vinyl sheet or tile (or allure) over old vinyl?

thomase

The context is that I just want to clean up the look of my home before I put it on the market. The current sheet vinyl floor has a ripped seam, some curling edges, a cigarette burn, and some unsightly scratches. I doesn't have any kind of pattern. Its just a beige color with a fine pitted texture. The small pits (like pinpoints) tend to capture dirt and it looks dirty. It was installed about 9 years ago.

I may be able to do trafficmaster allure myself (the tile look), but the various problems I've heard of with scratching and lifting seams scare me. Also, this will require both quarter-round moulding along the room perimeter and cutting into the door jambs to fit tile underneath. I'm in the northeast, but don't have AC so there will be large temperature swings between hot and cool days (possibly between 60F and 90f). Also, I'll have to drag my appliances around to move back into position.

I am inclined to hire someone to do the job for me. When inquiring about my options in the flooring section of HD, they said the WOULD NOT install new vinyl over old vinyl without new 1/4" plywood underlayment. The reasoning is that they cannot guarntee the quality of this installation because they can't guarntee that the vinyl underneath won't lift or cause other problems. I'd rather not deal with the extra cost and height issues of new plywood if possible. 2 other contractors/customers that I ran into over by the vinyl tile section seemed to think it was no problem to simply cut out the curling edges and ripped seam, fill in the gaps with floor leveler, and go right over the old vinyl (as long as the current vinyl is in otherwise good shape).

I understand that the ideal underlayment for new vinyl is fresh plywood, but I just want something that is good enough and looks better than the dirty and worn vinyl I have now. At some point, I'd imagine that a future owner (not me!) will want to redo the kitchen and THAT will be the time to rip up and start over.

Thoughts?

clasact

if it were me I would just put a layer of luan down the put your flooring over it.Since hight is an issue the stuff come as small as 1/8 inch I do belive so that ought to take care of that and it will cove all those bad areas and give you a flat suface to work with and since your trying to get rid of the place it wont cost to much more but thats just me

thomase

For some reason, HD, Lowe's, and everyone else I have talked to has said you can't go thinner than 1/4".

Rather, I think its the case that luan is not an approved underlayment (for any thickness). The minimum thickness manufacturer approved underlayment is 1/4" plywood.

clasact

you already have the support under what is down already your just trying to smooth it out and cover the bad areas so this would not be for support just for a smooth suface.I have seen it done before and you said your selling the house so are you looking to do it right or quick and easy?

comp

it should come up

gutgu20

hello, i'm a new member my situation is similar to thomase's in that we'd like to replace the flooring but thats where the similarities end. its an older house, you can tell by the ungrounded wiring and the dated decor. it has some sort of strange particle board flooring i've never seen before even as an amature i think i woulda seen this type of stuff. it also has the old fashioned framing setup and "slaught and plaster" setup for the walls. it also has this on the ceiling in which case at one point someone lowered the ceiling with a "drop ceiling" tile type installation. we pulled that out, this is where we are stuck though...she thinks it would be cost effective and much easier to just put up another "drop ceiling" i hate the things though! the plaster is in decent shape i figured to just skim coat the whole thing with joint compound and paint, we considered stripping down to the frame and putting fresh drywall in but we were hoping to do this project as cost effectively as possible. i would appreciate any insight anyone could give!

1) would it be wise to keep the already dated plaster and slaught and just cover it up or should we tack on the extra 5 bills just because fresh drywall looks awesome?
2) what type of flooring would give the house more moisture protection and insulation while still being cost effective?

clasact

as for the wall if they are still in good shape skin coat primer and piant with what you save you can dress it up with some crown molding
The floor your in a different boat,he is looking to sell his house so he probity wont want to put alot into it.In your case I would take the whole thing up and replace the sub floor do it right it will cost a little but remember its what your standing on and all your belonging are sitting on.If you replace the sub then you have many choices to pick from for flooring and some are not to expensive any more.I just saw a nice looking cremate tile for 64 cent each the other day

by the way you really should have started a new thread now say your sorry for the hijack

thomase

I'm starting to lean toward peel-n-stick vinyl tile. Its cheap and easy. Unlike trafficmaster allure, I don't have to mess with quarter-round molding and door jambs. It won't necessarily last very long, but I don't need it to. The BEST thing to do is rip up but I'd rather that happen when cabinets are replaced sometime in the future.

This project is primarily for cosmetic purposes.

gutgu20

sorry