How to Install Karndean Vinyl Flooring

This category is listed under Wood flooring articles

Vinyl flooring by Karndean is made from a customised, durable synthetic material that not only accurately replicates real wood flooring but is also extremely resilient and hard wearing. Coupled with its easy installation, it’s a great product to cover your floor. Like anything, it’s only easy if you know how, which is why we have put together a concise guide on how to install a vinyl floor without.

Here are some general specifications of Karndean’s vinyl floors:

• The vinyl wood flooring is sold in ‘planks’, which are basically strips of vinyl.
• To retain a realistic indentation between each ‘plank’, the strips of vinyl are bevel edged.

Step 1 – Prepare the vinyl flooring for laying

One of the most important but not-so-obvious steps is to make sure your vinyl floor is accustomed to the local climate. Taking your time to do this will not only help with your vinyl floor installation, but will also make sure you don’t have any problems when seasons change.

To do this, unpack all of your vinyl flooring and lay it in the room where you will be installing it. Keep the room at a constant temperature between 18-26C and leave for at least 24 hours.

Top tips:

• In areas where the temperature may vary dramatically (like conservatories), it is especially important that you keep the climate constant.
• Block sunlight and prepare the flooring for installation when the temperature drops outside.

Step 2 – Where to lay vinyl flooring

The final stage of preparation involves making your subfloor is completely level. Sweep the area until there is no loose dirt or objects that may protrude the vinyl.

Finally, make sure the level of moisture on your subfloor is less than 75%. Be especially careful of damp areas and use a hygrometer to test humidity levels. If there is more than 75% of humidity in the room use a damp proof membrane prior to laying your vinyl floor. This will stop any moisture from building up under your vinyl floor causing the floor to lift.

Step 3 – Installing your vinyl floor

Now comes the meat of the guide – laying your vinyl floor! Since Karndean’s vinyl wood floor comes in strips, you can easily lay small parts of the floor at a time. At this stage we assume you have measured out the area of your room bought enough vinyl flooring including around 5% of excess.

Without using adhesive, position your vinyl on your floor and arrange to achieve the look you want. This will determine where you will need to cut and verify there is no damage on the surface of your vinyl.

Next, using the appropriate adhesive, spread a layer (following the manufacturer’s instruction carefully) of adhesive on each vinyl plank and work your way up the ‘column’ of the plank. This will minimise the amount you stand on the floor while it is still drying. Repeat for each column of vinyl ensuring there is no excess adhesive seeping through. Wipe clean immediately if necessary.

Once you have finished installing your vinyl floor make sure it is allowed to dry for the recommended amount of time before you walk on it.

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