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Vinyl loose lay over top laminate.

Martin1968

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Jan 22, 2017
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For all the handyman investors or contractors, has anyone put the vinyl loose lay flooring over top of a smooth laminate floor?

Just wondering for a project I’m working on that has laminate floors that show some wear and tear. Removing the laminate will mean to have to install smooth side plywood in order to install the vinyl product.
If it’s possible it would save significant time and dollars.

Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated.
Kind Regards
 

Michel Lafleur

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I've seen floor coverings a few layers thick in properties.
Very common to install laminate or vinyl plank above an existing smooth floor like lino, tile, or even old hardwood.
As long as the floor surface is smooth & flat, you should not have any issues. Definitely use the interlocking vinyl, the lay down sticky ones tend to move more and look like crap in a years' time.
A disadvantage of doing this is that your floor surface becomes thicker, so you may potentially need to move up your baseboards and/or may have some door/floor clearance issues. Pending the height difference between the lowest sub floor and the top surface, you may also have trouble moving appliances like the fridge or exchanging a dishwasher if they are already a snug fit under the cabinets.
 

Martin1968

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Thank you Michel. Yes I have seen that too. Vinyl on top of vinyl, carpet on top of carpet and so on.
I usually start from scratch but with what I want it would make more sense to use the existing laminate as a subfloor.
I was actually thinking to use the glue down but with a bit higher density. Also looked at the new product with a hard thick backing like laminate, but cost runs at $4.00 and up. I might just go for what you suggest the lay down click vinyl. As far as the baseboards and door trims etc I had thought about that but that’s an easy fix. Thanks again!
 

Christopher Franco

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Do it right, remove the old laminate and install the proper base.

By adding to the floor you are also adding to existing weight of the laminate floor with the additional vinyl on top.

I had a couple other investors suggested this idea by a contractor. They ended up bringing up the old floor and realize there was a couple soft spots in the floor that needed repair which would’ve been over looked if they hadn’t installed the vinyl floor properly







Sent from my iPhone using myREINspace
 
Last edited:

Martin1968

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In this case weight is not an issue as there are concrete floors under the existing laminate.
Yes I hear ya, I actually never cut corners but in this case it’s a very attractive alternative with significant dollar and time savings, and without any negative side effects using the laminate as subfloor. I guess its going to depend on my gut feeling.
Thanks tho.
 
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