What is Best to Place Under Vinyl Flooring?

When you look to have Luvanto luxury vinyl flooring installed into your home, there needs to be some preparation done to ensure that it is not only installed correctly but also is at no risk of any underfloor imperfections that can cause some disruption or imperfections within your completed floor. Various instances can cause a lot of problems later down the line for vinyl flooring, and just a few simple solutions here and there goes a long way to ensuring that your investment in vinyl flooring is a safe and satisfactory one. So what do you need to put under vinyl flooring?

Subfloor Prep

Before you lay your luxury vinyl flooring down, you will need to check various aspects of the subfloor to ensure that it is safe to lay stuff over. The first part would be removing any protruding obstacles.

Subfloors can have nails, staples or anything similar if you have had real hardwood panels or even carpet laid in the room previously. These will need to be either removed or filed down to be equal level with the floor.

Equally as important is any part of the subfloor that has holes that would require being filled in to be equal to the floor level. These instances both prevent the flooring from showing any rises or dips later on down the line from the area being ignored or not suitably prepared.

Another area to ensure is that all areas of the subfloor are dry before undertaking any installation work. If the floor is not dry from any filler or cleaning that has been done in preparation then it can affect your boards or tiles. Whilst vinyl is 100% waterproof to protect your subfloor if it is already wet underneath you may discover that it is not as effective.

Boards

Particleboard is a commonly used underlying product that is smooth, flat, and a perfect bond for vinyl adhesives. They provide structural strength but they may not be as suitable as other options.

One of the bigger disadvantages of particleboard is that it is not a waterproof product, which makes the drying of the subfloor all the more important. If not, it will cause the boards to produce bubble-like imperfections on the surface layer. This should be highly avoided for high water areas such as kitchens and bathrooms.

Many homeowners choose to install 6mm plywood as an underlying product before having luxury vinyl flooring placed down. Compared to particleboard, this product provides a lot more stability and protection for your vinyl flooring and subfloor.

Plywood is a much more durable product and is also water-resistant, allowing for a more protected, smoother and longer-lasting product on the vinyl flooring surface.

Be sure to talk with experts at Floorbay in regards to your room condition, what do you need to put under vinyl flooring, and products before undertaking any installation for luxury wood effect vinyl flooring.