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Shaw Great Basin II 12' Wide Vinyl Sheet

Easiest 5 DIY Flooring Solutions: Learn to Install Flooring On Your Own

Have you been wanting to change out those old floors in your home for some time? Are you looking for easy flooring solutions to install yourself? Luckily for you the flooring world has made a lot of technological improvements in recent years to make DIY flooring a real option no matter your skill level. 

Here at FlooringInc.com we have been receiving a ton of calls lately from people asking about flooring they can install themselves. It appears that in the middle of this difficult coronavirus outbreak, many people are finding some extra time to tackle some projects at home. To help answer that question, may I present to you my top 5 DIY flooring options for 2020.

Carpet Tiles

Floorigami Dynamic Vision Carpet Plank

The Basics

Carpet tiles are perhaps the easiest to install DIY flooring. Regular old broadloom carpet (think large rolls that need a pad under them and have to be stretched and tacked down) still should be left for the pros. However if you have a room in your home you would like to soften up and quiet down on your own, nothing beats carpet tiles. There are endless options from budget-friendly to top of the line luxurious options. 

How To Install Carpet Tiles:

DIY Flooring Solutions: Ease of installation is easy

Carpet tiles can literally be installed by anyone with some minor DIY ability. Carpet tiles usually have a peel and stick backing or can be adhered down with some double sided carpet tape or tabs. If you would like to float them (not adhere them to your subfloor), they can be taped together on the bottom to keep them together. Cutting them to fit is also fairly easy. Some cheaper tiles can be cut with scissors while other thicker tiles may need you to cut them with a utility knife along the side of a straight edge like a ruler.

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Related Content >> How to Install Carpet Tiles

Peel and Stick Vinyl Tiles

DIY Flooring Ideas: Peel and stick vinyl tiles in a living room setting.

The Basics

Peel and stick vinyl tiles are also a great DIY flooring idea when you want to add quick accents to a room or give a space a quick flooring makeover. These tiles can be used in any room or on any floor level of your house. You will often find them already installed in bathrooms and laundry rooms of many homes. A few years ago, the options were somewhat limited to cheap unattractive tiles. However, recent years have brought about a renaissance of design. Current peel and stick vinyl tile options include beautiful accent tiles like those pictured above and even beautiful wood-look vinyl planks

How To Install Peel and Stick Vinyl Tiles:

DIY Flooring Solutions: Ease of installation is easy

Installing peel and stick vinyl tiles is literally as simple as peeling off the backing and sticking them to a level subfloor. You will want your subfloor to be level so that you don’t see the underlying floor transpose through your vinyl tiles. It is often recommended to start from the middle of the room with square tiles or from one corner of the room if you are using planks. Thinner tiles can be cut with scissors, and thicker tiles can be cut with a utility knife and straight edge. A tile cutter can also be used if you want to spring for the most efficient equipment possible, but it is not a necessity. 

SHOP ALL PEEL AND STICK VINYL TILES

Related Content >> Myths About Peel and Stick Flooring

WPC/SPC Vinyl Plank Flooring

TritonCORE Pro 7" Rigidcore Vinyl Planks

The Basics

WPC/SPC vinyl plank flooring is currently the fastest growing category of flooring in the world. Currently there are three names this product tends to go by: WPC (wood plastic composite), SPC (stone plastic composite), and rigid core flooring. So what makes it so great? Well first off it is 100% waterproof and extremely stain proof. Second, it is dimensionally stable meaning it will not expand or contract in varied temperatures. This means it is much more low maintenance than standard wood flooring options which can buckle if they expand or leave gaps at the seams if they contract. Lastly, they are available in virtually every wood-look or stone-look option imaginable so the options are endless.

How To Install Vinyl Plank Flooring:

DIY Flooring Solutions: Ease of installation is moderately easy

Vinyl plank flooring is currently the easiest wood-look plank flooring option to install yourself. For a long time laminate flooring was considered the easy DIY wood-look flooring because it has an easy to install tongue and groove system, and only needs some minor DIY skills such as properly measuring and sawing your pieces to fit. Well, these modern day vinyl planks are basically installed the same way, only you don’t even need a saw. Vinyl planks are usually cut by scoring them with a utility knife alongside a ruler. 

