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Blueprint Request
Good evening,
I am getting ready to start installation of LVP for the first time. My project is just shy of 1500 sq ft plus the stairs in the picture. I will be tackling the stairs, a large landing at the top of the stairs and 4 bedrooms including the closets in them. The 4 bedrooms are all situated off of the landing. The 1st and 2nd pictures are of the stairs and the start of the landing. The 3rd picture is the product I’m using on the stairs, the stairnose piece sold by Floors 2000. I’m only planning to do the stair treads with LVP and just paint and use wood on the risers. Pictures 4 and 5 I tried to capture most of the landing. Picture 6 is just to show you what product I’m using and a small piece of it. They are 9 inches wide and about 64.5 inches long. Picture 7 includes the dimensions of the landing and I edited it to show where the stairs are and roughly where the 4 bedrooms are. The other 3 pictures are the dimensions/shape of 3 of the 4 bedroooms. There’s obviously only one direction to run the planks on the stairs which goes against the direction I had thought the planks should run on the landing and into each of the bedrooms. The landing is longer than it is wide so in my mind I was going to run them with the length of the space but again that is perpendicular to how the planks will be on the stairs. How would you deal with this? My biggest question is where to start. Originally I thought I would start on the landing and them move into the rooms without transitions and tackle the stairs last but I’m wondering if I should do the stairs first. Speaking of the stairs, how are the stairnose pieces put down? I’ve not seen a lot of content out there about doing the stairs. By the way, also off of this landing is a laundry room and a bathroom, both with tile that I plan to just use a reducer piece when I come to that junction. I can’t think of other questions I have at the moment but I’m sure I will come up with more. I appreciate your help.
Jason Gifford
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18 Replies
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Good evening,
Thank you for what you have done for me so far. I really appreciate how quickly you replied also. In this first picture, I measured the stair tread as you requested. I think I am going to have to do some alterations like you suggested. This stair tread seems to be about 1 3/4 inch thick and about 10.5 inches in depth. The part of the stair nose you asked me to measure is about 7/8 inch and it is about 4 1/4 inch in depth. This is all included in the first 4 pictures. The subfloor to the top of the tile is about 5/8 inch in the 5th picture and I believe the planks I’m using are only about 5.5 mm in thickness or just shy of 1/4 inch. The last 3 pictures I tried to capture some of the sides of the planks showing the tongue and groove. These planks are 9×60 inches. I do believe that I would prefer to run the planks the opposite of the stairs unless you think it will be far easier to run them the other direction and/or they will look better in the other direction. I have created a drawing on some online software of all the rooms together that I’m going to try and embed here for your viewing pleasure. I hope this works because it wasn’t easy to do this. I think this covers everything you have requested from me for now. Thanks again for all your help.
See if this link allows you to see the drawing please:
https://cloud.smartdraw.com/share.aspx/?pubDocShare=6051A63FEBCD195A623EB11D2FBE4E401E2
Jason
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Hey Joe,
Yes, I plan to run the planks in the direction you talked about in your previous reply. Just so you know, I’m actually not married to that idea, it’s just what I imagined in my mind would look best but if you think otherwise, I have no problem running them the other direction.
Also, just so you know, in the drawing I’m doing everything but the bathrooms and laundry room. I am doing the bedrooms, closets and that landing at the top of the stairs.
I look forward to your reply. Have a great weekend.
Jason
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Joe,
Another question I meant to already ask is whether or not I should put down an underlayment. The manufacturer states, “Do not install SPC flooring over carpet or any foam underlayment.” It also says, “Restoration SPC flooring includes a pre-attached 1.5mm Ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) sound mitigating underlayment pad. Do not use any additional foam cushioned underlayment, as it will void the product warranty.” I have heard you recommend putting down underlayment in several videos before, not sure if the underlayment you recommend is “foam underlayment”. What’s your opinion on this given the above information from the manufacturer?
Thank you,
Jason
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Here is your blueprint – http://somup.com/crQYqLrGxD
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Good evening Joe,
So I’ve watched about half of your blueprint for me so far.
I think early on before you did the blueprint for me, you had mentioned potentially starting in our guest bedroom upstairs so I had started moving furniture and painting those walls etc. in that room in preparation for the floors in there.
