ᐅ Installing Luxury Vinyl Flooring Yourself – Home Improvement Store or Specialty Retailer?

Hello everyone,

I have been reading through the forum and noticed that there can be issues when installing large areas of certain design floors.

We would like to install the floors ourselves in our single-family home, so we need a material that can be installed as a DIY project. We prefer the click-lock versions because my husband is very skilled with tools, so I don’t see any problems with the installation. However, we are unsure which manufacturer would be the best choice.

We have seen several brands we like at the hardware store and specialty retailers, but salespeople tend to say a lot of different things. That’s why I’m hoping to benefit from your collective knowledge and experience.

Here are the key details:

- The total area to be covered on the ground floor is about 55 sqm (approximately 592 sq ft) (hallway, entire living/dining area, and kitchen).
- It is also important that the floor can be installed underneath the kitchen units (which does not seem to be a given).
- On the upper floor, it is about 40 sqm (approximately 430 sq ft).
- Additionally, the floor must be suitable for installation on reinforced concrete stairs.

I would appreciate any help you can offer. Feel free to send me private messages with manufacturer recommendations if they should not be shared publicly. Attached is the ground floor plan to show the area.

Thank you!!!

We have the Neo 2.0 from Classen. It has a nice appearance, is very durable, and easy to maintain.

However, I cannot recommend it... The material is quite brittle; in the kitchen, the springs of the click system broke on all the short sides, causing the boards to shift :-( From the living room onward, my husband (who is quite skilled in DIY, by the way) pushed the entire rows together before clicking them in – this worked better. Still, many boards had parts of the click system chipped off. It was simply frustrating!

We have the same flooring, but no issues. Maybe 3 planks were damaged before installation.
The floor must be 10% level and the correct impact sound insulation must be installed.

Are you going with the click system in the kitchen?

We will fully glue the flooring. We watched several videos, and it doesn’t seem that complicated—definitely no more difficult than the click system we have already installed here. They don’t mention click for this type of floor; with our flooring, it was more about hammering than clicking. And it wasn’t a cheap floor either.

Now we’re thinking about fully gluing at least the bio floor from Wineo in the bedrooms. It has the Blue Angel eco-label. For the ground floor and basement, we’re considering whether the Blue Angel certification is really necessary there. But we want to glue it down because of the underfloor heating.

Joedreck schrieb:
We have the same flooring, but no problems. Maybe 3 planks were damaged before installation.
However, the floor must be 10% level and the correct impact sound insulation installed.

What kind of impact sound insulation do you have? We got advice at the hardware store, which might have been a mistake. The insulation is very soft and cushioned.
At the same time, the material is extremely brittle. If you press lightly on the spring, it immediately splinters.

DanielaS schrieb:
Hello everyone,

I have been reading through the forum and noticed that there can be issues when installing large areas with certain types of design flooring.

We would like to do the flooring ourselves in our single-family home, so we need a material that can be installed as a DIY project. Preferably click-lock versions because my husband is very skilled with handiwork, so I don’t see any problems with the installation. However, we are unsure which manufacturer would be best.

We have seen several manufacturers we like at both the hardware store and specialist retailers, but salespeople can sometimes be unreliable. That’s why I’m hoping to benefit from your collective knowledge and experience.

Here are the key details:

- The total area to be covered on the ground floor is about 55 sqm (590 sq ft) (hallway, entire living/dining area, and kitchen).
!!!

Are you planning to lay the flooring across expansion joints? Then check whether this is possible with your chosen material, consult the installer of the underfloor heating system, and prepare the expansion joints accordingly.