Becca Bertotti from Adventures in Decorating transforms her basement flooring with the help of The Home Depot. Check out this step-by-step guide of how she upgraded her carpets with luxury vinyl plank flooring.
LVP is the New MVP in our Basement
In an effort to give our basement rec room a bit of attention and personality, my husband and I decided to say goodbye to our lackluster carpet and hello to beautiful luxury vinyl plank flooring (“LVP”)! After a bit of research, we knew that TrafficMASTER Allure vinyl plank flooring was our best option because of its durability, affordability and “DIY friendly” installation process! And, while TrafficMASTER Allure has several amazing LVP choices, ultimately, we chose their Khaki Oak Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring and couldn’t be happier! Read on for a step-by-step install guide.
MATERIALS
TrafficMASTER Allure Khaki Oak Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring
STEP 1
Once we purchased our vinyl plank flooring (that we made sure was all from the same dye lot, which is marked on the outside of each box), we stored it in our basement for a few days to help it acclimate to the climate where it was going to be installed. During that time, we got busy with our prep work! The first step was to pull up the carpet, which was a quick and easy process! Then, after we thoroughly vacuumed the exposed concrete floor, it was time to prepare it for the LVP. We added two coats of UGL Drylok Clear to give our basement floor the moisture barrier protection necessary for proper installation.
STEP 2
Once the necessary prep was complete, we followed the easy instructions provided and laid the first row of LVP (making sure to leave at least a ⅛” gap between our base molding and the flooring so that the LVP can properly expand and contract).
As this is a floating floor, adhesive GripStripsTM help to easily secure the planks to each other. The trick is to start attaching them at a 45-degree angle in the top corner and work your way down and then along the plank, applying ample pressure during this process. And, not to worry if you don’t get a “seamless” look the first time, you have a 10-minute window where you may carefully separate the two planks and reattach them.
When it was time for the last plank on the first row, we simply measured the length needed…
Marked the measurement on the back of the plank (using our tape measure and level)…
Scored the plank (using our utility knife)… and then snapped!
It was that easy! We were then able to use the “leftover” piece of vinyl plank flooring to start the second row, which helped us achieve the staggered seam pattern we wanted. After installing every few rows, we used our extendable floor roller to go over the seams to help secure the proper adhesive bond.
The project moved along quickly … before we knew it, we were done!
STEP 3
Once we installed the LVP, we rented a 100 lb. tile roller with wheels to go over the floor a few times (in different directions) to ensure the proper bonding of the adhesive GripStripsTM.
STEP 4
To finish the look (and to cover the gap between the base molding and the LVP), we added quarter round molding using Liquid Nails.
We couldn’t be more pleased with the results! The LVP is perfect and has totally transformed our basement!
BEFORE
AFTER!
BEFORE
Bye-bye, carpet!
AFTER!
Thanks to The Home Depot and its TrafficMASTER Allure Khaki Oak Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring, we now love our basement rec room! In fact, we already know where we want to install new flooring next!
Find more flooring options at The Home Depot.
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