How To Install Lifeproof Transition Strips

Most a year and a half ago, we ripped out 3/4 of the flooring in our house and put in LifeProof luxury vinyl flooring…by ourselves (and lived to tell the tale! 😉 But kidding…information technology's very DIY friendly).

Nosotros live in a modest-ish firm, but it was still quite a project because nosotros put it in our living room, both bathrooms, kitchen, laundry room, closets, hallways…basically everywhere but the bedrooms.

I have So much to say about the whole procedure and I don't want to leave anything out, and so you lot tin can accept all the information you lot need if yous are thinking near installing LifeProof in your home too! So buckle up…this post is going to exist a doozy!

I'm going to cover:

• Ordering the flooring, choosing a colour, and how much information technology price and how to get a discount.
• The prep work involved, tools we recommend, and how the floating flooring organization works.
• Installation, including layout, process, and how to install the planks.
• A review of how life proof it actually is a year later.
• Full cost breakdown.
• How long information technology took us and would we do it once again.

If video is more your thing, here's a video that gives an overview of the process and a tutorial on how to install it.

It doesn't dive deep into the details but information technology gives yous the basics and bolts you need to get started.

ORDERING

In this section, I'k going to talk most why we went with luxury vinyl, how to choose a colour, and how to get a discount on your flooring.

Why LifeProof?

When we first bought our home, it came with laminate plank floor in the living areas, cheap sheet vinyl in the bathrooms, and a rug island in the living room that I loathed. Our firm is pretty small (1700 foursquare feet) with an open up concept living, dining, and kitchen area. I can see how the builder may take wanted to assist carve up the areas using the flooring, just it actually merely made our house look smaller.

We wanted continuous floor that would match throughout the house, from bathrooms to living areas. So, nosotros knew we needed to look into waterproof floor. Tile is besides cold for our northwest climate and we needed something that we felt we could exercise ourselves, since nosotros didn't accept the budget to hire it out. Enter luxury plank vinyl. We hit upwards our local Dwelling house Depot for brands, and LifeProof seemed to accept the best price and availability at that fourth dimension.

Choosing A Color

At the risk of sounding like a complainer…I hope I love our flooring and have no want to alter it…I am just non totally in love with the colour. I know, I know. I'chiliad the one who chose it, which is why I feel the demand to caution you at this step. It can be tricky.

When you go in the store, they often accept a pocket-sized display of planks, and they may have a pocket-size iii-inch sample you can take domicile. The problem with such a small sampling of the floor is that it's hard to grasp how the variations in the unlike planks are going to play out on a larger scale. You have to get online and see the floor installed in the production photos to become a better idea of how it'southward really going to expect. I would say that they are pretty accurate too. My sample squares weren't quite as red as the photos online because some of the planks are lighter than others, so I thought information technology would exist a footling more toned downward in person. After information technology was all installed, the tones ended up looking as crimson every bit the photos. So, trust the pictures! We went with Trail Oak. If I could exercise information technology all once again, I would take gone with a lighter color like Fresh Oak or Dusk Reddish.

How To Go A Disbelieve

Nosotros saved about 20% off our flooring by signing upwardly as a "pro" at Habitation Depot. Anyone can become a discount by signing up for Pro Xtra. It'southward complimentary and pretty much similar signing up for a membership card at a grocery store. You become discounts on certain items when you buy them in majority…like floor! I am uncertain what the minimum amount is that you demand to guild to authorize for the discount, and I imagine it varies from product to production and between seasons.

The flooring is normally about $64 per case. With our disbelieve, we got each instance at $51.33 before taxation, which is simply nether 20% off.

How much to order?

Give yourself every bit much time as possible and lodge at least a calendar month in advance. We had aircraft delays so I was glad nosotros gave ourselves plenty of time to get it in.

We worked with the in-house flooring specialist to determine how much flooring we needed and we still ended upwards over shooting by kind of a lot. We ordered 62 cases and returned 17 of them when we were done. We just didn't have every bit much waste material as nosotros expected. I'1000 glad we had too much rather than cutting it close though, because it would be actually annoying if we had to wait another three-4 weeks to order more to finish the project.

