Vinyl floor covering 1

Choice of vinyl

Vinyl flooring looks great and is one of the most hard-wearing coverings you can buy.

It is easy to wipe clean, warm underfoot and can reduce noise - especially useful in children's rooms. There's a huge range of patterns available on rolls and tiles. You can opt for an authentic wood block pattern, marble effect, bright colours or soft pastels. Vinyl sheet comes as 2, 3 or 4m widths, from 1.4 to 3mm thick.

Thinner sheet and tile flooring is harder on the feet but is long-lasting. Cushioned vinyl is thicker and more comfortable but can be damaged by heavy wear. Lino is a solid sheet flooring similar to vinyl but much more difficult to lay so call in a professional to lay this type of floor covering.

Preparation for laying the vinyl

Vinyl flooring is quite soft and any uneven areas underneath will soon show through and spoil the appearance.

Cover floorboards with hardboard. Bring the hardboard sheets into the room and brush a litre of water over the rough side of each. Leave for 24 hours, then lay the sheets across the floorboards, staggering the joints and fixing with panel pins every 100mm around the edge and at 150mm centres in the middle. Make sure the nail heads are flush with the hardboard surface. Check out the section on hardboarding floors for guidance with this.

For solid concrete floors, check there is a damp-proof membrane and spread self-levelling compound over the floor to fill any holes and provide a smooth surface for the vinyl.

Cover ceramic tiles with a 3mm layer of self-levelling compound to smooth over the joints between the tiles.

Estimating the size of vinyl sheet required

Vinyl sheet comes in 2, 3 and 4m widths. Measure the room carefully, including any alcoves. Remember that you will need to allow for trimming.

Measuring and marking the vinyl flooring

It is sometimes easier to lay the sheet out and draw the measurements onto the sheet, allowing at least 100mm overlap all around. However, if you do this, double check all your measurements and make sure you allow for any walls being out of square.

Don't be tempted to mark out the shape on the back as this will need to be a mirror image and often leads to costly errors.

Vinyl is relatively easy to cut with a sharp craft knife,

but take care, as with all sharp tools.

Vinyl can be difficult to handle, so leave it in the room for at least a day to acclimatise, either opened flat or loosely rolled. It is easier to work if warm, so turning on the central heating for a few hours will help.

Vacuum the floor thoroughly and take off your shoes to reduce the chances of grit being trapped under the vinyl and showing through later.