Step-by-step upgrade

A good number of my recent job sites have involved a flooring upgrade, at least to some degree.

Working at a house last month, the first phase of several separate renovations was just that — the renewal of the existing kitchen flooring.

Apparently, during the main kitchen renovation completed years ago (and before my involvement), a glue-down style of vinyl flooring had been selected and over time, the sections separated, revealing inconsistent gaps at every seam. The homeowner made it very clear this could no longer be tolerated.

As such, click-style vinyl planking with underpadding was selected to rejuvenate the look of the kitchen, and would also extend towards the back-door entrance and continue along the stairs to the basement. Although the square footage of flooring was minimal, the intricacies involved with such tasks would prove to be quite challenging.

In order to avoid extra labour and possibly increase the workload by removing the existing glue-down flooring, it was decided the new vinyl-click flooring would be installed over top. Because the old glue-down was only an eighth-of-an-inch thick, leaving it in place would not make for a huge elevation difference overall. As it was, the kitchen had been fitted with secondary sub-flooring long before the previous upgrade, which requires a reducer transition upon entering the space.

The biggest hurdle proved to be negotiating the existing lower cabinets and island, which showcase waterfall quartz at one end. Although the removal of the toe-kicks hastened the vinyl installation process along the main fronts of the cupboards, the plant-on panels adjacent to the oven were tricky, compounded by the fact the stove is set at a 45-degree angle at the corner. Wherever possible, an oscillating tool was used to zip off enough of the lower edges of any cabinetry to allow the vinyl to slide underneath. And where this was not an option, the vinyl was cut as closely to the edge as possible.

The back-door landing and stairs to the basement provided a host of challenges. Although the old vinyl was removed in these locations, the staircase had been constructed irregularly and dimension inconsistencies became apparent at every stair rise and tread. This proved to be extremely challenging. Moreover, most stairs were askew as well, their slight parallelogram shape making installation of stair tops and rises an even trickier issue.

Another aspect of the impending stairway upgrade was the new flush-style stair noses that would protrude past the existing decorative stringer top. As such, the stringer tops were first extended by ripping two-by-fours and securing the new custom top edge to accommodate a higher stringer top elevation.

Once this was achieved, and the stringers painted to match the existing colour, the vinyl installation process began. The rises were first built out to meet the front edge of the rough nosing of the stairs. With this done, the vinyl, including flush nosing, was systematically cut and glued to the vertical and horizontal surfaces using a high-bond adhesive.

Once the vinyl was completed in both the kitchen area and on the stairs, the finishing began by ripping the toe-kicks down to meet the slightly higher elevation created by the introduction of the new vinyl. New maple baseboards and corner-rounds were added along the back wall. The maple reducer was custom-cut to meet the entry requirement from the hallway, and extended along the floor-to-ceiling cupboards next to the fridge.

Where no trim was available, clear silicone was carefully applied to seal the edges of vinyl, primarily along the quartz waterfall and adjacent areas. At the back entrance and stairs, a light-beige caulk was added along every edge of the vinyl to better conceal the inconsistencies of the (originally) roughly-built staircase.

All in all, the installation process was difficult, but manageable due to several key decisions along the way — new vinyl over top the old glue-down flooring and extendomg the height of the stringer tops.

The newly chosen vinyl is lighter than the former darker-grey glue-down flooring, and this choice actually makes the kitchen seem livelier and feel somewhat more spacious. The stairs and back landing show the biggest improvement, in my opinion, as they now offer a cohesive flow when transitioning from the kitchen to the basement. And the homeowner was so impressed by her vinyl choice (after seeing it installed), that the basement is now slated to receive a matching vinyl-flooring upgrade.

Oh yeah — and the back door was given a fresh coat of white paint too, can’t forget to mention that!

RenoBoss.Inc@outlook.com