PREP WORK

If there is i affair we underestimated the near, information technology would be how much prep work is involved. It took one-half a solar day at least to remove the one-time flooring, displace the article of furniture, remove carpet, and remove baseboards in just our living room. Our new floor is a different height than our old floor, and so nosotros decided it would be best to offset from scratch. Also…removing and hauling all the carpeting to the dump is actually kind of a project of its own!

If you are removing carpeting, make sure to remove every single staple besides. Even the littlest staple left behind volition ruin the integrity of the floating floor.

We worked through the house room past room since we were living through the renovation, so we couldn't remove all the flooring ahead of time. But if nosotros had to do it once again, I would have at least removed all the baseboards while I waited for the floor to be shipped.

One big plus, is that LifeProof comes with its own underlayment, so yous don't have to worry almost that step.

TOOLS

Tapping Blocks and Mallets

They have the tapping block and mallet yous need to buy, conveniently located next to the flooring displays for a reason. The right tools make everything and so much easier to install. We tried getting by with our large bulky mallet to save money, but the smaller one makes tapping the sides and so much easier. Nosotros kept the larger mallet effectually just for tapping in brusk ends.

If you are putting in equally much floor every bit we did, I also recommend getting more than one borer cake. They have lipped edges that help protect the sides while you tap in the plank. Eventually those edges outset to wear downward and cause damage to the planks instead of protecting them, and so it's all-time to go a fresh 1 after a while.

Cutting Tools

1 of the selling points for LifeProof is that information technology's so DIY friendly that you don't need special tools to install it…only a utility knife. While this is technically true, you can score the vinyl side with a utility knife and then snap the rest off to cutting the plank, I don't recommend it. It'south hard on your hands which matters a lot when you lot're installing a lot of flooring. It is also harder to be accurate and information technology can simply handle straight cuts.

We ended up relying on our jig saw quite a bit. Because we wanted to take equally few transitions as possible, that meant nosotros had to do a lot of puzzle-slice cuts with funky curves and angles to get around door jams and corners. We didn't take a professional fix or anything…only a bunch of metal stools propped up on our back porch to use every bit saw horses. It looks janky merely it was actually actually functional. Bated from the puzzle piece cuts, information technology was just so much easier to do our straight cuts with it also. Sometimes we used our miter saw for straight cuts which was even easier. With each tool, we e'er fabricated sure to utilize a blade that is rated for apply with laminate. Other blades rough up or melt the planks.

Other Helpful Tools

• Newspaper
• Quilting Ruler
• Vacuum
• Crow Bar
• Staple Remover Pliers
• Spacers
• Knee pads or gardening pad

Newspaper – If you have a lot of corners and angles to contend with like we did, I recommend using grocery ads, newspapers, or whatever large pieces of paper, to assistance create paper templates for funky cuts. This helped us cut downward on flooring waste product a TON.

Quilting Ruler – Another helpful tool is a quilting ruler. I think it'south the MVP of tools in whatever medium actually. 😉 It gives you a see through filigree of measurements that are much more authentic than using a straight border ruler.

Vacuum – No matter how well we swept and vacuumed an expanse before we started laying planks, dust and rocks would creep their style under the the planks and into the connector grooves. Having a hand vac on hand helped us keep the sides and ends clean so they could provide a secure connection.

Crow Bar – this not only helps with removing baseboards but is groovy at snapping in the terminal row of planks when the tapping cake won't fit anymore.

Staple Remover Pliers – If you lot are removing carpeting or baseboards, these pliers are awesome. They make removing all the staples and pin nails so much easier. If you lot're removing hundreds of staples similar nosotros did, it's worth it to spend almost $18 on this puppy.

Spacers – To requite your flooring room to expand and contract, y'all don't want to lay your planks flush with the wall. We picked upward a multifariousness of spacers to help us keep the proper distance from the wall. Smaller spacers were great for tight spaces.

