https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 08 May 2026 01:45:46 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vinyl-plank-flooring-pay-to-install-or-diy#post-2790932 Fri, 08 Dec 2017 15:28:49 +0000 Mrs. Goose 2790932@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My husband did it himself for our basement 1.5 Years ago. We would definitely do it again. He’s pretty handy and watched YouTube videos. The worst part was carrying the boxes. It’s laminate floor boards that look like wood...sort of. They were quite heavy and I’m pretty weak. </p> <p>We used this product instead of subfloor panels. <a href="https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.dmx-1-step.1000747034.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.dmx-1-step.1000747034.html</a> </p> <p>It took him a weekend and our basement is pretty big and had some poles to cut around and weird angles. </p> <p>Paying a floor installation person and not your contractor is also a good choice! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vinyl-plank-flooring-pay-to-install-or-diy#post-2790930 Fri, 08 Dec 2017 15:19:56 +0000 HappyBaker 2790930@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thanks for all the feedback everyone! I think maybe I'll wait and see how long the rest of the basement / where that puts us in terms of #3 arriving, and if its too close we'll hire it out! Good point about maybe just paying a floor installer to do it as opposed to our contractor who will also be learning as he goes! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vinyl-plank-flooring-pay-to-install-or-diy#post-2790913 Fri, 08 Dec 2017 14:20:04 +0000 Ms. RV 2790913@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Is your basement floor sloped? If so, definitely don't do it yourself. The ones around here are sloped towards the drain... don't know if that is common or not. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vinyl-plank-flooring-pay-to-install-or-diy#post-2790912 Fri, 08 Dec 2017 14:16:00 +0000 MsMini 2790912@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We have DIY installed vinyl plank and it was SO easy. We have done a couple projects and if you are at all handy it’s really doable. We did a lot of the work during naps and after bedtime and then DH did a bunch during the day while I took the kids to the park. A huge family room, hallway, bathroom and 2 bedrooms took about 3-4 days total, but not full days of work per se, we got other things done in that time. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vinyl-plank-flooring-pay-to-install-or-diy#post-2790892 Fri, 08 Dec 2017 12:36:57 +0000 erinbaderin 2790892@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We did it outselves - my husband and a friend did it, and it took them about a day. That being said the friend had done it before and knew what he was doing. If it was going to be just your husband, learning as he goes, I might look into hiring somebody (although if your contractor doesn't usually do flooring, is it also going to take him longer than it would take somebody who knows what they're doing? If I were paying by the hour this would concern me). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vinyl-plank-flooring-pay-to-install-or-diy#post-2790878 Fri, 08 Dec 2017 11:56:25 +0000 Mama Bird 2790878@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>If you DIY, will you need any tools, and do you have those tools? It sounds simple enough overall, but you may need to cut boards to size if they don't quite fit, and there's also probably some finishing needed around the edges. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vinyl-plank-flooring-pay-to-install-or-diy#post-2790858 Fri, 08 Dec 2017 11:09:35 +0000 bubblegum 2790858@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think it really just depends on two major things; how handy is DH and how big is the space? BIL just did my MIL's whole house and it wasn't hard at all! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vinyl-plank-flooring-pay-to-install-or-diy#post-2790855 Fri, 08 Dec 2017 11:00:04 +0000 kiddosc 2790855@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My husband laid wood laminate flooring, the tongue and groove snap together kind, in our old house. It took him probably two days to lay it all, but there was a gap in three and we lived with half a floor for awhile. I think that it's very doable as a DIY.<br /> 1) it's your basement, so theoretically easy to keep the kids out of and avoidable if the project takes longer than expected.<br /> 2) it's very much a one person job, since there's a lot of measuring involved and you can't really have someone working ahead to far while there are cuts to be made.<br /> 3) you can learn to do anything on YouTube :silly: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vinyl-plank-flooring-pay-to-install-or-diy#post-2790733 Thu, 07 Dec 2017 15:41:15 +0000 cake2017 2790733@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@HappyBaker: I’d hire someone! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vinyl-plank-flooring-pay-to-install-or-diy#post-2790728 Thu, 07 Dec 2017 15:30:26 +0000 karenbme 2790728@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We put ~600 sqft of vinyl plank in our basement and DIYed the install. We laid both the underlayment and the flooring in a Saturday. At first it was kind of a pain, but after getting the hang of it it was super easy. If your subfloor is level and you don't mind kneeling, I say go for it. The trim install was significantly harder because the cuts have to be really precise, although DH has some trim carpentry experience it still took another whole weekend to install door frames and baseboard.</p> <p>Two tips: </p> <p>-When you tap the flooring with a rubber mallet to get it where you need it, use another piece of flooring overlapping the tongue to tap against--a cut off works great--rather than a wood block up against the tongue so that you don't damage the tongue on the piece you're tapping in.