questions and got a response to one. I asked where I should start for a four-bedroom, two-bath second floor. I got an answer that all my plans are based on: in the hallway. They did not address anything of difficulty. They just demonstrated how to lay the flooring. Duh. I think I could have eventually figured that out. Nothing about how I could install the flooring around door jambs. Nothing about transition pieces or installing nosing. All the things I was going to run into.
Another important question was can you install the planks in reverse. I really do not have a choice, but maybe they would say how. I did not get an answer. (I already watched several videos on how to install LVP flooring in reverse, so I knew I could. I was just hoping for some verification from the pros. If someone thought this webinar would give a DIYer the knowledge to tackle LVP flooring, they would be truly mistaken.
Nonetheless, I would wake up in the middle of the night and would dwell on this project. Every night there would be something to ponder. Lost sleep but more planning.
I still do not know if I will be removing the underlayment in the bathrooms. I installed this underlayment when I put down sheet vinyl in those rooms. I want to have the LVP flooring flow seamlessly into those spaces. However, if demoing of the floor might be deemed insurmountable, a transition strip will be needed.
One morning, I sat down with the blueprints of our home, a blank sheet of paper, a pencil and a calculator. My plan was to find exactly where I would start in the hallway. The planks are not exactly 9 inches wide. They are 8-11/16 inches. When you are trying to prevent a plank that will be just a sliver wide, 5/16 of inch per plank over 10 feet could make a difference.
I needed to consider not only the bedrooms in front of the hallway but the rooms behind it. Realistically, it might not be preventable that you might end up with a sliver, but hopefully it would be in a closet. After multiple attempts, I finally found the best starting point. The first plank would start at the inside edge of the door jamb for the bathroom and back bedroom. I believe I am ready to start, but I was way ahead of myself. There was removing of carpet and staples, screwing down floors, undercutting door jambs, taking off the base molding and, of course, paint. Efiwym and I decided that after the hallway was finished, I would work next on the larger bedroom in front of the master bedroom. I would finish that room and move our furniture into that room. The master bedroom would go next. I would not start preparing a room until I was completely done with one. So, the carpet will stay except by the doors. Efiwym would remove items from the floor in the closets before I attacked that space. So, the planner that I am, I started a list of things that needed to be done. While I think I have figured this out, I still think, no, I know, I am missing something.
