How to Install Vinyl Plank (LVP) Flooring

Buy about 10% more flooring than your room's square footage (15% if the room has lots of angles or it's your first install), and let the unopened boxes sit flat in the room for at least 48 hours so the planks adjust to its temperature and humidity. Skipping this is the number-one cause of a floor that buckles or gaps weeks later. While you wait, pick up a vinyl-flooring install kit — a tapping block, a pull bar, and 1/4-inch spacers — for about $30-40.

The floor is only as good as what's under it. Vacuum the subfloor spotless, then drag a long straightedge or level across it in several directions — it must be flat to within 3/16 inch over any 10-foot span. Grind down high spots and fill low spots with floor-leveling compound, feathering the edges smooth. Pry off the base shoe or baseboards, and over a concrete slab roll out a 6-mil poly vapor barrier; add a thin 1-2 mm underlayment only if your planks don't already have a pad attached.

Measure the room and choose direction: planks generally look best running parallel to the longest wall and toward the main source of natural light, which makes the space feel larger. Divide the room's width by the plank width to see how wide the last row will land — if it comes out a thin sliver (under about 2 inches), rip the first row narrower so the first and last rows are balanced and both look intentional. Dry-lay a few rows to preview the seam pattern before you commit.

Start along the longest, straightest wall. Set the first row with 1/4-inch spacers between the planks and the wall on all sides — vinyl expands and contracts with temperature, and this perimeter gap is what keeps the floor from buckling. Connect planks end-to-end down the row, keeping the cut or tongue side toward the wall and the groove facing out into the room. If the wall isn't straight, scribe and trim the back edge of the first row to follow its contour.

Start the second row with the offcut from the end of the first (as long as it leaves at least a 6-inch stagger) to cut down on waste. Angle each plank's long edge into the row above and press until it clicks, then snug the end joints with the tapping block and a rubber mallet — tap the block, never the bare plank edge. Work across and up the room, keeping spacers against every wall and mixing planks from different boxes as you go.

For straight cross-cuts, score the plank face deeply along a square with a utility knife and snap it — no power saw needed. For lengthwise rips and for notches around corners, door casings, floor registers, or pipes, use a jigsaw or an oscillating multi-tool. Leave the same 1/4-inch gap around pipes and any fixed object; a little extra is hidden later by trim or pipe escutcheon rings.

Instead of fussily notching planks around every door casing, undercut the wood so the plank slides underneath for a clean, factory look. Lay a scrap plank face-up next to the jamb as a height guide, rest a flush-cut or oscillating saw flat on it, and trim the bottom of the jamb and casing. Vacuum the sawdust and test that a plank slips under with a hair of room to spare.

Measure the gap for the last row at several points — walls are rarely parallel — subtract 1/4 inch for the expansion gap, and rip the planks to width lengthwise with a circular saw, table saw, or repeated utility-knife scoring. Click the long edge in at an angle, then reach over the top with the pull bar and tap its hooked end to draw each plank tight against the row before it. The cut edge tucks against the wall where trim will cover it.