Knee joint pads – Because you will exist kneeling on a hard surface for a long time, it helps to get knee pads or a towel you lot tin can kneel on. I also used a gardening pad.

Earlier you lot get started:

LAYOUT

I've seen vinyl plank flooring installed from both sides of a plank. I've also seen it hooked together and so unhooked to get the configuration right. I don't know if it'southward just us, merely I have NO thought how this could be possible with LifeProof flooring. Once the long sides are hooked and tapped together, information technology is impossible to disconnect them without damaging at to the lowest degree i of the boards. The short ends are a different story and you can usually salvage the planks by sliding them apart. To prove yous what I mean, we have to talk about the anatomy of the planks or boards.

Plank Anatomy

Luxury vinyl is a floating floor which means that the planks are hooked together rather than adhered or nailed into the subfloor. Each plank has a long side and a short end that hooks OVER, and a long side and a short end that hooks UNDER. When these get hooked together, it is what creates the floating flooring and seals out the water. This moving-picture show in a higher place shows the under hook, over hook, and what it looks like when it's cut straight, from left to right.

While these foam claw sides are very durable once connected and installed, before installation they tin can go damaged fairly easily. Hence, once you lot pull them autonomously, at least one of the planks will interruption and will not give a water tight connexion after that.

The elevation side of the plank is vinyl and the underside is the cream core with built-in waterproof underlayment.

At that place are four repeating styles of planks. Whenever we opened a box, we sorted the planks into those four types, to help us maintain variety as we laid them.

Where to commencement and which direction to go?

You usually want the floor to flow vertically with the longest office of the room. One time you have determined the management you want your flooring to go, face the room in that management and determine your bottom, left hand corner. That is where you lot want to begin. Place a plank with the Nether hooks exposed (away from the walls) at the brusque end and long side, so that it is easier to hook in subsequent planks. You then want to piece of work your style from bottom to summit, left to right.

Staggering

Y'all never desire your curt cease seams closer than eight inches to ensure the stability of the floating floor. We didn't want the planks to look similar brick work, so we varied the starting plank lengths to help the layout period more than naturally. We also tried to avoid cutting planks shorter than 8 inches.

When we got to catchy corners and especially in closets, this was impossible. Thankfully, we oasis't had any bug with the smaller pieces buckling or shifting…even though some of the pieces are an inch long! I think it'south partly because those areas come across much less foot traffic.

INSTALLATION

Prepare sub flooring

Remove former flooring. If the sub floor is not flat and level throughout, consider patching and leveling information technology earlier you lot begin. Y'all can lay LifeProof over existing flooring if information technology is uniformly flat and level. Tile with deep grout grooves is not recommended. Sheet vinyl flooring works bang-up. We had sheet vinyl in our bathrooms, so we just laid the LifeProof flooring right over tiptop in those areas.

Cleaning

Make sure the floor is clean and clear, that whatever carpeting staples are removed, and that rocks are picked upward. Any little rock or staple trapped under a floating floor will cause the floor to buckle after. We besides swept and vacuumed beforehand and as nosotros worked to keep dust and rocks from getting in the way of the planks connecting properly.

Lay Flooring

To install, kickoff connect a row of planks at the brusque ends. And so add a row to the right of the first row. Bending a plank into the previous row to get the long sides to hook together. The hooks are like a track that yous tin slide the plank up and down. Slide information technology down to the meet the short end of the board earlier it.

Push the tapping block up to the side of the plank and use the mallet to snap it in place. Then utilize a mallet to snap the brusk ends together. My video shows the installation process in action if yous're more of a visual person.

Go on working from bottom to top and left to correct.

When you get to the right side of the room and the borer cake won't fit anymore, a crow bar helps snap the planks in place.

For this catchy part of the closet, I snapped the terminal little skinny piece into the last total-width plank first, so that I could snap it in place as if it was one big plank.

Transitions

Nosotros used these vinyl transition strips at every exterior door, or where the flooring met with a dissimilar kind of flooring. We concluded upward having to do a stepped transition piece into the kids' bathroom as well considering the sub flooring had an extra layer of plywood glued to information technology and nosotros didn't want to have to try to remove it. It made the floor just slightly taller, so this reducer transition slice smooths out that height difference.

