ᐅ Subfloor Preparation for Click Vinyl Flooring

This note is helpful for me as well, thank you! But how do other homeowners handle installing the flooring themselves? Until now, we thought that using a "click" floor could save a lot of money if you do it yourself?! That seems to be the all-purpose solution of "doing it yourself"...

We have about 80m2 (860 sq ft) of vinyl flooring. The material cost is already around 2,500 EUR. What would a professional tradesperson charge for this work?

bauenmk2020 schrieb:

We have about 80m2 (860 sq ft) of vinyl. The material costs are already around 2,500 EUR. What would a skilled worker charge for this?

That’s not really the question, and it shouldn’t be!
For example, if I have materials for a garden pond stored in the garage, I need to consider beforehand whether I am capable of carrying out the work myself.
Floor covering work also includes subfloor preparation. Most people forget that. This often leads to disappointment regarding the initially expected cost savings!
Regards, KlaRa

bauenmk2020 schrieb:

This remark is helpful for me as well, thank you! But how do other homeowners handle installing the flooring themselves? Until now, we thought that using a "click" system for the flooring could really save money if done on your own?! After all, self-performing work is supposed to be the ultimate cost saver...

We have about 80m2 (860 sq ft) of vinyl flooring. The material costs are already around 2,500 EUR. How much would a professional worker charge for that?

Don’t let yourself get stressed out. Everything with click-lock flooring is truly easy to install, even for beginners. Especially in new construction with perfectly smooth screed.

Everyone wants to protect their own interests, and it always depends on personal standards as well.

KlaRa schrieb:

Hello "bazinga". It seems there is quite a bit of confusion regarding the understanding.
A vinyl floor in a click-lock version has a material thickness of 5mm (0.2 inches).
For a total height to consider of 10mm (0.4 inches), the PE foil takes up not 1.5mm (0.06 inches), but only 0.15mm (0.006 inches) thickness. A - in my opinion - significant difference!

The underlay I referred to for impact sound insulation (Planeo impact sound insulation Silence 10m²) is listed on the manufacturer’s website with the dimensions "Thickness 1.5mm"...

bauenmk2020 schrieb:

This comment is helpful to me as well, thanks! But how do other builders handle installing the flooring themselves? Until now, we thought that using click-lock flooring could save a lot of money if you do it yourself?! That’s supposed to be the all-purpose “DIY” solution...

We have about 80m2 (860 sq ft) of vinyl flooring. The material cost is already around 2,500 EUR. What would a professional charge for that?

Even with a new build, you should expect that the floor needs to be prepared with leveling compound. It’s unlikely that the contractor will provide a perfectly smooth screed floor ready for direct flooring installation. So you’ll need to buy the leveling compound material and rent tools (for example, a floor sander).

Reinhard84.2 schrieb:

Don’t let yourself get stressed out, anything with a click-lock system is really not difficult to install, even for beginners. Especially in a new build with a very smooth screed.

Everyone wants to protect their interests, and it also depends on personal standards.

I agree, you shouldn’t get overwhelmed by what’s said in the forum. @bauenmk2020, get advice from a specialist retailer, watch a few installation videos, and look at your new build site so you can better assess the situation. Personally, I will do it myself—I just need to figure out the best way to apply leveling compound to the entire floor. But for us, it’s still a year away...

bazinga schrieb:

Even with a new build, you should expect the floor to need preparation with leveling compound. You won’t usually get a perfectly smooth screed floor from the builder that you can lay flooring on immediately.

Is that really the case? Or put differently, do you need a perfect screed floor if you’re using impact sound insulation underneath?
My friend Schieva works on projects like this regularly and is often involved in new builds. He says that nowadays it’s not really necessary, or that a new screed floor which you can’t lay click-lock flooring on without leveling compound would be considered a flaw.