</p> <p>-Around the walls you can leave 1/4-1/2 inch gap and be fine, but door trim gets really narrow near the doorway, and anything more than ~1/4 will show. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vinyl-plank-flooring-pay-to-install-or-diy#post-2790719 Thu, 07 Dec 2017 15:01:27 +0000 avivoca 2790719@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We paid to have it installed, but we (and by we I mean me) installed our own quarter-round. The price to install quarter-round is INSANE. We had 97 linear feet that needed to be installed and it was going to be almost $200 for that. I tackled most of it in two 3 hour stints on a weekend and just did the last part in about an hour. It would have been quicker if I had used my nail gun the whole time. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vinyl-plank-flooring-pay-to-install-or-diy#post-2790707 Thu, 07 Dec 2017 14:35:51 +0000 ladybee 2790707@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@HappyBaker: We are buying 600 sq feet of flooring from Lowes. Luckily, we are doing Pergo Laminate so they are offering a special price of 89 cents a sq ft to install. I believe Lowes rate on installing vinyl is $1.99 a sq ft. I'd pay to have it done. The stress isn't worth it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vinyl-plank-flooring-pay-to-install-or-diy#post-2790635 Thu, 07 Dec 2017 11:51:37 +0000 Portboston 2790635@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We just put some in our basement and decided to have it done professionally for many of the reasons listed above. Ordered the flooring from lumber liquidators for around $2.50 sq fr and found a contractor who was trying to start his own business to install. He laid 130 sq ft for $500 and it took about 4 hours. Done! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vinyl-plank-flooring-pay-to-install-or-diy#post-2790624 Thu, 07 Dec 2017 11:07:45 +0000 HappyBaker 2790624@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@winniebee: Awesome feedback, thanks! I'll check out the LifeProof. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vinyl-plank-flooring-pay-to-install-or-diy#post-2790622 Thu, 07 Dec 2017 11:06:34 +0000 winniebee 2790622@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We just did this - purchased LifeProof from Home Depot. They quoted something like $3.50 a square foot to lay it. Our handyman did it for $1 per square foot. He did a great job. I think it took him most of a day. It was for a roughly 350 square foot room in our basement. You'll also want to figure out whether you'll have to lay quarter round or baseboard, which is harder to do than the actual flooring. </p> <p>We are not particularly handy, but we also have 3 kids and figured it would take us a full weekend day to do it together, so it was worth it for us to have someone else do it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vinyl-plank-flooring-pay-to-install-or-diy#post-2790620 Thu, 07 Dec 2017 10:58:56 +0000 HappyBaker 2790620@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Jennibenni: I didn't even think of that! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vinyl-plank-flooring-pay-to-install-or-diy#post-2790619 Thu, 07 Dec 2017 10:58:33 +0000 HappyBaker 2790619@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@PinkElephant: Totally a great way to look at it! I should have noted I am also pregnant and will be in my 3rd trimester when this work is happening so by "us" I really mean DH haha. Which now that I think about it means it won't get done very quickly and it would be nice and probably worth it for the space to just be finished quickly! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vinyl-plank-flooring-pay-to-install-or-diy#post-2790618 Thu, 07 Dec 2017 10:58:01 +0000 Jennibenni 2790618@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Can the place you buy the flooring from install it for a few? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vinyl-plank-flooring-pay-to-install-or-diy#post-2790616 Thu, 07 Dec 2017 10:49:03 +0000 PinkElephant 2790616@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I haven't done flooring, but at this point, here is how DH and I have come to look at house stuff (even lawn mowing, Christmas light hanging, etc.):</p> <p>1) Does it require both of us to do it? Lawn mowing doesn't, but Christmas light hanging does. If so, where will the kids be/who will watch them while we do it? If it's a project that would require longer than the length of a Disney movie, most likely we'd have to get a sitter, so I consider whether or not it might be cheaper to pay the labor fees on someone with a little experience (who could do the project faster than us).</p> <p>2) Do we actually WANT to do the project? If it's going to stress us out/cause us to fight, sometimes it's worth it just to pay someone else. :) </p> <p>Not exactly what you asked, but....figured this perspective might help you think about what you want to do! It used to kill me to spend money on services when it was something I felt I could do myself, but now I'm starting to see the value of my time/sanity a little differently. :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vinyl-plank-flooring-pay-to-install-or-diy#post-2790603 Thu, 07 Dec 2017 10:16:22 +0000 HappyBaker 2790603@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We're going to be finishing our basement soon and probably will use luxury vinyl plank (the kind that is tongue and groove, no glue) down there. Our contractor said if he installed he'd charge us by the hour for that part because he doesn't do flooring usually. We are pretty handy so I'm not sure if it's doable ourselves? </p> <p>Anyone have experience installing it yourself? Would you do it again or pay someone?</p> <p>Also any specific product recommendations would be great, I'm overwhelmed with all the options! </p>