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Related Content >> How to Install Vinyl Flooring

Vinyl Sheet Flooring

Shaw Great Basin II 12' Wide Vinyl Sheet

The Basics

Vinyl sheet flooring is a classic flooring option that has been around for years. This type of vinyl flooring comes in rolls that are usually 6 or 12 feet wide and they are available in every look imaginable. Vinyl sheets are often installed in kitchens, bathrooms, laundry rooms, or any other place where waterproof flooring is needed. I know what you are thinking, “Is this like that old linoleum flooring in my grandparents house?” Well it is similar, but I am happy to tell you that modern day vinyl sheets are much better looking than those old patterns, since printing technology has improved greatly over the years. If you are still nervous about considering this option, order some samples to check them out for yourself in person. 

How To Install Vinyl Sheet Flooring:

DIY Flooring Solutions: Ease of installation is moderately easy

Vinyl sheets can usually be installed by the average DIYer in just a few hours. The most important step is to prep your sub floor so it is completely level and devoid of any pits or raised bumps as these will transpose through the floor. Once that is done, you typically only need a utility knife and some double sided carpet tape around the perimeter to complete the job. The trickiest part of the job will be cutting around obstacles in your room. 

SHOP ALL VINYL SHEET FLOORING

Revotile

Easy to install floor tile: Daltile RevoTile flooring in a dining room

The Basics

RevoTile by DalTile is the latest, greatest innovation in the tile industry. It literally just came out in the last few months and sales for the product are hot right out of the gate. So why is that? Well first of all it’s available in two great looking series, the wood visual and the stone visual. Second, it is made by DalTile so you know the quality is good. And lastly, it can be installed faster than any other tile and is so easy to install, an adventurous DIYer should be able to tackle this project fairly easily. 

How To Install RevoTile Flooring:

DIY Flooring Solutions: Ease of installation is moderate

We went up to three wrenches for this project because it is the most challenging on the list. However it is way easier and faster to install than classic porcelain and ceramic tile flooring projects, which I would rate as 5 wrench “leave it to the pros unless you are super handy” jobs.

The hardest part is going to be cutting the tile since you will need a more advanced tool such as a tile saw or a tile cutter. These tools can often be rented at your local hardware store. Outside of that though, the job is pretty simple. You lay down some RevoTile underlayment over your clean and level subfloor.

Start laying your tile in one corner of your room and use some spacers to leave an expansion gap at the walls. Then you start locking the tiles together. Yes, you heard that right, these tiles actually lock together with a click lock system and they leave the perfect gap for grouting later. This is basically a floating (meaning not adhered down) tile flooring system design from the ground up to be installed by a DIYer. The final step is grouting the tiles which is fairly easy to do. Here is a quick video to show the basic process:

Feel free to visit this link for a more in depth installation video.

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Related Content >> How to Install RevoTile Flooring

Bonus DIY Projects

If you are looking for some more fun flooring projects that are super DIY friendly, here are two bonus projects for you to consider:

Give Your Garage a Makeover with Garage Flooring

DIY Flooring Solutions: Nitro Tiles garage upgrade

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Build a Home Gym with Rubber Flooring

DIY Flooring Solutions: Rubber roll flooring for a home gym

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Related Content >> Home Gym Buying Guide

Recap

DIY flooring options have never been as abundant as they are today. Advances in flooring technology and a recent shortage of professional installers has led to an increased demand for DIY flooring solutions. Luckily for the average homeowner, there are endless DIY flooring ideas and options that can offer any look and fit any budget. 

Were you inspired by any of these ideas or do you think we missed any? If so, please comment below. Or if you have any questions about any of these options and would like to learn more, please reach out to us and we would be happy to help you tackle your DIY flooring project.

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About Kurt Leitinger

Kurt Leitinger

Kurt Leitinger is COO, partial owner and co-founder of Flooring Inc. His start in the flooring industry began 13 years ago as the head salesperson for the rubber flooring division at Amorim Cork Composites. He has flipped 10 homes, remodeled two more into long-term rentals, and built a custom house from scratch as well as three commercial office spaces.

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