How to Prepare to Install a Sheet Vinyl Floor

By eHow Home & Garden Editor

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Before you can install your new sheet vinyl floor, you'll have to take up the old floor, prepare the room and buy your materials. Here's what you need to do.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Measuring Tapes
Upright Vacuum Cleaners
Vinyl Floor Tile
Blow Dryers
Putty Knives
Scrapers

Step1

Empty the room.

Step2

Remove any trim around the base of the walls and doorway thresholds.

Step3

Pull up old linoleum, sheet vinyl or other flooring surface. Try to take old flooring up in as complete a piece as possible to make cleanup easier.

Step4

Sweep or vacuum the floor thoroughly.

Step5

Use scrapers and putty knives to remove old glue. Make sure the exposed floor is well-cleaned; any rough spots will cause rapid wear of the new flooring. (Use a heat gun or hair dryer to soften the old adhesive for quicker cleanup.)

Step6

Measure the floor accurately all the way to the edge of cabinets, around corners and under thresholds.

Step7

Take the measurements to a hardware or floor-covering store and buy the necessary amount of sheet vinyl. Remember not only to buy the right number of square feet, but also to get the right length and width to cover the floor in a single sheet, if possible.

Step8

Purchase the adhesive and application trowel recommended by the manufacturer or store personnel.

Tips & Warnings

Remember that prepping the floor is probably the most important step in ensuring a long life for your new flooring.
Be careful not to gouge the subflooring when scraping up the old adhesive.