Flooring can either make or break your home’s interior design – and hardwood flooring can create a stylish, luxurious, and warm atmosphere. However, hardwood flooring isn’t inexpensive, especially when looking at removing any previous floor and installing the new one. Can you cut this cost by laying hardwood directly over vinyl flooring?
You can lay hardwood over vinyl flooring if the vinyl is in good condition, doesn’t show bumps or scratches, and is installed on a solid (concrete or wood) subfloor. The vinyl mustn’t show hills and valleys that can affect the installation of tongue and groove planks.
Vinyl is undoubtedly one of the most resistant and durable types of flooring. If you want to renovate your old vinyl and install hardwood, it’s essential to know what to expect from the process. Learn all you need to know below!
Can You Put Hardwood Over Vinyl Flooring?
It’s possible to put hardwood flooring over vinyl. In some cases, this can be a beneficial choice because vinyl can stop some of the humidity from entering a concrete subfloor and protect the hardwood itself.
However, not all vinyl floors make the perfect base for your hardwood flooring. And, since hardwood planks for your floor can be an expensive choice, you need to carry out all the necessary assessments before committing to this choice.
Three aspects to consider are:
- The conditions of the vinyl itself
- The subfloor
- What underlayment is below the vinyl
Here’s what you need to look out for:
Check the Vinyl’s Condition
Firstly, you can carry out a visual examination of your vinyl flooring. During this stage, look for bumps, cracks, valleys, and bubbles that indicate that the vinyl is too old and needs removal.
It’s also essential to verify that the vinyl sheet or planks are still perfectly glued to the subfloor.
If the vinyl isn’t adequately secured to the subfloor in time, it can cause the hardwood planks to move, creating gaps and ruining the wood. In particular, this can happen in the case of old vinyl sheets that are becoming loose or luxury vinyl planks that don’t need glue for installation.
Aside from the visual impact, don’t forget to look into the kind of underlayment that still lives underneath the vinyl flooring. For example, particleboard isn’t suitable for hardwood applications because it’s not strong enough to support screws.
Ensure That the Subfloor Is Sturdy
The last check you need to complete is the subfloor examination. As seen above, the most suitable types of subfloor for hardwood flooring application are concrete and hardwood. These materials are indeed sturdy enough to handle the added weight of hardwood boards.
Aside from the material, there are two factors to consider in terms of the quality of the subfloor:
- The concrete subfloor should be level. Concrete has many applications, and it has been in use for several decades. Therefore, before applying the hardwood planks, it’s a good idea to check that the subfloor is still even and without hills and bumps that can make the application of tongue-and-groove planks difficult.
- Existing floorboards should be perpendicular to the new ones. If the old subfloor is hardwood planks, make sure the new ones lie at 90° of the old ones. This strategy helps distribute the weights and create a more reliable flooring.
Should You Put Hardwood Over Vinyl Flooring?
While you can install hardwood planks over vinyl flooring, this isn’t always the best solution for your needs. If the vinyl is torn or shows signs of wear, it’s a better idea to remove it before installing the wooden planks, which is always the best option for hardwood flooring installation.
If you’re in doubt, always speak to a professional and check that you aren’t putting the new floor at risk of becoming deformed or warped too quickly. Remember that hardwood floor, when properly installed, can last for decades!
Consider removing the vinyl if:
- The vinyl is older than 1975. Before this year, vinyl flooring contained asbestos, a highly cancerogenic substance responsible for various diseases. If your vinyl floor is that old, you will need to hire a professional to remove it and avoid contaminating the whole house.
- The joists show signs of wear. From your basement or crawlspace, you can check the spacing between the posts and their quality. You can also confirm the quality of the subfloor by removing a corner of the vinyl.
- Check the floor’s height. Vinyl flooring and subfloor, underlayments, and wooden planks can add to the floor thickness. If you plan to install the floor under the baseboards or doors, ensure that the base isn’t too thick.
Removing the vinyl flooring is the best option when applying hardwood floors because older vinyl can affect the health of the planks. However, if your vinyl is relatively new and securely attached to a solid subfloor, you can lay the hardwood planks without any issue.
How To Put Hardwood Over Vinyl Flooring
Once you’ve assessed that your vinyl flooring can be a suitable subfloor for your hardwood flooring, you can go ahead and install it. Remember – if you’re unsure about handling hardwood planks, it’s always a good idea to speak to a professional, especially because natural wood can be expensive!
Or, you can find out more below.
Gather Cleaning Supplies, Underlay, and Planks
Here’s what you’ll need to lay hardwood over vinyl flooring:
- Cleaning supplies (sponges, floor cleaner, and brooms)
- PPE (breathing, eye, face, and body protection)
- Measuring tape and pencil
- Jigsaw and handsaw
- Underlayment
- Hardwood planks
Clean and Repair the Flooring’s Valleys & Bumps
The first step is to address any issue that the vinyl flooring might be showing. Scratches, bumps, and bubbles need fixing before laying the hardwood flooring.
However, you also need to check whether the subfloor is level. If it has valleys and bumps, you might need to install a layer of plywood before installing the new planks.
After repairing the vinyl, clean the whole floor with a brush and suitable cleaning products. Ideally, there won’t be any dust and dirt leftovers that might remain trapped between the hardwood and the flooring.
Select the Right Underlay (i.e., Vinyl)
Before applying hardwood planks, you need to check the moisture level of your existing floor. In particular, concrete flooring tends to carry high moisture levels, affecting the hardwood planks by warping and deforming them.
In most cases, the vinyl acts as a barrier between the moisture from the subfloor and the wooden planks. However, vinyl tends to be a moisture retarder but doesn’t entirely stop humidity.
Copyright protected content owner: ReadyToDIY.com and was initially posted on May 9, 2021.
In any case, check whether you have a moisture problem in your home that needs to be addressed by a professional before installing hardwood. You can check the moisture level using an electric meter or taping down a plastic square and checking whether it shows signs of condensation after 12 hours.
You might need to add an underlayment between the vinyl and the hardwood floor. In some cases, you might opt for a vapor barrier that protects the planks, but you could also consider laminate underlayments to increase insulation and soundproofing.
Install the Wooden Planks Tongue & Groove
After you have installed the underlayment, you can lay down the tongue-and-groove hardwood planks. To know how many boxes you’ll need, measure the length and width of the room and then multiply the two to obtain a measurement of the room’s area.
When shopping for hardwood planks, it’s always smart to opt for more boxes than needed and then return any unopened ones.
When installing hardwood planks, remember that the last planks need to be cut down. You can guarantee a more natural result by sharing this difference between the first and last planks.
Copyright article owner is ReadyToDiy.com for this article. This post was first published on May 9, 2021.
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ReadyToDIY is the owner of this article. This post was published on May 9, 2021.