Installing the Flooring

We decided on vinyl flooring. For the whole entire house. We don’t want carpeting. I don’t like tile. And wood floors pushed the house even more out of our budget than we had already gotten. If we decide we would like to put in hardwood floors later, we can put them in right over the vinyl.

Jumpstart Southernwood Vinyl by Mannington - Installing the Flooring – Project Small House — Jumpstart Southernwood Vinyl by Mannington

The whole house gets the same flooring, Jumpstart Southernwood Vinyl by Mannington. It is “inspired by the wood of the maple tree.” The cabinets are also “maple” in a darker stain. Should be good.

Sanding down the high spots - Installing the Flooring – Project Small House — Sanding down the high spots

The flooring guys showed up early in the week. First they went around sanding down any high spots in the subfloor.

The luan, cut to fit - Installing the Flooring – Project Small House — The luan, cut to fit. That round thing is to protect where the outlet will be in the floor.

Then they started cutting luan and piecing it together over the whole house.

Luan is a very thin lightweight plywood. They put it down to be sure the floor is smooth. Imperfections will show through sheet vinyl.

Luan is 1/4 inch thick and it comes in 4-by-8 sheets. Made from mahogany, luan is manufactured by layering thin strips of mahogany at right angles and bonding them together under pressure to form large panels. Each luan panel has a rough side and a smooth side. The smooth side faces upward when installing luan as an underlayment.
https://homeguides.sfgate.com/installing-luan-under-vinyl-floor-24884.html

They cut the luan for every part of the floor.

Nailing down the luan - Installing the Flooring – Project Small House — Nailing down the luan

Then, they stapled it down. They worked till late.

The first coat of cement on the seams and nails - Installing the Flooring – Project Small House — The first coat of cement on the seams and nails

They put cement on the seams and nails.

Ardex Feather Finish Gray Underlayment - Installing the Flooring – Project Small House — Ardex Feather Finish Gray Underlayment

This stuff dries really fast.

The next day we had the remnants of Hurricane Michael blow through, so we weren’t surprised when the workers didn’t show up.

Sanding and sweeping up the sanded off dust - Installing the Flooring – Project Small House — Sanding and sweeping up the sanded off dust

Friday they got there early. They sanded the patches.

While some of the crew were still working on the floor to make sure they have a perfectly smooth surface, the other guys pre-cut the vinyl.

Measuring the vinyl - Installing the Flooring – Project Small House — Measuring the vinyl

They brought some rolls of carpet padding with them. The rolled this out on driveway. Then the unrolled the vinyl on it. The carpet padding keeps the vinyl clean and scratch-free.