To install them, you merely cut the metal brackets that come with it to the size you demand and screw them into the sub flooring. Then cutting the vinyl piece to size and snap it into the metal bracket. Like shooting fish in a barrel peasy.

And so replace the baseboards…which sounds easy, but we ended up hiring this out eventually. Nosotros were just then burned out and couldn't find the time to do something that someone else could consummate better and faster than us. 😉

How it'south property up a year afterwards.

The one skilful thing near me putting off sharing this process for and then long is that I can give a more comprehensive review of how "life proof" it actually is.

While we exercise similar the flooring and nosotros like how we were able to install information technology with no prior grooming or experience, it is not totally "life proof" in my stance. It still gets scratches and cuts that yous can't buff out similar yous can with woods floor. Rocks stuck in shoes or on the legs of furniture can leave behind marks. You lot can't replace boards in the eye of the floor either because it will just pause its water proof seal. Thankfully the grain of the "wood" pattern is busy enough that you can't really find scratches all that much.

That said, its claims to be waterproof accept held up beautifully, which was the biggest selling point for us since we wanted it in wet areas like our bathrooms. There hasn't been whatever shifting or buckling and it still looks as good as the day we finished information technology, minus a few scratches that are hardly noticeable. So…not life proof, merely definitely waterproof and for that reason, we recommend it.

Toll Breakdown

*These amounts are pre-tax.

• LifeProof Flooring (with the discount and after the overage that we returned) – $ 2309.85
• Transition Strips (iv at $22.98 each) – $91.92
• Laminate Blades (5 at $five.97 each, they dulled fairly speedily) – $29.85
• Jig Saw (we already had it, but I'm including to show information technology's not that expensive) – $49.97
• Blast Pulling Pliers (only needed if removing carpet and baseboards)- $17.97
• Spacers (We used three varieties) – well-nigh $18
• Tapping Block ($7.97 each, we used two because the first one wore out) – $15.94
• Specialty Mallet – $xiv.97
• Crow Bar (dandy for removing baseboards and installing the last row of planks) – $6.67

Total before taxation: $2.555.fourteen

This doesn't include the cost of replacing our baseboards because we decided to supplant them with nicer material, only we could have kept them the same. Overall, that total is astonishing because what an impact information technology made. If we hired it out, it probably would have almost doubled this full and it may not have been completed as precisely equally we wanted it.

How Long Did it Take?

Overall, the process took u.s. about 6 months, not including adding new baseboards. It'south not that actually installing it took that long, just finding the time in our busy schedules and making it a priority was not the easiest. For certain rooms like the bathrooms and laundry room, it wasn't something we could selection and upwardly and put down very easily. We tackled each bathroom one at a time because we had to remove the toilets. We also wanted the baseboards and caulking to go in right after installation to keep things water tight. Then a lot of the timeline got sucked into juggling our schedules and fighting burn out.

Would we exercise information technology once again?

Yes and no. If we're doing it in an empty business firm or if we're simply tackling one room, I'd definitely go for it again. Otherwise, we'd salvage up money and hire it out. Living in a renovation for this long can be kind of depressing!

I also similar the benefits of LifeProof for sure areas of the domicile. It'southward not nice as forest, but it'southward less maintenance. We've actually had several visitors mistake it for real forest and so I know I'm probably on the picky side. One thing I am sure of, is I would definitely never go with laminate floor that isn't waterproof. It's either luxury vinyl, or go for the real stuff.

All in all…I am so happy it'due south done. It has added value to our home and it makes me and then happy to walk in the bathrooms and laundry room and non see the yellowing vinyl floor that was in there before!

Phew! What a post! If later on all that yous still accept questions, I would love to endeavour to assistance respond what I tin. Drop a comment or email me at [e-mail protected]

Source: https://www.deliacreates.com/how-to-install-lifeproof-flooring/

Posted by: collettedomess.blogspot.com

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