What To Use To Cut Vinyl Plank Flooring

Looking for affordable, piece of cake-to-install flooring to update a room? Laminate flooring, bamboo planks, or vinyl planks may be your answer. These popular types of DIY floor can make a striking difference in a day or ii!

Installing a new floor is easier than ever. Over the past few years, near major floor manufacturers have rolled out products specifically designed for exercise-it-yourself installation, and virtually every type of flooring is available equally a DIY-friendly option. Y'all don't need any flooring experience or special skills to install these floors. In fact, in most cases, all y'all need are some bones carpentry tools, a good pair of genu pads, and a few days to complete the project.

DIY floors are very affordable, especially when compared to the toll of traditional hardwood flooring installation that requires a professional. As the DIY-floor marketplace continues to expand, manufacturers are always introducing new products, which means you're likely to observe flooring on sale for even ameliorate savings.

Nosotros'll take a detailed wait at iii pop and affordable DIY floors: plastic laminate, bamboo, and vinyl planks.

The installation process can vary slightly depending on the manufacturer, just each type comes pre-finished and can be installed as a floating floor, meaning it isn't fastened to the subfloor. Equally a result, installation is quick and piece of cake, fifty-fifty for first-time do-it-yourselfers.

Laminate Flooring

Laminate floor is durable, easy to clean, and extremely scratch resistant. It has a dumbo MDF (medium-density fiberboard) core topped with a resilient, plastic-laminate layer.

Laminate flooring comes in two basic forms: wide planks and square tiles. Both types snap together with tongue-and-groove joints—no glue or fasteners needed.

Square laminate tiles mimic the await of stone or glazed-ceramic tile. The planks, which are the near popular style of laminate flooring, come in dozens of realistic wood-grain colors and patterns.

The two chief advantages laminate flooring has over real-forest products are i) information technology'south extremely resistant to staining, scratching, and wear and, 2) it costs considerably less than solid- or engineered-woods flooring. In terms of immovability, many premium laminate floors come with a xxx-year warranty.

Several companies make laminate floor, and so prices and quality can vary widely. Budget-priced products cost less than $1 per foursquare foot; premium-quality laminate flooring starts at about $three per foursquare foot.

Some laminate floors crave foam underlayment to be installed, which must be purchased separately. Floating-floor underlayment typically costs thirty to 70 cents per square pes. Some laminate floors come with the underlayment attached to each plank or tile, eliminating the demand to buy it separately.

For more, see Laminate Flooring Buying and Installation Advice.

Bamboo Plank Flooring

There's a lot to like most bamboo floor—it'south affordable, easy to install, available in dozens of colors, and grown and harvested in an environmentally-responsible mode.

bamboo flooring — Bamboo flooring, available in a wide range of wood tones, is a durable, sustainable alternative to hardwood. Home Depot

Though it isn't technically a hardwood because it is a type of grass, bamboo is much denser and more durable than nearly hardwoods, including maple and oak.

And because it's a grass, bamboo grows much faster than hardwoods. Information technology is harvested after just 4 or five years versus the thirty to 60 years it takes before hardwood copse can be milled into flooring. This makes it a very eco-friendly, sustainable material.

Bamboo flooring comes pre-finished in ii forms:

Engineered bamboo is installed using the floating-floor method, making it ideal for DIYers. The wide planks snap together with modified tongue-and-groove joints.
Solid-bamboo floor is installed similarly to traditional natural language-and-groove hardwood flooring. It's fastened down with mastic, nails, or staples, so it'south non quite as DIY friendly as engineered bamboo.

Bamboo flooring comes in dozens of pre-finished colors, ranging from rich crimson and night walnut tones to diverse shades of blue, reddish, and light-green. Engineered bamboo costs effectually $three to $5 per square pes; solid-bamboo flooring runs about $2 to $4 per foursquare human foot. Both types of flooring are often discounted up to 25% during sales and promotions.

For more, come across Bamboo Flooring — Is It Right for Your Domicile?

Vinyl Plank Flooring

Vinyl canvas flooring and floor tiles accept been around for generations, simply a relatively new type of vinyl flooring has taken the industry past storm—vinyl plank flooring. It comes in wide, thin strips—or "planks"—that resemble traditional hardwood floors. Unlike previous vinyl strip flooring that needed to be glued down, vinyl planks quickly snap together to class a floating floor.

Vinyl planks are stain resistant, durable, and priced to fit even the tightest remodeling upkeep. The flexible planks range in width from half-dozen to 9 inches and characteristic realistic wood-grain patterns that resemble several wood varieties, including oak, blood-red, teak, pine, walnut, hickory, and maple. You tin can also cull from colors that are reminiscent of oil-based stains, natural wood tones, whitewash finishes, and weathered barn boards.

Vinyl plank flooring is quick and easy to install and doesn't crave the use of sticky adhesives or special fasteners. The newest types of vinyl plank flooring use i of two DIY-friendly installation methods:

Interlocking planks take tongue-and-groove joints that snap together.
Grip-strip planks stick together with a factory-applied agglutinative. Note that grip-strip planks create a floating floor by adhering to each other, not the floor.

Vinyl plank flooring tin can exist installed straight over plywood or OSB subfloors, physical slabs, and most existing floors, including forest, vinyl, and ceramic tiles. Manufacturer-approved installation methods vary, so be sure to read the installation instructions advisedly before you begin.

Nigh grip-strip floors are water resistant, while some interlocking planks are waterproof. Interlocking vinyl planks typically cost $ii to $3 per square pes. Grip-strip planks cost slightly less, averaging $1.75 to $2 per square foot.

With several styles and colors available, DIY floor can exist an easy and affordable option to consider when redoing your dwelling house's floors. A few tools and a trivial time are all it takes for an updated look that costs less than having new floors professionally installed.

Joseph Truini is a abode-improvement expert who writes extensively most do-it-yourself home remodeling and repair. He has authored 6 books, including the best-selling "Building a Shed," and his work has appeared in several national magazines, including This Old Firm, Pop Mechanics, Woman's Day, and Today'southward Homeowner. He covers domicile-improvement and shopping tips for Groupon. You can detect savings on flooring supplies and more on Groupon's Dwelling house Depot page here .