So a theoretical but not so theoretical question, what do you recommend for people like me with lots of furniture that can really only afford to move furniture out of one room at a time and pull carpet up to start laying planks? In other words, where you discuss snapping a line on our large landing and then in the rooms etc., I’m not sure I’m going to be able to move all of the furniture out of the landing area and pull up carpet because currently much of the big furniture from that guest bedroom is currently being staged on that landing area.
Just curious what your approach would be if you could only go room by room like that???
Thank you,
Jason
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Hi Joe,
I’m starting to really make some progress. I started in my son’s room like you suggested and have finished his room and closet with the exception of the 1st row that I left out where it is screwed down.
I have a couple of questions. Since I am now moving out into the hallway that is part of that large landing, I don’t know where to finish the planks as they come close to the stairs. Recall that I am running the planks the opposite direction that they will run on the stairs. I’m unsure of how this is going to be done to transition from the landing to the top of the stairs.
Also, right outside my son’s room is an AC unit that you can see a door for off the ground in the picture. That unit has had some sort of water overflow in the past and that piece of subfloor plywood is a bit sunken compared to the subfloor around it, probably too much to not do something about it. What can I use on plywood to level that one area out a little bit?
Also, I navigated the doors okay in his room but I’m not so sure that I got the tightest joints right there since the plank gets hung up under the jamb and you can’t lift up on the plank like you normally would. Are there any tools that you use that can help with these situations? I have been careful so far to end up with a joint in the door that is helpful.
Please let me know about these things as soon as possible so I can keep moving on. I really appreciate it.
Jason
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Here is that prep video – https://youtu.be/aH_vLiBJ6bg I also have a video on the stair nose under the all videos tab.
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Hi Joe,
I’m wondering if there is a way to send you a MP4 file, a video I shot with my phone with audio asking a question? Thanks. If not, I can takes some pictures and try to explain it in text format. Have a good night.
Jason
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So as not to delay your reply, I’m going to go ahead and attach some pictures and explain the situation here but if there is a way to send video to you, that would be easier sometimes.
As you can see, I’ve completed the stairs and they came out looking really nice. I think I’ve shared with you in previous messages too that my son’s room at the top of the stairs is basically done which is where you instructed me to start.
Here’s my dilemma. I don’t know if you can appreciate it in the pictures or not, but the last plank I put down in the bedroom almost makes it all the way through the door jamb. From there I have attached one more row of planks outside the room along the stair rail heading toward the top of the stairs. Those planks didn’t need scribed or anything because full width and length pieces were able to be simply attached to the plank that almost came completely through the door jamb. However, as you probably recall, you had me make marks on the floor in the landing in a couple different areas and in the hall just outside my son’s room where a chalk line could be snapped. If you now measure from the edge of the first row of planks I put down outside that room to the chalk line, it’s not perfectly parallel to the chalk line. It is off by close to 3/16 of an inch from just outside the room to the mark close to the top of the stairs. If I try to just pull on the plank to get it closer to parallel, this affects the butt joints and causes them to separate. I just don’t know how to get this going straight again so I don’t end up with them being off severely by the time I make it all the way through the landing.
I’m not necessarily asking for help on this but you can probably appreciate that the edge on the stair nose is a “groove” I think and the edge on the planks due to the direction I’m running them are also a “groove” where they come together. I think I have an idea of how to deal with this but if you have any inspiration, I’d be happy to hear it too.
Thanks for everything. God bless you.
Jason
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Yes, send it via email – floormechanics@gmail.com
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Hi Joe,
I sent the video to your e-mail but you probably won’t learn anything new from it.
Unfortunately that top stairnose is secured down with PowerGrab from Home Depot.
I don’t know if Floors 2000 even offers the other type of stairnose you are describing and I’ve watched that video of yours before on the stairs so I get what you are saying.
I guess since that part of the landing is only the width of the stairs, it shouldn’t make that big of a difference being off 2-3/16 of an inch like you are saying because as soon as I get into the rest of the landing I should be able to get it going straight again by scribing along that next wall in the landing, right?
I also have an Android operating system phone so maybe in the future, if needed, we could do a video call.
I really appreciate all of your expertise. God bless you. Have a great day!
Jason
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One other thing, I live in Florida and the AC runs almost the entire year so we don’t see a lot of changes indoors throughout the year. That may help me some potentially with the planks moving etc. I think.
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