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How to Install Floating Vinyl Flooring Over Old Floors

You don’t have to remove your old vinyl floors. Learn how to easily install floating vinyl flooring over right over your old floors.

Have you been following along on my laundry room makeover?

It all started with designing an inspiration board to turn my boring builder’s grade laundry room into a new updated modern farmhouse-style space.

The first project I did was prepare my new custom wood door for hanging from Woodgrain.

Then I stained the door in the perfect color to compliment my design plan but also tie into our existing hardwood floors in the hallway outside of the room.

I’m so happy with how much the new wood door changes the look of the room from the ordinary door we had you’ll have to check it out!

Once the door was installed we moved onto our next project…flooring. YAY!!!

This was something I’ve wanted to change in our laundry room for a long time!

Like a really long time…like way back, while our house was being built before we even moved in.

We bought our house in the middle of the building process because the previous prospective buyer pulled out of the deal so all finishes were already selected.

We had asked the builder to install tile rather than vinyl flooring but unfortunately, we weren’t able to make any changes.

Before Laundry Room Sheet Vinyl Flooring

view of laundry room vinyl floor from hardwoodo floor in hallway shelf and washer and dryer on left side of room wire shelving above

The builder had installed vinyl sheet flooring in the laundry room that was supposed to look like tile.

And it was fine for years.

But now that boring tan flooring just didn’t match my vision for the new laundry room.

Did you see that gorgeous brick tile on my inspiration board?

Gah!!!

That would have been perfect in my new modern farmhouse-style laundry room!

But since we aren’t avid DIYers and we’ve never tiled before neither Chris nor I felt comfortable tackling such a big project.

So, I looked at other options and Pinterest for some ideas.

I found some DIY painted vinyl flooring to look like brick.

But we use this room a lot.

The dogs eat in the laundry room.

I wanted something durable and wasn’t sure the paint would hold up.

Plus, if I’m being honest…we wanted something quick and easy to install.

We started looking at peel and stick vinyl flooring because it’s durable and we knew it would do great in the laundry room where spills and water are inevitable.

I didn’t want to have to pull up the old flooring but had read some reviews that suggested pulling up the old floors if the floors weren’t smooth.

And our sheet vinyl had slight indentations where the fake tiles were imprinted.

Which Laundry Room Flooring Did We Choose?

box of smartcore vinyl flooring laying on hardwood floor

While searching I came across floating vinyl floor tiles.

They were a bit more expensive than the peel and stick tiles but we wouldn’t have to do any prep work or removal of the old floors.

I call that a win!

I was drawn to the dark gray tiles while looking at the different options available in floating luxury vinyl floors.

They remind me of slate and I’ve always loved the look of slate.

I mean if I can’t do brick the faux slate is the next best thing!

Am I right?

We went with this 12×24″ luxury vinyl floor tile in midnight.

vinyl floor tiles laying in pattern on hardwood floor in kitchen

Isn’t it just so pretty?!

Before we got starting laying the floors in the laundry room we decided to do a trial run in the kitchen.

Because that’s how we roll…lol!

No, but seriously we wanted to be sure of exactly where we were starting and the pattern we planned to use.

And once I saw it laid out in the kitchen I was so excited & couldn’t wait to get started!

What Supplies & Tools Will You Need for Installation?

These are the tools and supplies we used to complete this installation of our new laundry room floors:

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How to Prepare Room for Flooring Installation

mans hands using crowbar to pull baseboard moulding from wall

The first thing we did when preparing to install our new floors was to remove all of the baseboard moldings around the laundry room.

This step will make it easier to put the vinyl floating floor tiles in place.

But we also needed to remove the baseboards for the shiplap accent walls that we did later in the laundry room renovation.

man using crowbar to lift transition trim between the hardwood floors in hallway and laundry room

The next step was a bit trickier so Chris enlisted Anne’s husband, Kevin to help him.

We needed to remove the wood transition piece between the hardwood floor in the hallway and the vinyl floor in the laundry room.

And we wanted to do it carefully so we could reuse the same piece since it was already stained to match the existing hardwoods in our home.

The flooring must have been installed before the door frame because that transition piece went about an inch under the door frame on either side.

man holding floor trim up with crowbar in one hand while using hand saw in other to cut nail under transition piece

Kevin gently lifted the transition piece up using a crowbar, then cut the nail holding the trim down with a small hack saw.

man using multi tool to cut door frame in laundry room

Next Chris used his multi-tool to cut the bottom of the door frame so they could finally remove the transition piece.

After all the trim was removed I painted the walls of the room because I may be a bit of a messy painter. LOL

I recommend doing your painting before you install your new floors so that you don’t get any paint drips on your brand new floor.

Then I cleaned the old floors really well and we got to work installing our new floating vinyl flooring.

How to Install Floating Vinyl Flooring

12x20 inch floating vinyl floor tile laying in place over old sheet vinyl flooring

We started laying our floor at the entrance to the laundry room so that the first piece was a full uncut tile.

That way when we got to the back of the room the final row would be where the trimmed tiles were.

I think it looks best that way so the full tiles are what you see first when you walk into the room.

These luxury vinyl floor tiles are super easy to just click together for installation.

woman trimming floor tile with table saw outside of garage

We used our table saw to trim the last tile to size to finish our first row of flooring in the space.

Our laundry room is so small it didn’t take many tiles to go across the room.

man using wood block and hammer to install interlocking vinyl tile

Each tile locks into place on two sides as you install it, then the other two sides click into place when the next row is installed.

woman using table saw to cut vinyl floor tile

After installing all the full tiles in the second row we needed to cut the last tile almost in half to complete that row.

We put the next row in by laying the tiles in the middle of the tile before it to create a stacking brick pattern.

man installing interlocking luxury vinyl tile next to wall in second row of tile

The last trimmed piece of vinyl tile was installed and the row is complete wall to the wall.

Now we had 2 rows of the flooring complete! Whoo-hoo!

Next, we locked the first and second rows together.

man kneeling on one knee using vinyl tile pull tool and hammer to lock tiles together

To interlock the rows of vinyl tiles we used an inexpensive flooring pull bar and a hammer to gently click the rows together.

Easy Peasy!

We were moving right along installing our new flooring and then we got to the heating and a/c floor vent.

Uh oh!

How to Cut Around Floor Vent

hands holding pencil in one hand and tape measure in other measuring spot on vinyl tile

Just kidding…really…no worries at all.

This tile is so easy to cut and we had already been trimming it to fit each row wall to wall.

Now we just needed to notch out the spot for the floor vent.

Using a tape measure we marked the dimensions of the hole in the floor on the vinyl tile.

man using circular saw to cut vinyl tile outside in driveway

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Then Chris makes the cuts using a small handheld circular saw.

We just needed to notch it out on two tiles then snapped them together around the hole.

hand holding vinyl tile with cut out for floor vent in room

After that, we continued with our pattern laying the luxury interlocking tiles until we reached the back wall.

After Installing New Laundry Room Flooring

completed laundry room flooring with vinyl interlocking tiles

This floating floor was so simple to install.

And can you believe it only took us about an hour!

Seriously, so much faster than we anticipated.

And here’s a side-by-side comparison because everyone loves a good before and after!

Don’t you?

side by side comparison of old laundry room flooring on left and new laundry room flooring on right

The new floating vinyl flooring really changed the whole feel of the room…I just love it!

I wanted to be sure I protected it from any damage…check out this easy and FREE DIY project that is keeping my flooring in tip-top shape!

Next up…shiplap accent walls!!!

If you have any questions or suggestions, contact me or leave a comment!

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