How to Install a Sheet Vinyl Floor

Prep the Old Floor to Ensure a Sound, Flat Base

Remove the toilet, the base shoe or baseboard molding and the door threshold or carpet strip.

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Create Space for the New Flooring to Slip Under

Saw off the bottom of the door jambs and moldings. Use a scrap of the underlayment plywood to hold the saw blade the correct distance from the floor. Pick out the sawed-off pieces with a flat-blade screwdriver.

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Even out the floor surface

Fill low spots in the old floor with up to 5/8-in. of floor filler. Mix the filler with water or latex additive as recommended by the manufacturer and trowel over low spots. Use a straightedge to check the height.

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Cut a full-size paper template

Tape pieces of heavy paper together to create a template of the bathroom floor. To keep the template from shifting, tape it to the bathroom floor. Leave about 1 in. of the old floor showing around the perimeter. Cut out holes for the pipes and the toilet. Then, transfer the shape of the floor onto the paper template by holding a straightedge against the baseboard while you draw a line along the inside edge.

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Working around wood trim

Slide the square under the cutoff moldings and door jambs before marking the template.

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Use a Compass to Scribe Curves

Once the old floor is prepped and clean, you’re ready to make the paper template and use it to mark both the new underlayment and the sheet vinyl for cutting. Any heavy paper will work for the template. We used red rosin paper, available at most home centers.

It’s difficult to make an exact-sized template, so we’re using a technique developed by floor installers to “scribe” the shape of the room onto the paper and then transfer it back to the flooring. It doesn’t matter how wide your straightedge is or how far apart your compass points are set when you make the template, as long as you use the same straightedge and compass setting when you transfer the marks back to the underlayment and flooring.

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Cut and Nail Down a Smooth Plywood Underlayment

Arrange the 1/4-in. underlayment on the floor in the approximate shape of the bathroom floor and tape the sheets together with duct tape. Then, tape the paper template to the underlayment.

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Mark the Underlayment

Transfer the shape of the bathroom floor to the underlayment by aligning the blade of the framing square with the reference line and drawing a line along the outside edge. Transfer the curved portions with the compass. Use a circular saw and jigsaw to cut out the plywood.

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Use a Rented Stapler

Staple the underlayment to the bathroom subfloor using a rented underlayment stapler loaded with 7/8-in. staples. Place staples 4 in. apart in the center of the sheet and 2 in. apart along seams and edges.

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Fill Gaps and Holes

Mix floor filler with latex additive and trowel it onto the underlayment to fill gaps and holes. Scrape off excess filler after it sets (about 20 minutes). Vacuum the floor, then run a trowel over it to double-check for lumps of filler.

Read the label on the adhesive you’re using. You may have to provide ventilation or use an approved respirator.

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Cut the Vinyl to Precisely Match the Template

Unroll the vinyl flooring on a clean surface and tap the template to it. If the flooring has a pattern in it, align the template for the most desirable layout. Tape the template to the vinyl flooring and transfer the marks with the framing square and compass.

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Cut the Flooring

Cut out the vinyl flooring using a utility knife fitted with a hook blade.

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Double-cut the Seams

Double-cut the seam by holding a straightedge along the desired seam location and cutting through both pieces of vinyl with a sharp utility knife. Keep the knife perpendicular to the flooring.

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Glue It and Roll It for Permanent Adhesion

Spread the adhesive with a notched trowel. Precisely position the vinyl flooring in the bathroom, then reroll one half of the piece. Use a notched trowel (1/16 x 1/16 x 3/32-in. notches) to spread the adhesive evenly over the floor. Roll back the second half of the floor and repeat the gluing process.

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Press Down the floor

Press the vinyl tight to the floor with a rolling pin. Work from the center out. Press the edges with a wallpaper seam roller.

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A Few Finishing Details

Finish along the walls by reinstalling the moldings and puttying the nail holes. Then caulk along the bathtub and other edges not covered with moldings to seal them and keep water from getting under the vinyl floor.

Complete the job by reinstalling the toilet with a new wax gasket and reconnecting other plumbing fixtures. Because you raised the floor 1/4 in., you may have to get a longer toilet tank water supply tube. The braided stainless steel version works great.

If your vinyl floor abuts carpeting at the doorway, rent a carpet-stretching knee kicker to restretch and hook the carpet onto a new metal carpet threshold strip. Wood, carpet or tile floors require different types of thresholds. Ask your flooring supplier for help choosing the right one.

Now that you’ve got a great-looking new vinyl floor, here are a few tips to keep it that way. Use protective pads under table and chair legs, and avoid walking on the floor with high-heeled shoes. Put thin plywood down to protect the floor when you move heavy appliances over it. Clean up dirt and grit right away, and use the cleaner and sealer recommended by the manufacturer for routine cleaning and maintenance.

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How to Buy Vinyl Flooring

Vinyl flooring is available in either rotovinyl or inlay. Inlay vinyl is made by scattering a pattern of vinyl chips on a backing and melting them together. It’s somewhat brittle and tough to cut and seam, and is therefore not recommended for do-it-yourselfers.

The other type, rotovinyl, is made by laminating a vinyl pattern between a backing sheet and a clear wear layer, and is much easier to install. Rotovinyl is available with either a felt or a vinyl backing. The felt-backed version that we’re using requires you to spread glue over the entire floor, whereas the vinyl-backed flooring requires only a narrow band of adhesive around the perimeter and along the seams.

We’ve chosen to demonstrate the installation of felt-backed rotovinyl over a new layer of special 1/4-in. underlayment plywood. Installation procedures and adhesives differ for each type of vinyl flooring and vary from one manufacturer to another. Be sure to get instructions for the type of flooring you choose.

Vinyl flooring is available in 6- and 12-ft. widths. You’ll save half the cost or more by installing the vinyl yourself. Higher-priced flooring has a thicker wear layer and may have richer patterns, but even less-expensive flooring will last a decade. Compare the flexibility of different floors by bending a corner of the sample. If the backing breaks easily or the vinyl seems stiff, you’ll have a hard time installing the flooring without tearing it.

Home centers and flooring retailers keep a few rolls of sheet vinyl flooring in stock. You’ll also find samples of flooring that you can order. Take a dimensioned sketch of your room along and ask the salesperson for help figuring the quantity. Check the installation requirements and purchase the correct adhesive, seam sealer (if your installation requires a seam), trowel, floor filler and matching caulk.